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Why The Great Gatsby A Banned Book

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The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1925, is a story narrated by Nick Carraway about his experiences interacting with Jay Gatsby during 1922. The book starts during Nick’s move from the Midwest to West Egg, a suburb outside of New York City, to become a bond salesman. Shortly after Nick’s arrival, he visits his cousin Daisy and her husband Tom Buchanan across the bay at East Egg. While at Daisy and Tom’s house, Nick meets professional golfer Jordan Baker, who asks him if he knows Gatsby. Nick has heard a lot about the mysterious Gatsby, but has never met him. Tom, who went to Yale, invites Nick to go into the city to attend a “Yale Club meeting”, but they were really meeting Tom’s mistress, Myrtle Wilson. Just a couple days …show more content…

In the 1920s, a constitutional amendment banned all alcohol sales. America had developed many strict social laws and any small reference to sexual activity, adultery, the use of alcohol, or profanity was widely frowned upon. Although many of these activities seem minor in present day, in the 1920s, books like The Great Gatsby were considered scandalous. For example, Gatsby tells Nick that “Daisy comes over quite often--in the afternoons.” Despite seeming petty, this quote in the 1920s was considered outrageous because it could be interpreted as something sexual. Divorce was uncommon during this socially strict environment. Nick writes “Catherine leaned close to me and whispered in my ear, ‘If I was them I’d get a divorce and get married to each other right away.’” Although it seems that Tom and Daisy do not love each other, they would not get a divorce because it was frowned upon. They are each in another relationship because they do not truly love each other anymore. “I did love him (Tom) once—but I loved you (Gatsby) too.” Though it seems that Daisy and Tom were in love, Daisy was also in love with Gatsby. The concept of drinking alcohol during the time of Prohibition was forbidden and it was illegal to purchase alcohol. Nick says “I have been drunk just twice in my life, and the second time was that afternoon.” This shows that the characters in the book were purchasing alcohol illegally. The common misconceptions about Jay Gatsby are generated because no one knows his background. Gatsby lies often in order to make himself look better. “My family all died and I came into a great deal of money.” Gatsby lied to Nick about his past to make himself look better. “His parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people — his imagination had never really accepted them as his parents at all. The truth was that Jay Gatsby of West Egg, Long Island, sprang

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In chapters four through six of The Great Gatsby, the reader is introduced to the real Gatsby who was incredibly poor in his early life. At the beginning of chapter six, Nick explains to the reader Gatsby’s real upbringing. Nick explains, “James Gatz — that was really, or at least legally, his name… His parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people — his imagination had never really accepted them as his parents at all. The truth was that Jay Gatsby of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself” (Fitzgerald 62-63).

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This rumor comes to fruition when Nick meets this “other woman” at Wilson’s garage. Myrtle and Tom have

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Skylar Placek Ms. Anderson English III Honors 8 March 2023 The Great Gatsby Essay Throughout the novel, “The Great Gatsby”, the character Jay Gatsby puts on a false front on many occasions. He continuously tries to deceive many of the characters in the book and lies about numerous things. These fabrications of his brought about many negative repercussions and even resulted in his own death.

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First reason why I think Jay Gatsby is a phony is because he lied to everyone about the source of his money. In the story Jay Gatsby tells everyone that he inherited his wealth from his family when his parents died, but later this is proven false when it is revealed that Gastby’s money is made in an illegal way which was bootlegging alcohol. The extent of Gatsby's criminal activities is confirmed by Tom Buchanan t when he shares that Gatsby and “Wolfsheim bought up a lot of side-street drug-stores…and sold grain alcohol over the counter,” (133) an illegal venture during prohibition. Which proves that Gatsby’s money was made through illegal ways.

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Braelyn Carle English IV – H 26 Apr 2024 The Deception of Jay Gatsby Deception is the action of deceiving or lying to someone. In the realm of “The Great Gatsby,” deception is not just a character trait, but a driving force that pushes the story forward, painting a picture of the delusion we chase and the truths we hide. This story started with Gatsby’s one big lie and led to many small ones.

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Using the same example of “The Great Gatsby” being banned, every young adult misses out on learning about the culture of the roaring twenties. There are other books that could teach high school students about the culture of that time period, but none can do it quite as good as “The Great Gatsby”. It is such a classic, that even if you haven't read the book or watched the movie yourself, you still know what it is, kinda like the Titanic. During the roaring twenties it was all jazz, parties and wealth. It was a good time to be alive.

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The great Gatsby was written by America author F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1925. The entire story took place in one summer in 1922. Nick was the narrator of the story as well as Gatsby’s friend. Living next to Gatsby’s house, Nick found that there were plenty of people, most of them were celebrity, gather together in front of magnificent house in the giant garden with deafening music and fantastic fireworks. However, Gatsby did all this for one woman---Daisy, a beautiful, silly woman who had married a rich man named Tom Buchanan.

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2. Gatsby comes from a poor family in North Dakota, but he lied about his past and said that he came from a wealthy family in San Francisco. Gatsby had also claimed that he inherited his wealth, but the truth is that he acquired his money from bootlegging. At the beginning of the novel he said he went to Oxford to make others think of him highly, but the truth was that he only studied at Oxford for 5 months. In other words, Jay Gatsby lied about his past to cover up that he came from a poor family.

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Jay Gatsby lied about his origins which led to him having no true friends and in the end left him

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The narrative of Jay Gatsby mirrors his efforts to maintain a

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A couple constitutional issues were addressed during the 1920's. For one, the eighteenth amendment which states that it is prohibited for one to make, sell or transport illegal alcohol Gatsby was one who became very rich because of being a bootlegger. He found this interest because of the wealth that was involved and yet he wanted the money to get his love of his life back. “Prohibition proved difficult to enforce

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The only character in the novel who does not drink is, ironically, Gatsby. He devoted himself to a sober life after seeing what drinking did to his old mentor. Although these characters had unpleasant experiences with alcohol in the past they, for reasons unknown to us, continue to surround themselves with the smell, taste, and temptation that alcohol provides. In conclusion, prohibition and its effects have a lasting impact on the novel “The Great Gatsby”. It is present within the lives, attitudes, and mannerisms of all of the characters.

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The Great Gatsby Literature Response The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a true story from back in the 1920s. The novel is written in Nick Carraway’s perspective, about his questionably, sumptuous neighbor, Jay Gatsby. Readers will notice that Carraway chooses to only see the good in his neighbor, which is why he calls him the Great Gatsby. Jay falls in love with Nick’s cousin, Daisy, and tries to woo her with his money.

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During dinner, Tom receives a phone call from his mistress. The way Miss Baker is surprised when Nick does not know that Tom had a girl confirms that having affairs and such are a well known thing through the city. The openness of the affair shows how in the 1920’s, adultery was a common thing during that time period. “I waited, and sure enough, in a moment, she looked at me with an absolute smirk on her lovely face, as if she had asserted her membership in a rather distinguished secret society to which she and Tom belonged to.” (The Great Gatsby 17) Nick describes his talk with Daisy as just a performance.

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The truth was that Jay Gatsby of West Egg, Long Island sprang from his platonic conception of himself ” (98). The implication that Gatsby already had the name picked out shows his dissatisfaction for the simple life that he lived and his desire to become someone else, someone who could pull off the guise of a gentleman who was born of old money. Nick stating that the new name was because of Gatsby’s “platonic conception of himself” indicates that Gatsby believed that he understood his values enough to know that throughout his life, he will try to aim for that goal of becoming a wealthy man who has a sphere of influence, basically, the American dream. These conceptions of Gatsby and his ideals about wealth are tools that the author uses to demonstrate the reasons that

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