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What Is The Meaning Of Life In The Great Gatsby

1134 Words5 Pages

After the devastation of World War I, the American people had a revolution in the social standards from traditional views to more modern. The moral compass of people was no longer based on basic religious rules but instead regarded ethics as a relative concept. This venturing out from traditional ways gave the people a door to start the extreme materialism and partying as a way of life. Along with the “roarin” side of the 20s, there also came a group of writers known as the Lost Generation. One of these writers that arose with the Lost Generation was F. Scott Fitzgerald. With his novel The Great Gatsby, the 20s party life is shown along with people who live unsatisfying lives. One of these people is Jay Gatsby, the title character, who is the …show more content…

Is it to fight to bring yourself to the very top, or to build lasting memories so that when you are no longer alive, you are still remembered? This idea of leaving a legacy is a way to make sure that your life was well lived, because if anyone remembers you in a good light then you know that it wasn’t all for nothing. Using this philosophy, Gatsby completely missed the meaning of life and ended up with truly only Nick to remember him. Jay Gatsby’s continuous attempt to achieve the perfect image through materialistic methods end with him dying without anything substantial or of any meaning; this represents the general attitude of despair within the 20s that most people were trying to fill with partying and secular beliefs. Even though these items made them feel sufficient at the time, Gatsby proves that in the end material items leave you with nothing. Near the beginning of the novel, Nick sees a desolate wasteland full of ashes from the industrial factories around the area. This daunting image gives a foreshadowing of Gatsby’s life. In the end, Gatsby is just the ashes of the new materialistic and industrial America, which is nothing more than a spiritual

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