Modernism Illustrated in the Great Gatsby

Modernist literature emerged during the end of the 19th century (1890-1950) and was perceived as a reaction to an increasingly industrialized and globalized world. It was mostly brought on by the damaging effects of WWI, WWII, and the Great Depression. People lived in an ever changing environment where most were struggling to survive. Modernist literature acknowledged that the political system in America was not working. Thus many writers of this movement expressed their opposition or gave an opinion on a social concept or traditional thoughts. There was a purposeful shift away from the traditional styles of writing with an emphasis on fragmented forms, discontinuous narrative and subjectivity. Novels that were written during the modernist period were often characterized by a “stream of consciousness” which is a literary technique which seeks to reveal an individual’s point of view by inserting the character's thought processes and emotions into the narrative. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a novel that captures this time period and the everyday struggle to accept the social and economic change in America. Three examples from the novel that illustrate this central concept to modernist literature is how all of Fitzgerald's characters are representative of the 20th century, how Jay Gatsby is the epitome of a modernist hero and the symbolism behind Dr. T.J. Eckleberg eyes and what they represent.
Fitzgerald’s characters exemplify everything that is wrong with the 20th century: wealth, social class, industry, and organized crime. Tom Buchanan is a white supremacist that openly expresses his racism. In the first chapter he says “Civilization is going to pieces. If we don’t look out the white race will be -- will be utterly submerged”(13) and “It’s up to us, who are the dominant race to watch out or these other races will have control of things”(15). In this quote Tom is referring to a novel he read called “The Rise of the Coloured Empire” by Goddard. He is