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American Literature went through a profound change in the post WWI era. Up until this point, American writers were still expected to use the rigid Victorian styles of the 19th Century. The lost generation writers were above, or apart from, American society, not only in geographic terms, but also in their style of writing and subjects they chose to write about.
Although they were unhappy with American culture, the writers were instrumental in changing their country\'s style of writing, from Victorian to modern. Very often they called this period the "period of frustration". Writers, such as Francis Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, S. Anderson, etc. belonged to this small but influential movement, they were dissatisfied with what they perceived to be the materialism and spiritual emptiness of life in the United States.
American poet Gertrude Stein actually coined the expression \"lost generation.\" Speaking to Ernest Hemingway, she said, \"you are all a lost generation.\" The term stuck and the mystique surrounding these individuals continues to fascinate us. Full of youthful idealism, these intellectuals sought the meaning of life, drank excessively, had love affairs and created some of the finest American literature to date.
Francis Scott Fitzgerald
This famous author was born on September 24th, 1896, in St. Paul, Minnesota. He attended, but never graduated from Princeton University. In 1917, he left university for joining the army, and three years after, he got married to the beautiful Zelda Sayre. Their private life in America and France became almost as famous as his novels, together they enjoyed a rich life of endless parties. Within two years they had become the most notorious young couple in the 1920's America, symbolizing what was called the "Jazz Age".
His heavy drinking was the result of the worsening relationship with Zelda, and although he kept on writing, the circumstances and health conditions of both got worse and worse. The exciting life demanded its tribute - Zelda became mentally ill and depressive, and in 1930, she finally had a complete break - down and was to be hospitalised. From this moment on, Fitzgerald's life, that had been chaotic before anyways, became more and more unhappy and on December 21st , 1940, he died of a heart attack in Hollywood.
To maintain their expensive lifestyle, Fitzgerald wrote more books which continued the great success of his first novel, This Side of Paradise, he also worked on stories for popular magazines at that time. His next novel, The Beautiful and the Damned, a mood piece chronicling the anxieties and dissipations of a rich couple, was published in 1922. Later, in only five months, he completed The Great Gatsby (1925) which is generally regarded as his masterpiece, and it was not until 1934 that his fourth novel appeared, Tender is the Night, which is almost a confessional story of his life with Zelda. The experience of being a screenwriter was the inspiration for Fitzgerald to write his final and most mature novel, The last Tycoon, which unfortunately remained unfinished.
The Great Gatsby
The story
Nick Carraway, the narrator, is a young Midwesterner who, having graduated from Yale in 1915 and fought in World War I, has returned home to begin a career. Like others in his generation, he is restless and has decided to move East to New York and learn the bond business. The novel opens early in the summer of 1922 in West Egg, Long Island, where Nick has rented a house. Next to his place is a huge mansion complete with Gothic tower an marble swimming pool, which belongs to a Mr. Gatsby, whom Nick has not met yet. Directly across the bay from West Egg is the more fashionable community of East Egg, where Tom and Daisy Buchanan live. Daisy is
Nick´ s cousin, and Tom had been in the same senior society as Nick in New Haven. Like Nick they are Midwesterners who have come East to be a part of the glamour and mystery of the New York City area. They invite Nick to dinner at their mansion, and here he meets a young woman named Jordan Baker. During dinner, a Mrs. Myrtle Wilson, Tom Buchanan's mistress rings. She lives in a strange place between West Egg and New York City that F. calls the "valley of ashes."
One day Tom takes Nick to meet the Wilsons at a party, but the party breaks up as Tom breaks Myrtle Wilson's nose with a blow of his open hand.
Some weeks later Nick finally gets the opportunity to meet his mysterious neighbour Mr. Gatsby. Gatsby gives huge parties and people from everywhere attend these parties, but no one seems to know much about the host. Nick is fascinated by Gatsby, he begins watching him and notices that he does not drink or join in his own parties. One day Nick and Gatsby drive to New York together. Gatsby tells Nick that he´ s from a wealthy family in the Midwest, that he was educated at Oxford, and that he won war medals from many European countries. Nick is not sure what to believe. At tea that afternoon Nick finds out from Jordan Baker why Gatsby has taken such an interest in him: Gatsby is in love with Daisy Buchanan and wants Nick to arrange a meeting between them. It seems that Gatsby, as a young officer in 1917, had fallen in love with Daisy. He had been sent overseas, and she had eventually given him up and married Tom. So Gatsby decided to win Daisy back. His first step was to buy a house in West Egg. From here he could look across the bay to the green light at the end of Daisy' s dock.
A few days later, in the rain, Gatsby and Daisy meet for the first time in five years. Gatsby is at first terrified, then very excited. He takes Daisy and Nick on a tour of his house and grounds and shows them all his possessions, even his shirts.
Then Nick gets to know some information about who Gatsby really is. Originally he was named James Gatz, he is the son of a farmer from North Dakota. After dropping out of his college, Gatsby ended up on the south shore of Lake Superior earning money by digging clams and fishing for salmon. One day he saw the beautiful yacht of the millionaire Dan Cody and borrowed a rowboat to warn Cody of an impending storm. Cody took the seventeen year old boy on as steward, mate, and secretary.
When Cody died, he left the boy, now Jay Gatsby, a legacy of $25000, which the boy never got because of the jealousy of Cody´ s mistress.
Then Nick goes on to tell us more about the happenings in the summer of 1922. Daisy and Tom come to one of Gatsby´ s parties but both don´ t have a good time. Although Gatsby has been seeing Daisy, he´ s increasingly frustrated by his inability to recreate the magic of their time together in Louisville five years before. The affair between Daisy and Gatsby now comes out into the open. Tom, Daisy, Gatsby, Nick and Jordan all meet for lunch at the Buchanans and then decide to drive to New York. Tom, Nick and Jordan drive in Gatsby´ s yellow Rolls Royce. The five arrive in the city where they rent a suite at the Placa Hotel. Tom, drunk by now, starts attacking Gatsby about his past and for his habit calling people "old sport". Gatsby reacts by telling Tom that Daisy is going to leave him. They fight with words until Tom wins, because Daisy won't leave Tom for Gatsby. Tom sends Daisy and Gatsby home together in the Rolls Royce, thinking that he has nothing more to fear. A couple of hours later Tom follows with Nick and Jordan. When they reach the valley of ashes, they see crowds of people and police cars. Myrtle Wilson was struck by a car coming from NY and the car had to be Gatsby´ s yellow Rolls Royce. When Nick gets back to East Egg, he finds Gatsby
hiding outside the Buchanans garden because he is afraid that Tom could hurt Daisy. Gatsby tells Nick that Daisy was driving, but that - of course - he would take the blame. Nick goes to work the next morning, but is too worried about Gatsby to stay in NY. But when he arrives at Gatsby´ s house he sees the body of his friend lying in the swimming pool and George Wilson´ s body, revolver in hand, lies nearby on the grass. The crazed husband of Myrtle Wilson, Tom's affair, did spent the entire morning finding out who the driver of the yellow car was. He found out before Nick. Nick now tries to phone Daisy and Tom, but is told that they have left without leaving any address.
Nick, it seems, is Gatsby´ s only friend now. The news of Gatsby´ s murder are printed in all newspapers all over America and so Gatsby's father, Mr. Gatz, arrives for the funeral, which is only attended by Nick and three other persons. Mr. Gatz, who loves his son very much shows Nick a book which Jimmy owned as a boy. In this Gatsby has written a schedule for self improvement: exercise, study, sport and work.
Disgusted and disillusioned by what he has experienced, Nick decides to leave NY and return to the Midwest. He ends his relationship with Jordan Baker and Tom Buchanan tells him, that it was he, Tom, who told Wilson where Gatsby lived. Before Nick leaves the East, he stands one more time on the beach near Gatsby´ s house looking out at the green light that his friend had worshipped. Here he pays his final tribute to Gatsby and to the dream which he lived - and died - for: the love of a woman he couldn't get twice.
Short interpretation
In this novel, two social classes are portrayed. The rich people are represented by Jay Gatsby and Tom and Daisy Buchanan. The human relationships in this society are superficial, they do not feel much - even anything - for each other. They feel superior to the working-class, men feel superior to women. Real friendships are very rare. Nick and Gatsby are the exception of the rule. But Jay Gatsby is an impostor, because of his criminal past he becomes guilty. His parties have only one reason, to arrange a meeting with Daisy. His dream is a life with Daisy and his love for her. On the one hand Gatsby is heroic, but on the other he is trivial and common.
The example for superficiality in The Great Gatsby is Tom. Daisy's husband represents the brutality and moral carelessness of the established rich. He has no scruples. The life of the working-class is shown by the Wilsons, Myrtle and George. In the novel the two classes get in contact because of the relationship between Myrtle and Tom. They are speaking a different kind of English. Their brutality is physical (George kills Gatsby), while the upper class uses psychological brutality (Tom hates Gatsby too, but he "uses" George to kill him).
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