Jazz Age and The Great Gatsby

In the 1920s, America experienced changes in the economy, society, and art and entered an age of development. Due to these developments, the Jazz Age started in the U.S.A. This period was the age of jazz, fun, and parties. Wealthy people had fun but pauper people were in terrible situations at those times. Fitzgerald reflected on this period through his story namely The Great Gatsby. Before analyzing the period with Fitzgerald, it is good to know Jazz Age

In this period, a new economic era was started by Henry Ford who is founder of Ford Motor Company. In 1929, there were about 22 million cars in America thanks to Henry Ford. This event had some effects on the industry and it was not just about the car industry it affected all of America. By using the assembly line, techniques factories were able to raise their products such as steel companies and glass companies. And then, new job opportunities and industries opened like repair shops and gas stations. Also, motels and restaurants started to be opened on the way. Cities also grew because people could travel anywhere by using cars. People did not care about public transportation in cities, they could live in the suburbs and it led to the development of some cities such as Detroit and Michigan. And Ford’s cars led to an increase in Tourism because with cars Americans could travel wherever they want. And the rise of the economy led to new pay opportunities for customers like credit. There were other changes in America such as; the right to vote being given to women, sports becoming popular thanks to radio, and movies becoming popular. 

But on the other hand, there were farmers and common people. Because of World War I, the demand for products slowed. Affluent people were really rich but the other side of America was really poor. And the Jazz Age started here. America was divided into two parts. The Jazz Age was not about only fun and parties, there were problems, too. One part was paradise the other part was hell. The jazz age had two dimensions and F. Scott Fitzgerald showed us this situation in The Great Gatsby.

In this story, there are two different America, the east part is strong in contrast, and the west part is poor. The narrator, Nick’s home is in the west while Daisy who is Nick’s cousin, and her husband’s house are in the east. And weak people want to be rich, they have the American dream but rich people do have not any purpose in their life. Daisy and her husband just travel because there is nothing except for traveling. As you know, money brings immorality with itself and the author shows us these immoralities within the book. Tom the husband of Daisy cheats on Daisy, she knows it but she does not care. And there is a woman whose name is Myrtle, she hopes to be rich one day, she has an American dream. And of course, Gatsby who is the protagonist is having huge parties, people come to these parties from other cities. He has flashy life but he has no feelings, he cannot buy feelings and he cannot buy his lover Daisy. At the end of the story, the bad ending is waiting for rich people but common people continue their life in a normal way So, it can be said that Fitzgerald symbolizes and criticizes everything about Jazz Age’s America with characters and help us to understand this illusion. Its’ name is the jazz age because people who see this world from the outside, are not aware of this illusion. If everyone was aware of this, the name would be the age of suffering. Because there was no prosperity in the country and only five percent of the country was rich.  

In conclusion, everyone who lived in the jazz age, could not see negative events in the jazz period because the pink part of life concealed the blackness of the era. There were significant developments but most of the country could not benefit from these developments. Fitzgerald as a reflector of the era showed the real face of this era and challenged the irony of the era.