The First World War had just ended; hardened young soldiers returned to daily suburban life. The country was dry under the sanctions of Prohibition. How was it that this time period came to be called “The Roaring Twenties?” Nearly all credit must be given to the arts and entertainment of this volatile period in time. F. Scott Fitzgerald, author of The Great Gatsby, is perhaps the most recognized of authors associated with the literary flowering of the 1920’s in America. The concern of most authors during this time was of the materialism that had suddenly swept the country. Credit was easy, interest rates were low, and corruption abounded. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald portrays how the American dream of success had withered until at times it was nothing more than greedy desire. The sanguine American dream that had turned no one away and had given all an equal opportunity for happiness and success was no longer. Through use of his main character, Jay Gatsby, and through various symbols in the novel, Fitzgerald develops his sketch of the demise of American society.

Jay Gatsby is Fitzgerald’s embodiment of the American dream of rags-to-riches. Gatsby began life as the son

Baseball and sports ………………………….4.30-5.00

As Gatsby’s father said, “It just shows you” (182) how determined to attain his goal and self-disciplined Gatsby was as a young dreamer. He wanted to change the world by being the one who would invent a “needed invention” (181). He recognized the importance of studying and “no more smokeing or chewing” or “wasting time” (181). He even made himself “read one improving book or magazine every week” (182). Young Gatz was bound to get make it big. He had what it took: the brains, the will-power, the looks, and the ambition. However pure Gatsby’s intentions were when he was young boy, by the time he is a grown man and has made it in the world, his story of success is quite different from that which his dreams foretold. What Fitzgerald is trying to show is the change of Gatsby’s original pure American dream to his success, spawned from corruption. Nick’s opinion of Gatsby has changed many times throughout the novel, and it isn’t until the end that he can identify what had happened to Gatsby’s dream, what had “preyed on Gatsby” (123). Gatsby evidently is involved in shady business. He has friends who are gamblers, who wear human molars as cuff links, and who have rigged the World Series. He has been involved in bootlegging grain alcohol and now makes living selling bonds. He has become the kind of man who takes lightly “playing with the faith of fifty-million people” and does business with men who should be in jail, except “They can’t get him” (78). Business which is “his own affair” often beckons him away from his friends or guests, business which he is most unwilling to speak of. Gatsby’s unwillingness to speak of his dealing hints at the s

Some topics in this essay:
Work…………………………………………830-430 Baseball, Valley Ashes, World Series, Gatsby Fitzgerald, Nick Carraway, Dr Eckelburg’s, Scott Fitzgerald, Lake Superior, James Gatz, World War, american dream, valley ashes, jay gatsby, american dream success, gatsby’s father, success withered, nick carraway, james gatz, gatsby fitzgerald, demise american, dream success,