Themes of The Great Gatsby
By F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Decline of the American Dream in
the 1920s
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The disintegration of the American Dream in an era of
prosperity and material excess
Unrestrained desire for money and pleasure surpassed more
noble goals
Americans who fought in the War, disillusioned
New Wealth scorned by old wealth
Rich industrialists, speculators and bootleggers vs. old wealth
Decline--continued
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American Dream—discovery, individualism and pursuit of
happiness
1920s, as portrayed in The Great Gatsby, easy money and
relaxed social values have corrupted this dream—on East
Coast
Gatsby’s dream of loving Daisy is ruined by social class status
He needs to resort to crime to impress her
She needs rampant materialism to support her lifestyle
The Meaning of the Past
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The Past holds something that both Gatsby and Nick
long for:
A simpler, better, nobler time
Tom, Daisy and Jordan are creatures of the
present—so attractive, but so rootless and spiritually
empty
The Hollowness of the Upper Class
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East Egg—old aristocracy
West Egg—newly rich, vulgar, ostentatious and lacking social
graces and taste
Gatsby—ornate mansion, pink suit, Rolls-Royce, but does not
pick up on the insincerity of the Sloanes’ invitation to lunch
Old aristocracy—grace, taste, elegance epitomized by the
Buchanans’ tasteful home, flowing white dresses
The Hollowness--continued
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Old aristocracy—lack heart—careless,
inconsiderate bullies; don’t worry about
hurting others
The Buchanans purchase a new house at
the end; fickle and uncaring
West Eggers—Gatsby, sincere and loyal
heart
The Education of a Young Man
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The Great Gatsby, a story of Nick’s initiation
into life
Trip East gives him the education he needs
to grow up
He hits 30, he realizes his youth is over, and
he needs to reevaluate his choices
Nick, writes The Great Gatsby to show us
what he learned
The Great Gatsby: Point of View
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The “I” of the novel becomes ourselves, and
we, like Nick, wonder who Gatsby is
By writing from limited first person point of
view, gives it an air of realism
We find out more about Gatsby because Nick
does
We care about Gatsby because Nick does
Motifs in The Great Gatsby
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Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, or literary
devices that can help to develop and inform the
text’s major themes
Geography—places and settings epitomize aspects
of the 1920s American society
Weather—the weather in the novel matches the
emotional and narrative tone of the story
Rain (melancholy), sun (love reawakens), hottest
day (confrontation)
Symbols
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The Green Light
The Valley of Ashes
The Eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg--?