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Name
Ms. Dowler
English 11 Period 3
4 December 2006
An American’s Decade
The whole of the ‘20s could be described in one word: metamorphosis. Compared to the
decades before it, colossal changes burst forth like a volcano in mid-eruption. The novel The
Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, captured such changes, and many other elements, of the
decade. The Great Gatsby accurately portrayed the 1920s by its descriptions of economic
prosperity, women of the time, and social changes.
Within the realm of economics, Americans in the Roaring Twenties and in The Great
Gatsby were doing excellently. The Gross National Product (GNP) rose by almost four percent
each year during the ‘20s (Smiley 2). The installment plan allowed people to own products
instantly and pay a fraction of the total cost per month ("The 1920s-How They Roared" 3). The
quick growth of America’s economic production and the installment plan made people richer and
made it easier to amass material goods. Nick is astounded by Gatsby’s mansion and describes it
as, “a colossal affair by any standard-it was a factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in
Normandy, with a tower on one side…and more than forty acres of lawn” (Fitzgerald 5). Gatsby
flaunts his extreme wealth through the architecture of his mansion. Similar to many well-to-do
Americans of the time, his standard of living is leaps and bounds above the rest of the U.S. The
extravagant lifestyles of characters within the pages of Fitzgerald’s novel perfectly mirror the
state of the economy in the ‘20s.
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Similar to the rise of economic prosperity, women of the 1920s, both in America and
within the pages of Fitzgerald’s novel, prospered from a more easygoing lifestyle, evident in
their new clothing. The women of the ‘20s stopped wearing corsets and other constricting styles
of clothing (Pascoe 4). Fashions debuting in the decade showed off a new kind of sophisticated
woman (Danzer et al. 458). Doing away with their mothers’ clothing, women of the decade
sought more comfortable and less feminine garments to wear. Jordan Baker demonstrated this
fashion trend when she “was dressed to play golf…her face the same brown tint as the fingerless
glove on her knee” (Fitzgerald 177). Her darkened skin comes from many months athletically
spent outside in the sun, rather than chained to the kitchen sink as many women were in decades
past. Jordan’s clothing is not in the old tradition of uncomfortable cloth draped across every
patch of her skin; instead it is something casual that provides ease of motion for sports. Her
garments represent the ‘20s woman: boyish, casual, and easy to put on. Fitzgerald’s female
characters clearly portray the popular trend for women in the 1920s to be more concerned with
what they want, rather than what society wants for them.
Along with the changing roles of women in the 1920s, America also drastically changed
its policy on alcohol consumption, which failed to work as intended, clearly written within The
Great Gatsby. Speakeasies selling homemade and imported alcohol peppered each city, no matter
the size ("History of the Prohibition Act of 1920 in America" 5). The government did not
allocate enough funds or manpower to enforce prohibition effectively (Danzer et al. 454). Many
Americans went about their lives as if the ban never existed. The situation is noted by Nick when
he looks upon Gatsby’s party and says, “The bar is in full swing, and floating rounds of cocktails
permeate the garden outside” (Fitzgerald 40). Actively rebelling against prohibition, Gatsby
serves alcohol to his guests at parties. He does not fear a police force arresting him for doing this
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illegally because he knows the government cannot rally enough support towards blacklisting
alcohol. Similar to the reality of the 1920s, the novel portrays prohibition as a completely failed
attempt.
Almost universally reflective of the third decade of the 20th Century, The Great Gatsby
could have easily been titled “The Twenties as I See It.” The novel gives the reader a window
into a long-lost era of prosperity and unprecedented changes, a window which faced the mighty
volcano that burst forth, destroyed old customs, and left fertile ground for an entirely new
cultural landscape.
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Works Cited
Danzer, Geral A., et al. The Americans: Reconstruction through the 20th
Century. Evanston: McDougal Littell, 2002.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992.
"History of the Prohibition Act of 1920 in America." eSSORTMENT. 25 June 2002.
eSSORTMENT. 3 Jan 2007 <http://id.essortment.com/historyprohibit_pmh.htm>.
Pascoe, Christine. "Flappers and Fashion." Christy's Fashion Pages. 30 Nov 2002. 4 Jan 2007
<http://www.rambova.com/fashion/fash4.html>.
Smiley, Gene. "US Economy in the 1920s." EH.Net Encyclopedia. 2004. Miami University. 2
Jan 2007 <http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/Smiley.1920s.final>.
"The 1920s-How They Roared." The 1920s. 12 Dec 2006. edHelper. 4 Jan 2007
<http://www.edhelper.com/ReadingComprehension_35_365.html>.