Selfish People

To be selfish is when you only think about yourself and no one else. In The Great Gatsby the people who are obviously selfish are Daisy Buchanan, Tom Buchanan, and Myrtle Wilson
Daisy Buchanan on the inside is very selfish. She is described in the novel to have “Her voice filled with money“ (The Great Gatsby). And that means that since she has been spoiled her whole life she doesn’t know the meaning of wanting something. An example of her being selfish is how she only married Tom because Gatsby was poor and Tom was rich, but she later says that she would’ve waited for him if only he had been rich. Which shows that she only cares about the money.
Tom Buchanan is also very selfish. He is just one of those guys who will do whatever to get what he wants. For example when he finds out about Gatsby and Daisy secret affair he forces a confrontation and since Daisy is all freaked out about what’s happening he gains her trust again. He’s also selfish about Daisy’s affair with Gatsby. Since Tom is cheating on Daisy with Myrtle for him its ok but for Daisy it isn’t only he can have Daisy.




SOURCES:

"The Great Gatsby Characters." Shmoop: Study Guides & Teacher Resources. Web. 31 May 2010. http:/www.shmoop.com/great-gatsby/characters.html>.

Unrequited Love

First of all unrequited love is when you are in love with someone that isn't in love with you. Unrequited love is hard for the person that is in love with a person who doesn’t love them back. In The Great Gatsby George Wilson loves his wife Myrtle, but Myrtle obviously love George because if she did she wouldn’t be cheating on him. George loves Myrtle very much and that’s why he doesn’t beat her or yell at her. Another example is between Gatsby and Daisy it may seem that they love each other and they really do though. But in their relationship Gatsby loves Daisy a bit more than she loves him. And that just doesn’t help her situation with her husband Tom.
Now a days unrequited loves are all around us. In music, for example Untouchable Face by Ani Difranco, Jessie’s Girl by Rick Springfield, etc. all these songs talk about how they love someone and that one person doesn’t love them back. In movies like 500 Days of Summer the guy is head-over-heals for a girl who doesn’t return any feelings back to him. And many people know about Forest Gump, Forest was in love with Jenny but she never really loved him back. So as you can see unrequited love has been in our lives for a very long time, either you have gone thru it or know someone unrequited love is a hard thing to deal with.

Jealousy

Jealousy is often referred to as resentment or a feeling of rivalry towards another person. In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, this feeling of resentment and rivalry is exactly what many of the characters feel towards each other. The main rivalry in The Great Gatsby is seen through Jay Gatsby and Tom Buchanan. Both of the men are jealous of each other on account of Daisy, Tom's wife and Jay's only true love besides money. Tom Buchanan has pushed Daisy away with his coldness of being and his alleged mistresses which Daisy knows about; because Tom is not kind of loving to Daisy, she retracts herself from him, making her all the more accessible for Jay Gatsby. When Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan are finally reunited after five years, they begin to see each other and fall in love all over again. Jay Gatsby envies Tom because he is married to Daisy at this point in the novel. Although Gatsby loves her and believes he would be a better man to her than Tom is, she is married to Tom, thus he is jealous of Tom. He also becomes more jealous of Tom in Chapter 7 of the novel when Daisy Buchanan admits that she "can't say that [she] never loved Tom." (The Great Gatsby). Gatsby is heartbroken because his delusion that Daisy has always only loved him has been shattered; he also grows increasingly jealous after Daisy admits this because he wanted to be her only love, but after hearing Daisy's proclamation, he felt as if he had to compete for her love. Although Jay Gatsby is envious of Tom Buchanan for his importance in Daisy's life, Tom is jealous of Gatsby, as well. If Tom is already married to Daisy, then why is he jealous of Gatsby? Well, Tom Buchanan is jealous of Gatsby simply because his wife is in love with him. Tom is hypocritical in this way; he is in love with Myrtle Wilson, but he is angered when he find out that his wife is in love with Jay Gatsby. Is it not the same principle? Tom is envious that Daisy and Gatsby have known each other for five years, as well; this leads him to believe that they had more of a romantic past than Daisy and Gatsby actually did have. Tom and Gatsby show their envy for each other in Chapter 7 of The Great Gatsby when they argue over who Daisy really loves. Thus, Jay Gatsby is jealous of Tom Buchanan, while Tom Buchanan is jealous of Jay Gatsby.

In the novel, it seems that Tom and Gatsby's envy toward each other overshadows any of the other jealousies that present themselves. Although their jealousy is portrayed the most throughout the book, Daisy Buchanan's jealousy of Myrtle Wilson (Tom's mistress) is shown in The Great Gatsby, as well. In Chapter 2 of the novel, Daisy shows that she is jealous of Myrtle after Tom arrives back at the dinner table after receiving a phone call from his mistress. Daisy tries to make Tom feel guilty about cheating on her by saying that their backyard is romantic. The logic behind this tactic of Daisy's is to remind Tom of everything that they have together that he and Myrtle do not have. She is showing her jealously by doing this because she hints at the fact that she is hurt by Tom cheating on her with another woman, so she is trying to win him back by making him realize what he and Daisy have together. Just as Tom and Gatsby's jealousy mirrors each other's, Daisy and Myrtle's does, as well. Myrtle is jealous of Daisy Buchanan because she is married to Tom. She shows that she is jealous of Daisy in Chapter 3 of the novel when she is fighting with Tom about Daisy in their apartment, and in Chapter 7 when she is seen through the Mr. Wilson's garage window looking at Jordan Baker in pure envy; while it seems odd that Myrtle was looking at Jordan Baker with jealousy, it is not, because Myrtle was under the impression that Jordan Baker was Daisy. Thus, this proves that Daisy Buchanan was jealous of Myrtle Wilson, while Myrtle Wilson was jealous of Daisy Buchanan.

Sources:

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. "Chapter 2." The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 2004. Print. "Great Gatsby Website - 1999." FCPS Home Page Redirect Page. Web. 18 May 2010.

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. "Chapter 3." The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 2004. Print. "Great Gatsby Website - 1999." FCPS Home Page Redirect Page. Web. 18 May 2010.

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. "Chapter 7." The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 2004. Print. "Great Gatsby Website - 1999." FCPS Home Page Redirect Page. Web. 18 May 2010.

The Beautiful Women of Gatsby

The women in The Great Gatsby are full of interesting things. With each having their own personalities and secrets it makes them just more interesting.
Daisy Buchanan is Tom’s wife and Gatsby’s love of his life. Daisy is shown to be someone who is usually happy when she is given things or when things are going her way. Daisy is very rich and for that she depends on money to do the job and make her happy. She lives in one of the richest parts of East Egg and hopes that her daughter will be like her when she grows up to be just like her "And I hope she'll be a fool --that's the best thing a girl can be in this world today, a beautiful little fool." (Fitzgerald 24). Another problem with Daisy is her past with men. Her past with men has damaged her a bit. With Tom cheating on her and Gatsby coming back and declaring her love for her. Daisy’s beautiful, mysterious, but on the inside she can be really selfish.
Jordan Baker is very cynical, boyish, self-centered, and dishonest. Why dishonest, well she cheated her way to winning her first golf tournament. But despite all that Nick falls in love with Jordan and happy that she isn’t like Daisy. “That is, she is not the kind of girl who holds onto the past, a girl "too wise ever to carry well-forgotten dreams from age to age".” (The Great Gatsby Characters= Shmoop). Jordan and Daisy are best friends but at times they can both be really clueless and careless. But at the end that is why Nick ends up disliking her.
Myrtle Wilson is George Wilson’s wife and Tom’s lover. Myrtle believes that Tom is in love with but cant leave Daisy because she’s catholic which isn’t true at, but she believes it. Myrtle believes that George is passive and a coward and Tom is controlling and authoritative. Even though Myrtle puts up with Tom’s abuse us because she wants to feel a man’s power that her husband obviously doesn’t not have.
As you can see the only three girls in the novel are drama-filled divas. They all have their problems but that is just what makes them them.


SOURCES:
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 2004. Print.
"The Great Gatsby Characters." Shmoop: Study Guides & Teacher Resources. Web. 23 May 2010. .

The Handsome Men of The Great Gatsby

The men in The Great Gatsby are quite dynamic and differ in personality traits. Nick Carraway is the narrator of The Great Gatsby comes from a good family from Minnesota. He moved to New York and became involved with the bond business. He is not very successful he can still afford his home for eighty dollars a month. Nick is very honest, responsible, and fair-minded but he can still show some differences of the East Egg milieu. Throughout the whole book he is the only one who see's Gatsby's "greatness" which shows him "to be a young man of unusual sensitivity" (The Great Gatsby-Shmoop). Jay Gatz, not known by that name anymore is Jay Gatsby. Gatsby is very wealthy young man and he is known for throwing extravagant parties every Saturday nights in his huge mansion in West Egg. Gatsby is a very mysterious man with everyone wondering how he received his fortune. Gatsby is a deeply flawed man, dishonest, and can be vulgar but on the inside he is a very innocent man. Tom Buchanan is Daisy’s husband he too is very rich man, arrogant, a brute, and an athlete, selfish and will do whatever it takes to get what he wants. Tom is also an adulterer and his mistress is Myrtle Wilson and he really doesn’t care if he is cheating on her. Tom is also very persuasive because he gets Daisy to confess that she loved Gatsby. Tom also emotionally and physically hurt Daisy. Physically there’s is no roof but daisy does claim and shows the bruises on her arm that look like fingers that seem to be Tom’s and he emotionally damages Daisy. George Wilson is blond, spiritless man, and a handsome man. He is the husband of Myrtle, Tom’s mistress. Wilson and his wife live on top of his garage. Wilson is totally clueless that Myrtle and Tom are having an affair because every time she goes to Tom she tells him she's going to see her sister. But when he does he find out he kills Gatsby. Klipspringer is pretty much a freeloader. When he moved into Gatsby's house he didn't even know that he was there. At the end of the book when Gatsby dies Klipspringer didn't even attend Gatsby's funeral. After he calls Nick and rudely asks for a pair of tennis shows without expressing any sympathy. Owl Eyes is the "patron of Gatsby’s library" who showed an interest in him. Unlike Klipspringer he does show sympathy towards Gatsby's death.

SOURCES:

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 2004. Print. "The Great Gatsby Characters." Shmoop: Study Guides & Teacher Resources. Web. 21 May 2010. .

The Green Light

In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the green light that rests at the dock of East Egg near Daisy Buchanan's house is one of the most prominent symbols in the book. The green light is presented to the reader in first chapter of the book; at first, the reader is unsure why Nick Carraway's neighbor Jay Gatsby seems to be reaching toward the green light at the opposite side of the body of water. As the book progresses, it is made known that the green light lies on at the dock of East Egg, which is where Daisy Buchanan lives. Gatsby actually lives directly across the water from her house. He shows sentimentalism in the way that he is very hopeful that he and Daisy will be together one day, and that he is keeping his hope alive by going out to see the green light near her house every night. The green light is literally just a marker for boats to see from the water at night as to know where East Egg begins, but in an analytical sense, the green light in the novel represents one of the most important symbols in The Great Gatsby.

The green light that is placed at the end of the East Egg dock near Daisy's house is barely visible from Gatsby’s home in West Egg, but he continues to go out to see the light, and even reach for the hardly visible light. The green light represents Jay Gatsby’s optimism for the future and his dreams to be with Daisy again. The light symbolizes something that will guide Gatsby to Daisy and his dreams, even in the dark, which symbolizes his doubt and nervousness about the future. Jay Gatsby’s longing and persistance to gain back Daisy's love is hugely connected with the theme of the American Dream in the novel, as well. Thus, the green light also symbolizes the typical American's journey to find the American Dream. The green light is a major symbolic piece in The Great Gatsby, representing hope, dreams, help, and the American Dream.

Sources:
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. "Chapter 1." The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 2004. Print. "Great Gatsby Website - 1999." FCPS Home Page Redirect Page. Web. 18 May 2010. .
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. "Chapter 4." The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 2004. Print. "Great Gatsby Website - 1999." FCPS Home Page Redirect Page. Web. 18 May 2010. .

Dan Cody

Dan Cody was the man who single-handedly made James Gatz into the well-known Jay Gatsby. Dan Cody was was approximately 50 years old when he and Gatsby met; he was a product of the Nevada silver fields, the Yukon, and many other types of "rushes". Gatsby and Cody met each other while Cody was on his boat and Gatsby warned him of a storm coming. After that day he made Gatsby his steward, mate, skipper, secretary, and even his jailor. Cody gave him the name "Jay Gatsby", which was the name that everyone in New York knew him by. Gatsby’s job was to watch over Cody when he was drunk because he was a heavy alcoholic. While he was circling the continent three times, Gatsby fell in love with luxury and wealth. When Dan Cody eventually died he left Gatsby $25,000, but Dan Cody‘s mistress Ella Kaye did not allow Cody to leave Gatsby the money, thus leaving Gatsby poor just as he was before he had been introduced to Dan Cody. Dan Cody's memory gave Gatsby the strength to keep going on and find a way to become rich on his own account.

The character of Dan Cody in The Great Gatsby represents the typical American in the 1920's. He was rich and consumed in material items and luxury, which is how the people of the 1920's are portrayed today. He also represents the "new money" of the 1920's, which was the money that was gained through the booming economy in the 1920's. A lot of people became rich very quickly through the economy, and through many "easy opportunities" in the United States during that era. He became rich and materialistic during this era very quickly, thus representing the "new money" of the 1920's. Additionally, Dan Cody represented Jay Gatsby's father-figure and his role-model in the novel.


Sources:
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. "Chapter 6." The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 2004. Print. "Great Gatsby Website - 1999." FCPS Home Page Redirect Page. Web. 18 May 2010. .

Mafia/Gangsters

A gangster is a member of a gang of criminals, such as the mafia. In the 1920's, gangsters really came about because of the Prohibition Movement. It was within liquor smuggling that mafias grew to be such a huge problem in the 1920's. The illegal liquor business became the foundation of a great criminal empire. The most infamous ganster from the Prohibition era was Al Capone from Chicago, Illinois. He violently eliminated any "competition" that he had, then he used the alcohol trade to create a "business" that earned millions of dollars. With Capone's violent behaviors and skyrocketing business, he, along with other gansters, was able to scare the police-figures in the United States and pay them off to leave them and their business alone. The federal government found it increasingly difficult to compete with the gansters, but they still worked diligently to catch the gangsters and put an end to their organized crimes. The 1920's gangster became the American icon of the "self-made" man. Today, the typical gangster is still the number one consumer of everything of luxury and expensive nature.

The Mafia is an organized secret organization said to be engaged in smuggling, racketeering, trafficing in narcotics, and other criminal activities. The Mafia existed mainly in Italy, but in the 1920's, the United States had their problems with Mafias. The American Mafia is barely over a half a century old, but they have still impacted the U.S. with organized crime. The Mafia was into the bootlegging business in the 1920's, but in the 1930 and 1931, which was approximately seven years after heroin was banned from use in the United States, a war began to explode among the Mafias. Out of this "war", a new generation of leaders came out that had very little to no respect for the traditional values. Salvatore "Lucky" Luciano was the leader of the Mafia Youth Movement; he is known to be one of the most brilliant criminals of modern America. He had an idea for the modernization of the American Mafia, and this idea won over the leaders of the 24 Mafias in America. Soon after, the National Commision was functioning "smoothly"; this proves that Luciano practically made the Mafia into the most dominant criminal organization. Luciano's revolutionary idea is still the basis for organized crime today.


Sources:
"The Mafia in America." Home | Drugtext. Web. 17 May 2010. .

Prohibition

Prohibition- to be, or not to be? As of today, it is not to be, but in the 1920's Prohibition was in full force. Some people were happy about it, and some were not. It was in the Progressive Era that Prohibition came to be a consideration among Americans; it is estimated that the movement began in the 1870's. It was mainly pushed by progressive women. Prohibition called for a ban on making, selling, or distributing alcoholic beverages. Why was this? Reformers during this time believed that alcohol was the leading cause of crime, poverty, and violence against women and children. They also argued that ridding of alcohol would promote stability in families. The Anti-Saloon League and the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, or WCTU, were two groups that organized the fight to get alcohol banned from the United States. In 1919, the Congress answered the cries of the Americans pushing the Prohibition Movement. Congress ratified the Eighteenth Amendment, which prohibited the sale, manufacture, and distribution of alcoholic beverages. However, many people were not so pleased by the Eighteenth Amendment.

Prohibition really became the law of the land in the 1920's. Most people were against the idea of Prohibition, so they fought back in many ways. Prohibition gave a rise to smuggling operations, for one. Large amounts of alcohol came into America through many seaports and through Canada. The people that smuggled liquor into America were eventually known as bootleggers; these bootleggers were very difficult for the police to capture. Additionally, some people even made their own liquor at home with their own equipment! In the 1920's doctors were allowed to prescribe alcohol to the patients that needed it, so some people would pretend to be sick in order to receive alcohol "legally". Gangsters were born in the 1920's due to Prohibition. Al Capone, the most infamous gangster of the 1920's, used the alcohol trade to build a business that earned millions of dollars a year. In addition, speakeasies, illegal bars where alcohol was served, were formed all across America in the 1920's. This shows how prohibition had started to become a failed attempt in the 1920's; it also shows how most people didn't support the Prohibition Movement and fought against it. Consequently, the Eighteenth Amendment was repealed on December 5, 1933 for it's lack of popularity.


Sources:
Rosenberg, Jennifer. "Prohibition." 20th Century History. 2010. Web. 14 May 2010. .

Flappers

"She's not what Grandma used to be." Dorothy Parker comments on the flappers of the 1920's in a way that shows historians and the citizens of America how different the people of the 1920's were from the older generation of Americans. Flappers were the beginning of the changes in society that led to the modern day culture. Flappers were a major sign of the cultural times in the 1920's. Flappers inherited their name from the tendency of younger women in the late 1910's and early 1920's to leave their galoshes untied, which would make a "flapping" noise as they walked. In the 1920's, the term "flappers" meant young women of the 1920's who defied traditional ideas of proper dress and behavior. Flappers shocked society entirely with their cropped haircuts, raised hemlines, makeup, cigarette using, alcoholism, and attendance at multiple night clubs. Rebellious women found the dress of flappers to be particularly popular in that era. The flapper represented a lifestyle of independence and freedom, thus rebellious women grasped the principles of being a flapper very willingly. Flappers represented some of the most important cultural shifts in American society, but not all women in the 1920's were flappers.

In towns and rural areas in the United States, the common woman would only read about flappers in magazines and newspapers. Flappers were uncommon in towns and rural areas; they were found mainly in urban cities. Most women in rural areas highly disapproved of the flappers. Others were not flappers because they didn't wish to be as bold or reckless as flappers were. Women's rights activists were some of the many women that disapproved of flappers. They would claim that flappers were more concerned with having fun versus gaining further rights for women. So, although flappers were important to cultural shifts in the U.S., not every woman in America was a flapper, and not every woman approved of them. Much to the happiness of the disapproving women, the style of the flapper started to disintegrate in 1928. The flapper style was replaced with a more subtle and polished style. Nevertheless, without the flapper, America wouldn't have had the cultural advances that it has had.

Sources:

"The Flapper- A 1920's Phenomenon." 2005. Web. 12 May 2010. http://www.1920-30.com/fashion/flapper.html.

The 1920's

The 1920's were notorious for the flappers, the jazz music, the economic prosperity, and the newly found freedom that was presented in the American lifestyle. The 1920's was nicknamed "the Roaring Twenties" because it was a time of exceptional economic and social well-being. America's total wealth practically doubled between 1920 and 1929, leading to the citizens of America to feel the economic prosperity. There was a large advertising industry in the 1920's as well, stimulating consumption of goods, which, in turn, stimulated the economy. The stock market sky rocketed, which also gave Americans the feeling that the 1920's were economically stable and successful. The 1920's seemed to be all about getting rich as quickly as possible. Money and big spending led to the glamorous and luxurious lifestyle that the 1920's is famous for today. Urbanization happened when most of America's population moved to urban cities in the 1920's; over 50% of Americans lived in urban cities now that the industries ans cities were booming.

Radios were very popular among the younger and older generations that lived in the 1920's; about 12 million radios were bought within the 1920's alone! Jazz music was one of the most popular types of music in the 1920's; some of the iconic jazz musicians of the 1920's were Louis Armstrong, King Oliver, Duke Ellington, and Willie Smith. Along with jazz being introduced to the popular culture of America, many movies influenced the 1920's as well. Like radios, movies were a form of mass entertainment that came in to major popularity in the 1920's. One of the most well-known movies of the 1920's was The Jazz Singer, a movie which greatly reflected the lifestyle of the American citizens. Another popular film was an animated film directed by Walt Disney called Steamboat Willie; thus, in the 1920's, Mickey Mouse was born and has stayed in the hearts of Americans throughout the generations. Along with the birth of Mickey Mouse, new roles for women were born. The Ninteenth Amendment, which was ratified in 1920, gave women the right to vote. This changed the way that women acted, as well. Women began to abandon the traditional values that their previous generation held; they also changed their wardrobes. The flapper represents this type of change in women during the 1920's. Flappers were young women in the 1920's who defied the traditional ideas of proper dress and behavior; the flapper also represented a lifestyle of independence and freedom. This image became popularly associated with the Roaring Twenties.

In the classic novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the 1920's is the setting of the fictional work. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald expresses his disillusionment in the prosperity of the 1920's through the use of symbolism and the personalities of his characters. They all want one thing. Money. Thus, Fitzgerald portrays that the American Dream was disintegrating through the material excess of the 1920's. F. Scott Fitzgerald was not the only American that thought the Roaring Twenties weren't very "roaring". Some Americans, like Sinclair Lewis, found that the 1920's caused many people to "conform to society". Some Americans, usually the Americans of the older generation, felt that the 1920's was the "Lost Generation" because they had lost their morals and traditional values. Also, Prohibition slandered the greatness of the 1920's; Prohibition was widely unpopular because it led to organized crime, violence, and illegal acts, such as bootlegging and creating speakeasies. Thus, the Roaring Twenties was impressive to some and disappointing to others.

Sources:

Schultz, Stanley K., and William P. Tishler. "H102 Lecture 15: The Politics of Prosperity: The 1920s." American History 102: Oldest American History Site on the Internet -- Established in 1996 --. 1999. Web. 12 May 2010. http://us.history.wisc.edu/hist102/lectures/lecture15.html.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was born in St. Paul, Minnesota on September 24, 1896. He was an American writer who wrote a lot about the social climate of the 1920's which he called "The Jazz Age". His most famous works are "The Great Gatsby" and Tender is the Night. He met Zelda Sayre when he was stationed at Camp Sheridan but she broke up with him when she realized that he had a small salary. He was in huge debt because Zelda had a mental condition and she lived in mental institutions while he lived his with his lover Sheilah Graham. He earned a great deal of money because he was a screenwriter. By 1939 he began his novel The Love of the Last Tycoon. Fitzgerald lived a tough life. Since his college days he was an alcoholic and that severely damaged his health. He had two heart attacks in the late 40’s. On December 21, 1940 he died of a heart attack, he died at age 44. F. Scott Fitzgerald will always be remembered as one of the greatest authors.

Sources:

"A Brief Life of Fitzgerald." University of South Carolina. Web. 11 May 2010.