The Great Gatsby
In The Great Gatsby, WWI had previously ended a few years earlier in 1918, Nick was among the generation of Americans coming home from a brutal carnage that would make early twentieth century American seem like an empty hyprocracy. Gatsby's dream of loving Daisy was ruined by the respective social statuses, and ends up resorting to crime in order to make enough money to impress her. The differences in opinion between the East and West Eggers are disillusions as new money challenges old money. Fitzgerald portrays the 1920's as an era of disillusionment, evidenced in its overcharging cynicism, greed, empty pursuit of pleasure, and its decayed social and moral values As Nick, and the rest of his generation came home, they were in the midst of a dizzying rise of the stock market in the aftermath of the war, which led to a sudden sustained increase in the national wealth and a newfound materialism as people began to spend and consume at unprecedented levels. In the first chapter, Nick comments on Tom's incredible wealth by saying; "For instance he had brought down a string of polo ponies from Lake Forrest. It was hard to realize that a man in my own generation was wealthy enough to do that"
One of the major topics explored in The Great Gatsby, is how the newly minted millionaires of the 1920s differ from the historically richest families in the country. In the novel, West Egg represents the newly rich, and East Egg, especially Daisy and Tom, represent the historically rich families. Gatsby, and the newly rich lack in taste, and are seen as gaudy. For example, Gatsby wears a pink suit, drives a Rolls Royce, and his house is ridiculously too large for one man to live in. Being from East Egg, Daisy questions the necessity of Gatsby's oversized home, "'That huge place there?' she cried pointing. 'Do you like it?' 'I love it, but I don't see how you live there all alone'" (96). What the old money has in taste, however, it seems to lack in heart, as the East Eggers prove themselves inconsiderate bullies who are so used to money's ability to ease their minds that they never worry about hurting others: "They were careless people, Tom and Daisy- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made" (187). Together, Tom and Daisy managed to ruin the lives of many people as they lived in undeserving wealth. The deaths of Myrtle, Gatsby, and Wilson could all be traced back to the selfish couple's lack of morals. Gatsby above all wishes for his idealized relationship with Daisy to come
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 979
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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