1. The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald
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2. 1920s Background Info World War I ends – 1918
America is a stronger, more powerful nation
After the war – people are full of energy
People had been repressed because of a bad economy
$$ saved for possible hard times because of the war
Protest & Violence followed the end of the war

3. Prohibition (1919-1933) Restricted sale & Use of liquor
Originally to abolish saloons
Thought to be immoral & dangerous to society
Bootleggers
People who made & sold liquor illegally
Often ran drugstores & other “front” businesses in order to sell liquor

4. The Roaring Twenties
Carefree time of wild parties, illegal drinking & extravagant lifestyles
Young people of America embraced
Time of change in fashion & music
“The Jazz Age”
Flappers

5. Flappers
Described young girls in the US & Britain who were ideally “lovely, expensive & about 19”
Defined as “giddy, attractive and slightly unconventional…inclined to revolt against the precepts (rules)…of her elders”
Nearly a generation of men died in WWI
Women were not willing to waste away their youth waiting for spinsterhood
Decided to enjoy life
New Trends
No corsets
Bobbed hair
Makeup

6. 1920s Literature Showed a mood of rebellion with alarming topics
More freedom of language & descriptions
New & freer attitudes toward the representation of sex

7. F. Scott Fitzgerald Born (1896) in St. Paul, Minnesota
Studied for 4
Wanted to play football but didn’t make the team
Developed a drinking problem - flunked out
A girl did not like him because he was poor (huge influence)
Did not graduate – joined the Army
Met & married Zelda Sayre - rich, Southern Belle
Zelda - Fitzgerald’s muse

8. Fitzgerald’s Outlook Father was fired and a failure in business
Caused obsession with success/money
Used his talent for writing to produce plays for school so he could cast people he wanted as friends

9. Fitzgerald’s Writing
This Side of Paradise (1920) - describes among the glittering, bored and disillusioned
Novel was an overnight success
Fitzgerald known as King of the Jazz Age

10. The Great Gatsby Published in 1925 Critical success
Sales were disappointing

11. Gatsby Characters Tom: dictator/bully Daisy: clinging vine
Myrtle: clinging vine/weakling
Gatsby: calculator
Nick: nice guy/protector
George: nice guy/protector
Jordan: calculator

12. Theme(s) Corruption of the American Dream
Defined as the idea that in America one might hope to satisfy every material desire & thereby achieve happiness
Fitzgerald believed this to be deceptive
How can the goal of all you desire be something you can attain?
desire = material possessions = dissatisfaction
One can end up with great wealth & “stuff” and be quite empty

13. More Theme(s) Old $$ v. New $$
Prosperity, Material Excess, Bootlegging v.
Discovery, Individualism, “Pursuit of Happiness”

14. Even More Theme(s) Sight/Insight Meaning of the Past
Many images of blindness
No one seems to really know what’s going on
Meaning of the Past
Gatsby & Nick hold on to a simpler, nobler time when family & church meant something
Illusion v. Reality

15. Color Symbol(s) Gray - death, lifelessness (people & land)
Green - money (light at end of Daisy’s peer), Gatsby’s goal
Blue: dream (eyes of Dr. Eckleburg-rep’s. sightlessness)
White: corruption is underneath-wedding cake, Daisy’s and Jordon’s clothes(airiness and fairylike)

16. More Color Symbol(s) Darks & Lights: Gatsby’s world is deceptive
Gold or Yellow: wealth, materialism
Red: violence/violent death
Pink: violence underneath

17. Other Symbols Valley of Ashes: The Wasteland T.S. Eliot
Explores the heart of things”
Purgatory
Moral & Social Wasteland
Daisy: wealth, position, status, “golden girl”
Dr. Eckleburg’s Eyes (billboard): capitalistic profit (He is the “god” of the Wasteland)

18. Even More Other Symbols
Ashes: gray, lifeless, wasteland, death, True Reality
Apartment: on outside, a beautiful wedding cake; inside, corruption, greed & selfishness
Gatsby’s house (white), Garden (blue), Chauffer’s uniform (blue)
The Green Light (Buchanan’s Dock)
Positive & Negative aspects of the color
Opportunity v. Greed

19. Still More Other Symbols
Buchanan’s house: red & white/carpet crimson
Nick’s boats: red & gold (dream stained by violence)
Myrtle: wears brown in Valley of Ashes, changes to Ecru/Cream dresses: becomes unreal & someone else
Sunday: day of worship where people party (un-God-like)

20. The Eggs West Egg East Egg Modeled after Long Island
Known for affluence & high quality of life
Represents old wealth
Those who HAVE
East Egg
Less fashionable than the West Egg
New wealth
Wealth most likely acquired by ruthless (read: illegal) means
Those who HAVE NOT