F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby

About the Author Born-September 24, 1896 Died-December 21, 1940 Married Zelda Sayre Famous works include The Great Gatsby The Beautiful and the Damned Tender is the Night

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Impact on Society Fitzgerald named the 1920’s “The Jazz Age” Wrote screenplays for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Created the The Great Gatsby which is said to be the most accurate description of the 1920’s

Historical Information Understanding the times helps to understand the novel

World War I World War I ended in 1918. Disillusioned because of the war, the generation that fought and survived has come to be called “the lost generation.”

The Roaring Twenties America seemed to throw itself headlong into a decade of madcap behavior and materialism, a decade that has come to be called the Roaring Twenties.

The Jazz Age The era is also known as the Jazz Age, when the music called jazz, promoted by such recent inventions as the phonograph and the radio, swept up from New Orleans to capture the national imagination. Improvised and wild, jazz broke the rules of music, just as the Jazz Age thumbed its nose at the rules of the past.

The New Woman Among the rules broken were the age-old conventions guiding the behavior of women. The new woman demanded the right to vote and to work outside the home. Symbolically, she cut her hair into a boyish “bob” and bared her calves in the short skirts of the fashionable twenties “flapper.”

The Flappers Flappers were women who rebelled against the fashion and social norms of the early 1900’s. They married at a later age and drank and smoked inpublic Flappers were known for their carefree lifestyles.

Flapper Fashion Flappers dressed in shapeless dresses that came to the knee. Dresses were made to look “boy-like” Gender bending was common. Women would try to make themselves look more man-like.

Prohibition Another rule often broken was the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, or Prohibition, which banned the public sale of alcoholic beverages from 1919 until its appeal in 1933. Speak-easies, nightclubs, and taverns that sold liquor were often raided, and gangsters made illegal fortunes as bootleggers, smuggling alcohol into America from abroad.

Gambling Another gangland activity was illegal gambling. Perhaps the worst scandal involving gambling was the so-called Black Sox Scandal of 1919, in which eight members of the Chicago White Sox were indicted for accepting bribes to throw baseball’s World Series.

The Automobile The Jazz Age was also an era of reckless spending and consumption, and the most conspicuous status symbol of the time was a flashy new automobile. Advertising was becoming the major industry that it is today, and soon advertisers took advantage of new roadways by setting up huge billboards at their sides. Both the automobile and a bizarre billboard play important roles in The Great Gatsby.

The Jazz Age Summary Prohibition was in effect Dances such as the Charleston were popular Popular sayings included 23 Skidoo, Bee’s Knees Economy was in a “Boom”

Characters of The Great Gatsby Jay Gatsby- The self-made wealthy man who lives next door to Nick Carraway and loves Daisy Buchanan

Characters of The Great Gatsby Nick Carraway- the narrator, Daisy’s cousin, Gatsby’s neighbor

Characters in The Great Gatsby Daisy Buchanan- married to Tom, Gatsby’s love interest before the war, socialite

Characters in The Great Gatsby Tom Buchanan- Daisy’s husband, has an affair with Myrtle Myrtle Wilson- Tom’s woman in the city, married to George George Wilson- owns the gas station Jordan Baker- Daisy’s friend, professional golfer

Settings in The Great Gatsby West Egg- where Nick and Gatsby live, represents new money East Egg- where Daisy lives, the more fashionable area, represents old money

Old Money Vs. New Money New Money: Someone who has achieved the American Dream Not as respected in the 1920’s Old Money Money from family wealth Born rich Not earned through work done by yourself Respected above all in the 1920’s

The American Dream Gatsby is the ideal image of one who has achieved the American Dream.

Settings in The Great Gatsby The City- New York City, where the characters escape to for work and play The Valley of Ashes- between the City and West Egg, where Wilson’s gas station is located.

Symbols in The Great Gatsby Green Light- at the end of Daisy’s dock and visible from Gatsby’s mansion. Represents Gatsby's hopes and dreams about Daisy.

Symbols in The Great Gatsby The Valley of Ashes- the area between West Egg and New York City. It is a desolate area filled with industrial waste. It represents the social and moral decay of society during the 1920’s. It also shows the negative effects of greed.

Symbols in The Great Gatsby The Eyes of Dr. T. J. Ekleburg- A decaying billboard in the Valley of Ashes with eyes advertising an optometrist. There are multiple proposed meanings, including the representation of God’s moral judgment on society.

Important Quotes “I hope she’ll be a fool- that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.” Daisy’s description of her daughter “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” –the last line of the novel

Important Quotes "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." – Nick’s description of Tom and Daisy