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The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby. F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940). 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

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The Great Gatsby

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  1. The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940)

  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 • Waists @hipline • 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 years @Princeton • 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 life @Princeton 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 • 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 “hollowness @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 except @Gatsby’s where people party (un-God-like)

  20. The Eggs • West 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

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