Examples of Modernism in Fitzgeralds Great Gatsby Essay

Great Gatsby Essay The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald shows many examples of modernism. Fitzgerald shows many modernism techniques like loss of control, alienation, corruption of the American Dream, breaking society’s rules and feeling restless. Fitzgerald also shows modernism through the fragmented writing. One example of a modernism technique that Fitzgerald uses is loss of control. The characters often lose control and make bad decisions that have horrible effects. For example Tom Buchanan to whom is married to Daisy Buchanan who is the second cousin to nick the main character and narrator of the story, is having an affair with a Mrs. Myrtle Wilson and because she is saying Daisy’s†¦show more content†¦When they returned from war their lives seemed pitiable, contemptible and uninteresting so they searched and searched endlessly for that same adrenaline rush that came into their lives with the war to help feel the void. One example was the narrator Nick Carraway. He was feeling restless after his return from the war and rather then stay in rural America he decided to move east for some excitement under the cover of learning the bond business(page 7). Though the war was a major factor in the restlessness of the characters it is not the only one. For example the Buchanan’s moving about. â€Å"Why they came east I don’t know. They had spent a year in France, for no particular reason, and then drifted here†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (page 10). They moved about not because of the war but to fill the void that was in their lives. Gatsby also expressed his own restlessness but this was most likely linked to him trying to achieve his own American Dream. Daisy. He goes through extreme measures to get her and he is completely dedicated to his dream of her and places himself on a strict daily routine to become a well rounded person (page 181). Alienation another modernism characteristic shows up frequently in The Great Gatsby. The characters are alienated f rom each other and from society and this may be due to that restless feeling that the moderns feel therefore they never truly feel connected to anyone person or to society. They may try to changeShow MoreRelatedF. Scott Fitzgerald s The Great Gatsby797 Words   |  4 PagesAs World War I, the Great Depression, and World War II were occurring, America was in a time of uncertainty and questioning. Therefore, in following with the feeling of the American people, American writers often followed this theme of confusion in their writing, creating the age of Modernism. During the time period of Modernism, writers often included the themes of uncertainty, disjointedness, and disillusionment in their works. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, these three themes of uncertaintyRead MoreThe Influence of Fitzgerals Personal Life on The Gerat Gastby1035 Words   |  5 PagesThe Influence of Fitzgerald’s Personal Life on The Great Gatsby Many authors find inspiration through real life experiences and transform them into works of literature to match how they want to portray them. Fitzgerald is no different, in fact, his personal life is a crucial factor in his writing style. Fitzgerald grew up with increasing numbers of difficulties, but found his way around them and incorporated those experiences into his novels. In order to achieve his goals, he began changingRead MoreThe Absence of Love1030 Words   |  4 Pagesof these things are items that people actually love, but more used to help get them through their daily lives invoking this sense of love. The writing of the modernism period has paralleled this transformation of love from a symbolic and romantic longing for a certain person to this word that carries no weight. During this period of modernism people became weak indeed and unable to make their own desertions thus keeping them from fully understanding love in its true form. The writers of this perio dRead MoreModernism In The Great Gatsby1728 Words   |  7 Pages Modernism in The Great Gatsby The Great Gatsby is a novel by American author F. Scott Fitzgerald that follows the story of Jay Gatsby in the Jazz Age of the United States. Although this novel tells a fictional tale, it also gives readers a window into the social and economic environment of America in the time period following World War I. For this reason, The Great Gatsby is considered one of the most important examples of Modernism in American literature. The Modernist themes in this novel comeRead MoreThe Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald1407 Words   |  6 PagesThe 1920s were a period of great social, political, and technological change in United States (Roaring Twenties†). The Great War had just ended, and America exited the war victorious. Society was becoming more and more social and the economy was booming. Art, design, and especially architecture were becoming more modern due to the occurring Art Deco Movement. And many people had obtained or were close to obtaining their â€Å"American Dream.à ¢â‚¬  In his novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald, throughRead MoreThe Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald1345 Words   |  6 PagesThe Great Gatsby (1925) is very modern in style due to the assortment of different techniques used by F. Scott Fitzgerald throughout the novel, in order to keep up with the trend of 20th century modern literature. Through the critical analysis of techniques used such as symbols, ideas, narration and characters we can explore in-depth to what extent that The Great Gatsby can be deemed as ‘modern’ in style. During the modernist period in the 1920’s, when The Great Gatsby was written, modernism wasRead MoreThe Modernist Movement And Its Influence On Art1688 Words   |  7 Pagesmovement that began at the start of the 20th century and lasted until around 1945.  One of the factors that helped shaped Modernism was the development of modern industrial societies as well as the rapid growth of cities.  Modernists rejected Enligh tenment thinking and some even rejected certain religious beliefs.  One characteristic,  possibly the most important one,  of Modernism was the idea of self-consciousness  (Farah).  The Modernist movement would influence the literature written such as novelsRead MoreThe Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald2324 Words   |  10 PagesTo a great extent Palahniuk defines ‘Fight Club’ as the updated version of ‘The Great Gatsby’ as Palahniuk stated ‘What I was writing was just The Great Gatsby, updated’ as Fitzgerald’s ideas undermine the challenges of a sycophantic culture where it corresponds with commodities that prevailed the 1920s Jazz age and led to its destructive nature. Both novels highlight how the zeitgeist of modernism has evolved over time. Hence, the novels formally being similar with surprisingly undisguised parallelsRead MoreInspiration : The F. Scott Fitzgerald2741 Words   |  11 Pageswas intended to be a third child, but was an only child by the time of his birth. Named in part after his second cousin, thrice removed, Francis Scott Key (father’s side) and in part after his older sister Louise Scott Fitzgerald, Francis Scott Fitzgerald’s name was quite a collaborative result between legacy and reminiscence. Fitzgerald spent most of his early life in Buffalo, New York where he enrolled in several schools, three of which being Catholic. An unusually intelligent student, his timeRead MoreThe Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald893 Words   |  4 PagesFitzgerald once said, â€Å"First you take a drink, then the drink takes a drink, then the drink takes you†. â€Å"The good life† can quickly dwindle into loneliness and sorrow, as portrayed in his masterpiece of a novel The Great Gatsby. Main character Jay Gatsby is an exceptional example of this. As Gatsby wanders throughout the novel trying to impress his lost love, Daisy Buchanan, throwing lavish parties and buyin g her useless things, only to find himself heartbroken and, tragically, dead. Is it better to have