The American DreamModernism and The Great Gatsby

Historical Events America achieving world dominance 2 world wars Depression following years of

prosperity

World War I Trench war Weaponry advanced beyond military

strategies US enters after the sinking of the

Lusitania

Historical events continued

War influenced writers like Hemingway and e. e. cummings

November 1918 – end of war and creation of League of Nations

1919 – Prohibition 1920’s – Roaring Twenties: booming

economy and growth of cities New York City center of art and culture

Historical Events continued. . .

conservatism and values of previous decade were “turned on their ear” as money, opulence, and exuberance became the order of the day

1929 – 1940: Great Depression

Artistic Trends of the 1920s: Joseph Stella 1877 – 1946

-Born in Itlay, but moved to the United States at age 25

-Concerned with the overall design on the canvass and how the various parts relate to one another.

-Uses symmetrical balance to hold compositions together.

Kathe Kollwitz 1867 - 1945

- Printmaker, draftsperson and sculptor- Focused on themes of pacifism and mourning –

due to the death of her son Peter in 1914- Simplified composition to emphasize emotions.

Futurism

Movement started in Italy Focus on the lines of force or the

dynamism of each object Paintings capture the “energy” of the

objects depicted. Glorifies industrialization and

technology unlike German Expressionism which saw it as dehumanizing.

Critic, “Max Anderson: Artist Joseph Stella first saw the Brooklyn Bridge when he arrived in New York from a small town in southern Italy. He was struck by the dazzling industry of the city. But life in New York as a recent immigrant was also a struggle. Many nights, Stella sought refuge on the vast expanse of the bridge's walkway where, he said, "I felt deeply moved, as if on the threshold of a new religion.“

www.whitney.org/american_voices

The Mothers 1923

A series of woodcuts expressing Kollwitz’s feelings and emotions surrounding the terrible tragedies of WWI

Vienna is Dying! Save its Children! 1920

This poster is a response to the postwar food shortage that crippled Germany after WWI.

Literary Trend of the 1920s

Modernism (1915-1945)› Definition: the deliberate departure from

tradition and the use of innovative forms of expression

Traits of Modernism

1. fragmentation in plot, characters, theme, images, and overall storyline

2. common themes: loss, alienation/loneliness, moral decay, unavoidable change

3. “truth” = a questionable concept – lack of any universal truth; truths are only individual

4. unreliable narrator with a limited point of view (1st person)

5. omit resolutions, interpretations, transitions, and summaries

6. themes are implied, not stated7. use of symbols to suggest themes8. ambiguous ending9. setting is often symbolic

Modernist Poets

William Carlos Williams – “Red Wheelbarrow”

T. S. Eliot – “The Wasteland” , “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”

e. e. cummings

Modernist Novelists

William Faulkner – The Sound and the Fury, As I Lay Dying

Ernest Hemingway – For Whom the Bell Tolls

Zora Neale Hurtson – Their Eyes Were Watching God

F. Scott Fitzgerald

He found this lifestyle seductive and exciting…

HOWEVER…

saw through the “glitter” of the Jazz Age to the moral emptiness and hypocrisy beneath

part of him longed for morality The Great Gatsby 1925 – showed

fascination but growing distrust of the the wealthy.

SO…

The Great Gatsby is Fitzgerald’s attempt to confront his conflicting feelings about the Jazz Age

It captures people striving for personal fulfillment through material wealth. The quest for pleasure was accompanied by a sense of inner despair

Gatsby Key Facts

Date of Publication: 1925 Setting: Summer of 1922 – East Egg &

West Egg Narrator: 1st person (Nick Carraway)

Gatsby Character (main) List

Nick Carroway Jay Gatsby Jordan Baker Daisy Buchanan Tom Buchanan George Wilson Myrtle Wilson