In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel the Great Gatsby, morality played a huge factor in how the reader views the people of the 1920s. The 1920s was a period in our history, much like many other eras, where people were attempting the reach the “American Dream” at any cost. In Fitzgerald’s novel the most common dream was wealth, power, and social status. This dream was evident in every character in some way. It was each of the character’s dreams that allowed them to push aside other important issues such as morality or other people’s consideration in their pursuit of personal happiness. The characters and the people of the 1920s were willing to do anything they needed, whether it was consciously or subc

Gatsby’s dream was not that of money and power actually. His dream was that of love. He chose to pursue wealth and stature in hopes of achieving what he wanted, Daisy, but inevitably he lost sight of his original intent and found comfort in his wealth. In the end it wouldn’t have mattered either way. Gatsby’s dream of having Daisy love him as he loved her would never happen no matter if he had all the money, power and wealth in the world. Strong social class lines were drawn during this era and more often then not people of lower status believed that their ills and perils would be relived if they had the opportunity to reach higher social status. Myrtle Wilson also felt this way, thus her purist of Tom Buchanan, Daisy’s husband. Their love however was doomed just as Gatsby and Daisy’s love was. The class lines of the 1920s were so defined that for both of these groups and many others, true love was virtually impossible. Even though the characters in the Great Gatsby, and man!

The 1920s were not only a time lacking morality and failure of the American dream but also a time of lawlessness. Fitzgerald portrays most of the main characters as reckless, ‘careless’, and lawless. One of the most common things portrayed was the passiveness of the affairs going on. It was more then obvious to everyone around Tom, including his wife Daisy, that he had another women on the side. His acts showed how other people might have viewed the people of the United States as being dishonest and unable to hold a commitment. Another example is Myrtle. Other then adultery, she committed one other small crime, but it proved fatal for her. She jaywalked. Her small crime showed how the people of this era were careless in what they did whether it was something small or large; they did things with a whim and (forgive my pun) didn’t look both ways before crossing the street. They drove carelessly; they loved carelessly, and treated their lives carelessly. People like Gatsby were rigging professional sports, such as the 1919 World Series. Professional athletes were abandoning sportsmanship and cheating as Jordan Baker did. People were involved in hit and run accidents like Daisy and others committed murder like Wilson. Amazingly, after all of this, the people of the 1920s were able to sleep at night. They w

Some topics in this essay:
Tom Buchanan’s, Jay Gatsby, Tom Daisy, Al Capone, Scott Fitzgerald’s, Nick Caraway, Gatsby Daisy’s, Wilson Amazingly, Scott Fitzgerald, Never-the-less Gatsby, people 1920s, social elite, social status, reach social status, gatsby’s dream, true love, fitzgerald’s novel, wealth power, american history, people 1920s willing, class lines, money power,