The Great Gatsby
Overview PPT
Background to
The Great Gatsby
World War I
Post WWI
• Standard of living increased for
most
• Americans abandoned small
towns in exchange for urban
living
• Economy prospered as Americans
tried to forget troubles of war
- frivolous spending
- illegal liquor
- immorality
The 1920s: Nicknames
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The Roaring ‘20s
The Jazz Age
The Flapper Era
The Aspirin Age
The Age of Wonderful
Nonsense
1920’s Context
WWI made Americans question
traditional ideals.
Literature and art denied
foundations of the past and went
for the new.
The philosophy of the Jazz Age was
called “modernism."
Modernism
• Modernism was an artistic trend
that sought to find new ways to
communicate
• Writers stripped away
descriptions of characters and
setting and avoided direct
statements of themes and
resolutions
• This “fragmented” style of
The Jazz Age / Roaring
Twenties
• 1918-1929: the years after
the end of World War I,
continuing through the
Roaring Twenties and
ending with the rise of the
Great Depression.
• The age takes its name from
jazz, which saw a
tremendous surge in
popularity among many
segments of society.
• Jazz music set exalted
standards – Louis
Armstrong & Duke
Ellington
• This was a period of
pleasure seeking &
reckless exuberance
• Most of Fitzgerald’s
stories provide a picture
Prohibition
• 18th Amendment to Constitution
prohibited manufacture and sale
of alcoholic beverages
• Thousands turned to
bootlegging
• Mob activity increased to supply
the demand for what was once
legal
More 1920’s
• This period has been referred to as
“The Lost Generation”.
• Hemingway, in his novel “The Sun
Also Rises” depicts a group of
expatriate Americans, wandering
aimlessly through Europe, sensing
that they are powerless and that
life is pointless in the aftermath of
the Great War.
• “The Great Gatsby” can be seen to
encapsulate this perception of life
without purpose, of restlessness,
Historical Connections
• F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote and set
The Great Gatsby in the United
States in the 1920s.
• The novel chronicles an era that
Fitzgerald himself dubbed the "Jazz
Age." Following the shock and
chaos of World War I, American
society enjoyed unprecedented
levels of prosperity during the
"roaring" 1920s as the economy
soared.
• At the same time, Prohibition, the
ban on the sale and manufacture of
alcohol made millionaires out of
bootleggers and led to an increase
in organized crime.
• Although Fitzgerald, like Nick
Conspicuous Consumption
• This term was originally coined to
refer to the rise & power of
extremely rich businessmen, who
displayed their wealth in
ostentatious houses &
extravagant behaviour.
• This was invariably wasteful &
implied increasing poverty among
the lower classes in society.
Advertising & the mass
market
• By the time “The Great Gatsby” was
published, the American population
had almost doubled.
• solution = mass production.
• Led to technological development cars, air travel and the telephone as well as new modernist trends in
social behaviour, the arts, and
culture. Central developments
included Art Deco design and
architecture.
• This growth in commodities led to
standardisation, where all citizens
might have the right to buy items that
were available to all.
• The early years saw a corresponding
change in advertising – products
F. Scott
Fitzgeral • Born in Minnesota in
1896
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• Started writing in
school - finished his
first play in 1911
• In 1914 he met and
fell in love with a
girl who rejected
him because he was
not rich enough.
• In 1917 he received a
commission as an
infantry second
lieutenant.
The Great Gatsby
• After the birth of their child, the
Fitzgeralds moved to Great Neck,
Long Island in October 1922,
appropriating Great Neck as the
setting for The Great Gatsby.
• Fitzgerald's neighbours included
newly wealthy New Yorkers.
Great Neck, on the shores of
Long Island Sound, sat across a
bay from Manhasset Neck or Cow
Neck Peninsula, and was home to
F. Scott Fitzgerald
• His death in 1940, was not
unlike Gatsby’s. Despite
having once been the
golden boy of the Jazz Age,
upon his death, many of his
obituaries were
condescending, capitalizing
on his personal hardships.
Not one of his books
remained in print and every
indication suggested he was
on his way into obscurity.
• However, after World War
II, interest in his work began
to grow and by the 1960s,
he had begun to secure a
place among the great
twentieth century American
authors.
• His works provide a
valuable voice for
exploring themes of
ambition, justice, equity, and
the American dream—themes
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
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
Settings in The Great Gatsby
• West Eggwhere Nick and
Gatsby live,
represents new
money
• East Eggwhere Daisy
lives, the more
fashionable
area,
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
The American Dream
• Gatsby is the
ideal image of
one who has
achieved the
American
Dream.
• What is the
American
Dream and who
has achieved it
American Dream Cont.
Critical Overview of
the Novel
How has the reception changed
over the decades?
The 1920s
• While fellow writers praised
Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby,
critics offered less favorable
reviews.
Newspaper Reviews
• The Baltimore Evening Sun called
the plot “no more than a glorified
anecdote” and the characters
“mere marionettes.”
• The New York Times called the
book “neither profound nor
durable.”
• The London Times saw it as
“undoubtedly a work of great
promise” but criticized its
“unpleasant” characters.
The 1930s
• Fitzgerald’s reputation reached
its lowest point during the
Depression, when he was viewed as
a Jazz Age writer whose time has
come and gone.
• The Great Gatsby went out of
print in 1939.
• When Fitzgerald died a year later,
Time magazine didn’t even mention
The Great Gatsby.
The 1940s
• Interest in Fitzgerald was revived
with the posthumous book, The
Last Tycoon.
• A literary critic was the first to
point out that Gatsby, despite its
Jazz Age setting, focused on
timeless, universal concerns.
The 1950s
• Fitzgerald’s reputation soared
with a new biography entitled The
Far Side of Paradise.
• The London Times affirmed that
Gatsby is “one of the best-if not
the best-American novels of the
past fifty years.”
What is the reputation
today?
• The Great Gatsby’s place as a
major novel is now assured.
• Most high schools teach this
novel
It’s time for you to
decide,
Old Sport…
Themes
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Jazz Age / Roaring Twenties
Long Island and USA
The American Dream
Position of women
The Automobile
Prohibition & organized crime
Success & failure
Hope & sense of purpose
Role of time
Conflict betw. Illusion & reality
Honesty vs lies
Symbols
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Eyes
The East & the West
Dust & ash
Money & wealth (old vs new)
Significance of colours
Characterization
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Gatsby
Daisy Buchanan
Tom Buchanan
Jordan Baker
Nick Carraway (Narration)
Myrtle Wilson
George Wilson
Meyer Wolfshiem