An Introduction to The Great Gatsby

The GreatGatsby

by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Sunday, August 25, 13

What do you think of when you hear “Roaring Twenties”?

A golden age? Jazz? Flappers? Sex? Alcohol? Gangsters?

This decade saw the rise (and demise) of many things, such as...

...huge parties with big bands, lots of alcohol and lots of free love.

...the influx of black artists, like singer, dancer and actress Josephine Baker.

The rise of flappers*.

*Flappers were a "new breed" of young Western women in the 1920s who wore short skirts, bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their disdain for what was then considered acceptable behaviorSunday, August 25, 13

The rise of film and movie stars.Sunday, August 25, 13

The rise of the modern Broadway musical.Sunday, August 25, 13

Social Inequality

It saw good times for the wealthy. Sunday, August 25, 13

... but tough times for the poor.

Text50% 50%

Top .1% (114,000 Americans)Bottom 42% (48 million Americans)

The wealth controlled by the very few equaled the wealth of almost half the country

Old money vs. new money

“Old Money” referred to wealthy families whose wealth has been handed down from generation to generation.

The Vanderbilt family

“New Money” referred to those from originally lower social classes and came upon wealth usually through work and sometimes through illegal activities.

actors, actresses and other Hollywood types often fell

within this categorySunday, August 25, 13

Prohibition and Gangsters

The 18th Amendment, or the prohibition of alcohol, was instituted in 1920

Prohibition led to ...

...bootlegging, or the illegal movement and sale of alcohol.

...speakeasies, or illegally operated bars, which were usually owned by gangsters.

...crime lords, and bootlegging king pens, like Al Capone.

...rise in mob violence, which culminated in the 1929 St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.

Scandals

In 1919, eight members of the Chicago White Sox were accused of throwing the World Series.

The Jewish mobster Arnold Rothstein, who funded the scandal (this is an actor from Boardwalk Empire) is fictionalized in The Great Gatsby as Meyer Wolfsheim

Citizens lost trust in the police because of cops purchased by organized crime and lost trust in government because of several scandals.

The Teapot Dome Scandal

The Teapot Dome Scandal occurred in which President Warren G. Harding’s administration allowed oil companies to drill on federal land without putting up a bid.Sunday, August 25, 13

Themes

The history of the era contributes to many of the novel’s themes.

As American society becomes more materialistic and loses faith in ideals, the green land turns into a valley of ashes.

The very wealthy are insensitive to others and exhibit a moral laxness

because of their riches.Sunday, August 25, 13

Because he does have a dream, energy, and enthusiasm, Gatsby is superior to

the idle rich he wishes to emulate. Sunday, August 25, 13

F. Scott Fitzgerald(1896-1940)

About the author

Many of the events that happen in The Great Gatsby closely resemble those

that occurred in Fitzgerald’s life.Sunday, August 25, 13

Quick Facts

1. Born and raised in St. Paul, Minnesota

Quick Facts

2. Went to Princeton and then went off to join the army*

Quick Facts

* Nick Carraway does the same in Gatsby

Quick Facts

3. He is part of The Lost Generation of writers who moved to Europe following the war.

Quick Facts

4. While at Princeton, he fell in love with the young socialite, Ginevra King. When Fitzgerald is overseas, she informs him that she’s marrying someone of her social class.**

Quick Facts

4. While at Princeton, he fell in love with the young socialite, Ginevra King. When Fitzgerald is overseas, she informs him that she’s marrying someone of her social class.**

** Daisy Buchanan, Gatsby’s love, is modeled on this character

Although not in the novel, several movie adaptations of Gatsby have included the line, “Rich girls don’t marry poor boys.” It is believed King said this to Fitzgerald.

Fitzgerald’s wife , Zelda, suffered from alcoholism and schizophrenia.

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