The 1920s were a decade of rebirth characterised by the founding of the "American
Dream" -- the belief that anyone can, and should, achieve material success. The defining
writer of the 1920s was F. Scott Fitzgerald whose most famous novel, The Great Gatsby,
has become required reading for present-day high school students. We study Fitzgerald's
novel for the same reason we study Shakespeare. The literature composed by both authors
contains themes and morals that continue to be relevant to modern society. As a result,
this novel could have easily been written in modern times. In his novel, Fitzgerald criticises
the American Dream by describing its negative characteristics: class struggles between the
rich and the poor, the carelessness of the rich, and the false relationship between money
and happiness.
"The Great Gatsby ... describes the failure of the American dream, from the point of
view that American political ideals conflict with the actual social conditions that......
Join Now or Login to view the rest of this paper.
Approximate Word Count: 844
Approximate Pages: 4 (260 words per double-spaced page) |