How The Great Gatsby Reflects The Social Conditions of 1920’s America

The novel ‘The Great Gatsby’ by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a fiction piece set in the 1920s in the United States. The novel heavily revolves around the idea of the “American Dream” just after World War One (WW1) where there was a general belief that everyone had the equal opportunity of success. It was also a time period of where racism was still rife even in the northern states, and social division had escalated throughout the country. Fitzgerald incorporates characters which portray the themes of attitudes of superiority towards the wealthy and the poor, through the aspect of money. The Great Gatsby novel is also a commentary on the 1920’s time period, not just a description of these themes.

In the novel, Fitzgerald reflects on the era of prohibition. Prohibition was introduced because it was perceived to create social disharmony and impacted home life. Instead of overcoming crime, it introduced a new form of crime and wealth by illegally selling alcohol by bootleggers. Gatsby's incredible wealth was due to his involvement with the shady Meyer Wolfsheim who was heavily involved in illegal gambling and alcohol distribution. Gatsby was a representative of that through the assistance of Wolfsheim. This influenced a social barrier between artificial wealth and natural wealth sceptically between Tom and Gatsby. “He’s not one of us”, a quote spoken by Tom, signifies this social divide. The easy money earnt by Gatsby financed the major theme of the novel by buying things in order to impress Daisy. When Gatsby met his unfortunate end, the house and its contents were repossessed by Wolfsheim and Gatsby left no legacy, financial or otherwise. Fitzgerald in the novel attempt to point out that the restrictions were ignored by displaying defiance through the characters.

Alcohol is evident on the majority of the gatherings such as parties, dinners, lunches and Gatsby’s gatherings for example when Nick and Tom went to the apartment with Myrtle and got drunk. Overall Fitzgerald seems to be making the point that prohibition was futile.

The 1920s was an era of women beginning to assert themselves into society and being released from the ‘Victorian era’ most likely due to the influence of the First World War. Numerous external factors indicated the change of women such as skirts becoming shorter, hairstyles changing (shorter), having the ability to drive and women began to smoke and drink especially in public. This reflected the freedom that was supposed to follow women being given the right to vote in the 1920’s.

The novel is reflecting Fitzgerald's view on the asserting of women being superficial in the 1920, although while noting Fitzgerald addresses these changes he is focusing on the superficiality of these changes. Even though women had ‘freedom’ there is evidence that they were repressed by their husbands. Daisy tolerated Toms Violence. Myrtle was locked inside the house when George suspected an affair. Daisy also revealed her attitude towards females in that era when she mentions “and I hope she’ll be a fool – that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool”, is a quote Fitzgerald included to reveal Daisy’s attitudes towards females in that era. “ you make me feel uncivilized daisy”, is a quote spoken by Tom which signifies the majority of men, back then, considerable behaviour towards women. It also leads onto how although men were in a way feared by women they were prepared to stay as shown by Daisy when she wasn’t prepared to leave Tom, as she was afraid of losing financial stability of the ‘old money’.

The era of the 1920s was very segregated which influenced continuous negative behaviours towards the black race. An Example of this includes poor schooling opportunities, which then impacted workforces and lower social mobility. Fitzgerald highlights this through Tom Buchannan’s views and comments such as “if we don’t look out the white race will be utterly submerged” and “it is up to us the dominant race to watch out or these other races will have control of things”, where he is showing the social divide between races during that era. In the novel, Fitzgerald also makes the point of racism evident by how no one stood up or reacted towards Tom’s comments.

The 1920s saw a movement of Blacks towards the Northern States from the South to escape oppression and few opportunities of reasonable employment. The Harlem area grew during this period.

On the scene in a novel that heavily depicts Fitzgerald racism views, was when he mentions “three modish Negros”, where the limousine is driven by a white chauffeur, with the afro Americans in the back drinking champagne and covered in jewellery. This could represent weather Fitzgerald’s aim was to show what he would hope to happen in the future where afro Americans have upward mobility or reflect what the influence of some growth in affluence in Harlem.

In the 1920’s era the rich became richer and then and even today, wealth was regarded as power. The issue of money and possessions is obvious in Fitzgerald's novel. Gatsby has money to ‘burn’ and Tom is obviously very wealthy. Gatsby believed that money could buy him power and would be the basis of a relationship with Daisy. Tom believed that money gave him the right to possess Daisy and take a power position over other people. The novel points to the emptiness of possessions as Daisy is not on over by Gatsby’s impressive parties and Tom has money but shows little evidence of character. Even money enabled both Tom and Gatsby to buy powerful vehicles in an era where the size and model your car was a sign of success. The cars eventually lead their downfall as Gatsby’s expensive vehicle was involved in the tragedy and was eventually possessed by Wolfsheim.

To conclude, the above examples illustrate how Fitzgerald's novel reflects the social conditions of the time, however, it is not only a reflection but is a commentary on what Fitzgerald regard as the emptiness of that era. This commentary reflects what Fitzgerald thought of the 'new and old money' the futility of the prohibition era, the superficiality of the changes towards gender equality, as well as inadequate racial views.