Essay Sample on The Great Gatsby: Turing of a Century and Culture

By the turn of the century in 1900, America had in many ways developed into a much vaster and different place compared to in 1800 or even in 1850. At the start of the 20th century America was becoming industrialized, exercising a sphere of influence, and was no longer a loose collection of agricultural states but a United nation on track to become a world superpower. Of the works discussed in class the one that is single most concerned with the cultural changes that occurred at the turn of the century is “The Great Gatsby”, which highlights the hyper focus on wealth and status, the allure and migration to the cities, and the progression away from tradition. 

“The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald is the truest representation of the cultural changes that occurred at the turning of the 19th century, this is because Fitzgerald wrote his work during said time period. This effect gives “The Great Gatsby” more relevance and application in its critec and representation of 1920’s America, unlike other authors or works discussed which were written 50-70 years prior. During the early 20th century, big changes were occurring in the Western world. Rejection of tradition is a theme, potentially the central theme, seen throughout history, one of the best examples being the Protestant reformation in 16th century Europe. These ideas can be seen most clearly and specifically in America, a land where tradition had long been rejected such as with monarchy as a form of government and again the replacing/fleeing of Catholicism for Protestantism. All of the cultural changes during the turn of the century specifically relating to “The Great Gatsby” have to do with this theme of history in one way or another.

With some historical context around “The Great Gatsby” in place, one of the cultural changes highlighted is the movement of people into the cities.  This is seen in the novel when the narrator of the story, Nick Carraway, moves from his humble family and roots in the Midwest to become a financier on Wall Street in big modern New York City. We are told of his migration and shown his assimilation to the city from the very beginning of the first pages of the book such as on page 3 in this quote from Nick, “…I came East, permanently, I thought, in the spring of twenty-two.” In this quote from Nick, Fitzgerald is describing to the reader Nick’s traveling to the city and early in the passage why. This provides a clear example of peoples real life migration that was taking place from rural to urban in the United States in efforts to make more money and enjoy more amenities.

Fitzgerald displays this moving from rural, traditional homes in favor of a place like New York City, and the motivations behind why to set up the next theme of the novel. The next social change highlighted in “The Great Gatsby” is the widespread obsession with wealth and status especially in urban areas of the time. Fitzgerald portrays this through the use of the gold, green, and other exotic bright colors when describing Jay Gatsby’s car, clothes, parties, and wealthy displays in general such as on pages 91 and 92 when describing Gatsby’s room and clothing. Fitzgerald also shows the change in focus toward wealth and status in his portrayal of new money, or people who are not aristocratic heirs but have achieved financial and social status because of the booming economy of the 1920s. Fitzgerald highlights this class as a foil to old money elitists to emphasize that everyone and anyone is now becoming or is obsessed with wealth and status; no longer merely the few noble elites. 

After establishing why people are moving to the cities, and the greed it is creating, Fitzgerald connects everything together with the overarching theme of the novel and history. The final change Fitzgerald highlights in “The Great Gatsby'' is the progression away from tradition. This is done not just through his characterization of behaviors toward wealth and status but also peoples’ deconstruction of social norms around marriage. A big part of his analysis of this cultural shift has to specifically do with extramarital affairs and the advent of dating in place of courtship. Some of the many examples would be Tom Buchanan’s affair with Myrtle and Nick going out on dates, a very new concept of the time brought on by the advent of the automobile, with Jordan Baker for tea and dinner. Not only are we shown that many people are having extramarital affairs but many know and do not care, almost as if it is a daily part of life. In chapter 2 the reader and Nick are introduced to Tom’s affair with Myrtle when visiting the valley of ashes on page24, “We’re getting off’ him insisted.‘I want you to meet my girl.” Throughout the rest of the chapter we see many other characters not only complacent but joyous about their “relationship” at the party in the flat; representative of the debauchery and looseness around marriage and dating in the cities in years when everything was taken for granted.

To close, in the “The Great Gatsby” F. Scott Fitzgerald emphasizes changes in culture during the turn of the century specifically concerning hyper focuses on wealth and status, the allure and migration to the cities, and the progression away from traditional values. In doing so Fitzgerald distinguishes “The Great Gatsby” from other works discussed as the work that is singularly most relevant to the cultural changes happening at the time of its writing. “The Great Gatsby” is antithesis of modern history and it’s theme, the rejection of tradition, making the points that the developments leading to the novel and occurring during the time of the novel are not necessarily good and will have disastrous consequences, one of which being the Stock Market Crash of 1929.