The Roaring Twenties was the time period right after World War II. During this time period new technology was becoming produced such as the vacuum cleaner, motion pictures and the refrigerator. The American Dream, in the 20s’, was a belief of the Americans that everyone deserves a chance to be successful and more equality. Women started to protest more and take action on their inequality because of this women were becoming more involved in the labor force, politics and they were now able to vote. Francis Scott Fitzgerald was a writer during The Roaring Twenties.
Fitzgerald was an alcoholic so hen prohibition was passed in the US, him and his wife moved to Europe, where he wrote “The Great Gatsby”. Fitzgerald wrote about characters that he could live through. Many of his works had to deal with men and women relationships. Francis Scott Fitzgerald’s writing was a reflection of what was happening in that time period, “The Roaring Twenties”, because he was able to capture the mood of the 20s’ and it also reflected greatly on the the American dream. When Fitzgerald moved to Europe he wrote his book,The Great Gatsby, which is a novel based in the northern part of the United
States and during the “roaring twenties”. Stated by Hayes, “What constrains Gatsby is his extreme romanticism, his belief in the American myth that one, through hard work, can achieve anything. ” (Hays 119). The Great Gatsby is a great representation of what was happening in the 1920s’. The novel was also a great representation of the American dream, of if you work hard you can achieve anything. Fitzgerald captured the mood of the American dream so clearly that anyone who read his works would have at least a good idea of what the American Dream was and how strongly people felt about it.
Many women, at this point in time, were very passionate about their want for equality. The 19th amendment was passed, in the 20s, and gave women suffrage. Women also started to make many fashion statements and become a very strong part of society. According to Lee-Browne, “Woman’s influence in the changing social fabric was strong. While Women’s appointments as magistrates or local councillors gave them the opportunity to make improvements and promote the cause of sexual equality” (Lee-Browne 62).
Lee-Browne states that the women of America are showing their independence and how their pinions matter with major changes in fashion. He also states that the women are having more of a political role in society and in the labor force. One of the fashion changes the women made were to bob, a rather short hair cut, their hair as a sign of a “bad girl” some may say. Francis Scott Fitzgerald wrote a short story called “Bernice bobs her hair”. In this short story Bernice’s cousin challenges Bernice to bob her hair, she does bob her hair.
Bernice does not like her new hair cut so she scalps her cousin while she is sleeping. Fitzgerald states, “ ‘l want to be a society ampire,you see,’ she announced coolly, and went on to inform him that bobbed hair is a necessary prelude” (Fitzgerald 6). Fitzgerald wrote about one the many fashion changes women made in society. Fitzgerald was born and raised in the North by his two parents, because of this he became fond of America. Stated by Donaldson, “Born and bred in the North, Fitzgerald nonetheless developed and early thu toward the country of his father’s youth” (Donaldson 153).
Fitzgerald based one of his famous books, The Great Gatsby, on the north and his obsession with it. Also in, The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses symbolism and many ther things to capture the American Dream in a subtle way. Also, Fitzgerald sets the tone in, The Great Gatsby, just as the tone of America was in the twenties. With a great representation of how society was and how individuals dealt with situations. The 1920s’ was also called the modernist period. Modernism is traditional beliefs are bringing modified or changed because of new ideas.
Almost all of the writers and artist during this time period were considered to be modernist. Fitzgerald was considered a modernist and somewhat of a romantic. “It is through the language itself, and the reluctant romantic imagery, hat Fitzgerald offers up in his critique and presents the dream for what it truly is” (Hearne 189). Fitzgerald does such a well job in capturing moods and in betraying America and its’ society for what it truly is. To do this, Fitzgerald uses much symbolism and other literary devices to get his point across to his audience.
Imagery is another literary device he uses to display his message. Another thing Fitzgerald does is offer up his opinion, he is not afraid to say what he believes. That is why so many individuals enjoyed his novel, The Great Gatsby, because of his reat representation of the “American dream” and his great use of literary devices. Many of Fitzgerald’s other works were just as much enjoyed as The Great Gatsby. His other works were enjoyed for many of the same reasons that novel was enjoyed, such as plot-twist endings, clearly stating his message and getting it across well.
Francis Scott Fitzgerald had a way of capturing the mood and historical facts, of any time period he was writing in, without using actual facts. Stated best by Tate: “It demonstrated one of the trademarks that would characterize Fitzgerald’s writing- his bility to capture how things were without restoring to straight documentary writing but rather using evocative details and nuances of style to convey mood. ” (Tate 5) AS i have stated before, many times, Fitzgerald had a way with conveying any type of mood.
Tate is specifically referring to The Great Gatsby but Fitzgerald does coney moods in various of his other pieces of literature. One thing for sure about Fitzgerald is he used many literary devices and imagery. Once again he is said to be capturing the mood of not only the twenties but the northern part of the Unites States. Francis Scott Fitzgerald was a great writer for many reasons. A few of those reasons are he is able to convey moods well, uses vivid imagery, and get his ideas and opinions across clearly.
The American dream was an idea that through hard work, anyone could be successful. The “Roaring Twenties” was a great time for Fitzgerald to be writing in because of the social changes and political changes. Fitzgerald was also able to contribute to the women’s rights movement with his short essay, Bernice bobs her hair. Also in his novel, The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald does a great job of capturing the mood n the 20s’, specifically in the northern part of the United States, which is where Fitzgerald was born and raised.
Fitzgerald was considered to be a modernist writer. Some of Fitzgerald’s writings had a twist, or an unseen ending and that is another as to why many enjoyed his pieces of literature. Fitzgerald also had a way with capturing the historical part of history without using facts or writing a documentary. Francis Scott Fitzgerald’s writings reflected greatly on “The Roaring Twenties” because of his ability to greatly and clearly capture the mood of the 20s’ and reflect on the American Dream.