The Great Gatsby Influences

F. Scott Fitzgerald was not only a social historian of America during his lifetime, but also one of the most influential American writers to have ever lived. Fitzgerald was a formerly middle-class author who wrote his way into fame and riches. According to Nina Baym, editor of The Norton Anthology of American Literature, Fitzgerald’s work was known to symbolize the decades in which he lived. During the 20s, he wrote about the extreme partying, spending, and pursuits of pleasure after World War I, and the 30s, during the gloomy aftermath of those excesses. Surprisingly, Fitzgerald was born into a Minnesotan middle-class family before he became a part of the spending culture in New York. After college, he joined the Army to fight in WWI but did
This novel is centered in New York, where Wall Street was the ‘King’ of the USA. The Great Gatsby takes place during “The Roarin’ 20s,” a period of sustained economic prosperity, was going strong. In fact, Richard Godden from the English department of the University of Kent stated: “To see in 1925 was to see through the stencil of the commodity.” Many factors contributed to such economic growth during this period. The result of the First World War was a boom in American industrial production. Furthermore, the Temperance movement, a social movement against the consumption of alcohol, caused the Prohibition from 1920-1933. The amendment spurred an underground network of bootleggers. New ways to make money were plenty during this time, through inventions and investments—illegal or otherwise. The new idea of a millionaire, from the previous Gilded Age, enamored those who wished to surpass their middle-class status and go from rags to riches. This idea of social mobility, however, was extremely materialistic during this time. Additionally, many solid Midwestern values and traditions, such as working hard, going to church, family, etc. were rejected during this time. Society was euphoric with the materialistic decadence after the War and partied immensely before the Great Depression. According to Dr. Milton R. Stern, a retired English professor at the University of Connecticut, the
Critic Alberto Lena, a scholar on the Great Gatsby, suggests that despite being raised on solid American values, Gatsby became a victim of greed, apathy, and indifference that corrupts dreams and destroys possibilities. Indifference, here, would be Daisy’s ability to put all the blame for Myrtle Wilson’s death onto Gatsby: “I called up Daisy half an hour after we found him, called her instinctively and without hesitation. But she and Tom had gone away early that afternoon, and taken baggage with them” (132). Despite how much Gatsby tried to impress her and care for her, Daisy rejected him until the day he died. His party is over, and the only real proofs of his life are the possessions: the books, the mansions, and the cars he acquired (Tunc). Gatsby had nothing of himself left; only his belongings stayed. Gatsby’s death, like his life, is the product of an elusive and outlived dream: the dream to get the girl. In the end, the girl ended up being the reason for his death. The conclusion of the book suggests that the urge to conquer and dominate is a disease known too well in the American psyche, Lena states. Thus, Gatsby’s demise is a clear illustration of how the 20’s “dream” was doomed to fail, as it rejected any moral or spiritual component and replaced them with materialistic