Modernis

Modernism: What is it?

Literary, art, philosophical
movement
Peaked in the 1920s-1940s
Why did it happen?
WWI, II, changes in technology and
wealth

Modernism: What is it?

Loneliness & the struggle for
survival
Fighting for the American
Dream
Individualism
The randomness of life
Doubt in what was thought
to be true

Modernism covered
Race relations
Gender roles
Sexuality
Loss of self & need for selfdefinition
Psychological & spiritual
wounds of war
The American Dream

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Background
Married Zelda
Sayre
(lots of issues!!)

Drinking, debt,
cheating
Dies of a heart
attack
Described
much of the
1920s

 Fitzgerald began planning the

novel in 1923
Gatsby wasnt published until 1925
Inspired by parties Fitzgerald
attended on Long Island
The book didnt sell very well at
first (only 20,000 copies)

 Many feel that The Great Gatsby

lines up with a lot of events from
Fitzgeralds life
The book shows Fitzgeralds
conflicting feelings about wealth,
leisure, and the Jazz Age

Characters
Nick Carraway
Narrator
Yale graduate
Veteran of WWI
29 years-old
Gatsbys
neighbor
Daisys cousin
Easy-going,
sarcastic, and
optimistic

Daisy Buchanan
Socialite
Self-absorbed
Nicks cousin
Gatsbys former
romance
Married to Tom
Buchanan
Flapper

Tom Buchanan
A millionaire
Daisys hubby
Muscle-y
Former football
player at Yale
White
supremacist
We dont like
him.

Myrtle Wilson

Toms other woman. Married to George

Wilson.

Jordan Baker
Friend of Daisy
Nicks girlfriend
Amateur golfer
Known for being
shady

Meyer Wolfsheim

Gatsbys mentor a gambler who

fixed the World Series
Jewish man
Symbol of anti-Semitism

Jay Gatsby
War vet
Millionaire
Young
In love with
Daisy
Shady
business
connections

Setting:

Other places/locations
Valley of Ashes: a narrow channel that
railroads pass through from NYC to the high
class villages of East and West Egg
Symbol of the separation between rich and poor
the poor cant escape
The American Dream is impossible to achieve
By-product of capitalism is empty, bland ashes

T.J. Eckelbergs eyes: a leftover advertisement

for glasses that shows a giant pair of eyes
Symbol of the loss of spiritual values
The eyes are forgotten, and left to stare down at the
valley of ashes while everyone moves on to try to
make more money

Major Themes
The broken American dream
Money, broken social and moral values, and
being self-absorbed breaks the American
dream

The hollow upper class

New millionaires are obnoxious, loud, bad
social taste
Old millionaires are bullies, inconsiderate,
and careless

How can we relate?

Do we WANT to be
rich?
http://
youtu.be/Aom1eSy
I6F4
Sense of self
Keep identity
separate from
their money

 How might people who are born into wealth be

similar/different from those who become rich
overnight?
Would you date or marry someone just for money?
What would be the advantages and
disadvantages of doing this?
What defines a persons social class today? Would
you date or marry someone below your own social
class? What would be your parents reaction?
How would you or your parents reaction be
different if the person was above your social class?
Can money really buy happiness? Explain.