The Women of Gatsby

In "The Great Gatsby", there are three major female characters, Daisy Buchanan, Jordan Baker, and Myrtle Wilson. First off is Daisy Buchanan. She is married to a man named Tom Buchanan and is cousins with Nick Caraway, the narrator and main character of the novel. Daisy is a very extravagant and generally excited lady. Her speech is always very happy, upbeat, and passionate, witch also follows her personality. As the novel progresses, we find out that Daisy and Jay Gatsby had a relationship in the past and that Gatsby never stopped loving Daisy. Later on in the story, Daisy and Gatsby rekindle there love with each other, but in the end Daisy stays with Tom, leaving Gatsby emotionally and mentally devastated. Jordan Baker is Daisy's friend, she is a competitive golfer, beautiful, and a dishonest. Her and Nick have a progressively romantic relationship as the novel goes on. Like Nick, she is "just there" most of the time and serves as a comfort for others. Besides her relationship with Nick, she plays more of a minor role in the story. Myrtle Wilson is George Wilson's wife, but is known to be cheating on him with Tom Buchanan. Her and Tom are having an affair throughout the book, until she gets hit and killed by a car driven by Daisy. "The Great Gatsby" has some complicated situations and a full story that couldn't of been constructed without these characters.

www.sparknotes.com/lit/gatsby/characters.html

East Egg Vs. West Egg

East Egg and West Egg are the two main locations and setting in the Great Gatsby. They are both located in Long Island, New York. They both symbolize two different social classes and also two very different areas in life. Geographically, these two areas are separated by the valley of ashes, but metaphorically, it is separated by the two different social levels in the Great Gatsby. East Egg and the West Egg represent the wealth of the people that live there, and the point of how they managed to earn or have all those riches. Also, these two places stand for the separation and isolation between all the characters in the story. It is where people envy each other and desire all the materialistic things in life that are not even worth it.

East Egg is also known as "old money" in the Great Gatsby. This is where all the aristocratic, wealthy people live because they either inherited their wealth and got it passed down from generation to generation. People who live here did not have to work for their money or try to earn all their wealth some other way, because they were "naturally" wealthy already. They thought they were superior and higher than the West Egg people and were more sophisticated because they were already rich. Also, they believe that the "new money" were less sophisticated than them and are at a lower level. Dealing with the West Egg people is like taboo to them because West Eggers are "not fit to be wealthy" The character that live in the East Egg that represent it best would be Tom Buchanan.

West Egg is known as "new money" in the Great Gatsby. The people who live here had to work and earned all their wealth and riches. Because of that, they extravagantly spent all their money on such things like mansions, cars, and clothes. They were disregarded by the East Egg people because they were referred to as a lower level in society. A good example of characters in the West Egg is Jay Gatsby and Meyer Wolfsheim. They both earned all their money through bootlegging, which is illegal selling of alcohol in the 1920's. With that business, Gatsby was able to throw all his luxurious and extravagant parties at his house most of the time. These people try to live up to the name of the East Egg people, but they can never really match up to them and try to even reach them. In the eyes of the East Egg, West Egg will always be below their level and status in life.

http://www.angelfire.com/moon2/greatgatsby/eastwestegg.html

Selfish People

The Great Gatsby is composed mainly of selfish characters. Most of the characters only think about themselves and only care about what is good and best for them. In life, many people desire things such as money, love, wealth, and all the riches in the world. They don't know that these things are all meaningless, yet they crave more and more of everything they want and become a selfish person. In the Great Gatsby, the characters desire for many things they can not even have or even get close to, yet they force themselves to have it just to please themselves. Most of their goal and desire in life is to have a happy life that they like with all the things and wealth they can get.

Characters in the Great Gatsby that represent and portray selfishness would be Jay Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan, Tom Buchanan, and Myrtle Wilson.

Gatsby represents selfishness in many different ways. His unfailing love and desire for Daisy, his reputation in town, his mansion and riches, and his overall as a person makes him one of the most selfish people in they story. His love for Daisy Buchanan is what keeps him going and living. Gatsby thinks that he can still bring back Daisy after five years that they've been separated and make her love him like she did before. Selfishness takes place in this in a way that he only thinks of himself and how this will affect Daisy and especially Tom, Daisy's husband. He wants her back in his life but he can not accept the fact that Daisy is married to Tom and that she loves her husband very much. In the story, Gatsby even tells Daisy to admit to her husband that she doesn't love Tom anymore. Also, he brags about his wealth and riches through his gigantic mansion and luxurious parties he throws. Gatsby lies about how he got all his money by saying he was involved in business with drug stores and such, when he really was into the illegal bootlegging of alcohol. This is selfish in a way that he doesn't acknowledge the fact that Dan Cody was the one that really brought him to the wealth he has, and not himself who brought himself to where he is now.

Other examples of selfishness would be Tom and Daisy Buchanan. They both are wealthy and living the good life, but they are also both hiding a serious affair from each other. Their affairs show that they are not true to each other and just lying to each other. Both of them are selfish in a way that pleasing themselves with another woman and man is what makes them happy. Tom and Daisy should be happy together and to be content with one another and not looking for happiness some place else such as having affairs.

Myrtle Wilson should be ashamed of what she is doing to her husband, George Wilson. Not only is she selfish with the affair she's having, she is also unfaithful. George has been kind, caring, and faithful to Myrtle yet she chooses to have an affair with Tom Buchanan. Maybe the reason for this is she wants to become wealthy by being with Tom and have him to buy her anything and everything she wants. She is selfish in a way that her husband has been faithful to her but she treats him unfairly by cheating on him.

http://www.enotes.com/great-gatsby/q-and-a/what-theme-selfishness-great-gatsby-how-similar-22863

The Great Gatsby Film Version

The Great Gatsby was orignally a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald in in 1925. The plot being of a young man by the name of Nick Carraway, who lives next to a mysterious and extravagent man, Gatsby. Nick and Gatsby become friends and Nick learns of Gatsby's true "job" and his obsession with Daisy, Toms wife. In 1974, Jack Clayton and Francis Coppola, turned Fitzgerald's novel into a hollywood movie. Francis, who wrote the screneplay for the movie and Jack who directed the movie kept them very similar in plot. In fact, besides a couple minor variations, the movie and the book are exactly the same. The minor varitations are Daisy is portrayed a little more snobbier in the movie than she is the the novel, wardrobes in the movie were a little off from what was said to be worn in the novel, and some other minor changes were made in the plot. For the most part the novel and the movie are very similar.

http://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/74747.html

Jealousy

Jealousy plays a huge part in the Great Gatsby. Not only is it a theme, but it is what the whole story is based upon. The definition of jealousy is a "jealous resentment against a rival, a person enjoying success or advantage, or against another's success or advantage itself." It is wanting or desiring something that is not yours or something that you cannot have. In the Great Gatsby, different types of jealousy exist such as jealousy with money, jealousy with other people's spouses, and jealousy of being wealthy.

In the story, jealousy is heated up in the affairs that the characters have. In the beginning, Tom receives a call from his mistress, Myrtle and Daisy follows right after him. She acts like nothing is happening when it is obvious that he is having an affair. Daisy is oblivious even though she knows something fishy is going on with her husband. Unaware of his wife's past relationship with Jay Gatsby, Tom breaks off when he finds out about Daisy and Gatsby's affair as well. I guess it's karma too because Tom has an affair with Myrtle, while Daisy has hers with Gatsby. In my opinion, I feel pity for George Wilson, Myrtle's husband because he does not deserve to have have a wife who cheats on him because he is a very kind and respectful man. In the end, jealousy is in each of the character's hearts and also regrets with having an affair and cheating on their spouses.

Jealousy with money and wealth is also another big theme in the Great Gatsby. Most of the people are not content with what they have even if it's already a luxurious life because they just want more and more. For example, the West Egg people are jealous of the inherited wealth of the East Egg because they didn't have to work for it to earn it. While on the other hand, the West Egg people had to obtain all their riches some way of working or illegal business. Nick is also another good example for jealousy. At first, he meets Gatsby and envies Gatsby's mansion and luxurious life. Then later on, he accepts it and becomes very close to Gatsby. Although Nick has a very beautiful home, he wishes he had a little more riches, though he is a content person and grateful for what he has.

Jealousy plays a big part on the Great Gatsby because it truly shows the true colors of people. Whether it's jealousy of other people's wealth and riches, or desiring some other else's spouse, we learn that we should be content with what we were given and not envying others.

http://www.studyworld.com/newsite/reportessay/Literature/Novel\The_Great_Gatsby-382159.htm

Mafia/Gangsters

Mafias and gangsters in the 1920's were people who were involved in gangs and crime organizations. These organizations of crimes and illegal businesses was a result of the prohibition. Many turned to crime because alcohol was banned and was not allowed to be sold anywhere anymore. Those who wanted access to alcohol went to mafias, gangsters, and bootleggers to get some. Gangs got involved with bootlegging, which was bringing alcohol illegally into the country and selling it to the Americans. These mafias and gangsters though made so much money through their illegal businesses. Most of their members were immigrants who came from different countries like Italy.

The most famous leader of a mafia was Al Capone. His name was Alphonse Capone and was born in Brooklyn, New York. He moved to Chicago and got his enemies killed. His gang dressed like the police to disguise themselves not to look like actual gangs and criminals. Al Capone's income reached $200 million per year. During the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, they murdered the members of the "Bugs" Morgan gang. He became the most powerful and dominant bootlegger leader of all time. Capone was so good at hiding and sneaking his way that the government authorities could not find him evidence to what he's been doing except on taxes. In 1831, he was fined $80,000 and to stay in prison for 11 years. Capone died November 1939 from syphilis.

Another one of the famous gangsters in the 1920's was Charles "Lucky" Luciano. He was the leader of the Five Points Gang whom were responsible for countless numbers of murders. His bootlegging business in the 1920's was thriving and made him get a lot of money through it. Lucky's partner in crimes were Lansky and Bugsy Siegel. Also, he was one of the most important Italian gangsters as well. Luciano was also involved in gambling, prostitution, and bootlegging. He received 30 to 50 year sentence for prostitution. He died from a heart attack in 1962.

http://alliance.ed.uiuc.edu/cdrom/hononegah/Mafia_Folder/Mafia.htm

Unrequited Love

Unrequited Love is a term that is used when one person is in love with another person, who isn't reciprocated. This basically means one person loves someone who doesn't love them back. Its been a theme of many poems, books, television shows, movies, etc, were the person who is loved by another, "the loved", may or may not know about his/her admirer, and eventually find out. Emotionally painful to experience and terribly awkward to see, unrequited love is generally a negative thing. "It's unmatched love"-Time Magazine. It can happen in a movie, a book, or in real life. It can really happen anywhere to anyone. Most of the time unrequited love happens between two friends or acquaintances, but its not uncommon for it to happen between two complete strangers. For some people its a comfort, for others its a curse. Some enjoy secretly admiring there love, while others become depressed over their lover not loving back. This is true for both made up story or poems and real life. Unrequited love can be dampened by "the loved" telling the lover that there not interested, but it doesn't always stop the lover from loving.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

F. Scott Fitzgerald was an American author who lived from 1896 to 1940 when he died from a heart attack at the age of 44. He wrote many novels and short stories which reflected the 1920's or the "Jazz Age", a term that he himself made popular. Fitzgerald is regarded as on of the twentieth century's greatest writers. Throughout his life time he finished 4 novels, The Side of Paradise, The Beautiful and Damned, Tender is the Night, and his most famous work, The Great Gatsby. Many short stories were also published during his lifetime that dealt with "youth and age along with promise and despair". The legacy Fitzgerald left with his "masterpiece", The Great Gatsby, has been inspiring writers ever since it had been published. His books are all in general considered extremely well written and put together. F. Scott Fitzgerald lived a short life due to illness he gained from drinking alcohol and died at a relatively young age, 44, but the works and ideas he left behind has and will inspire many authors.

Old Money Vs. New Money

Old money and new money in the Great Gatsby represents the two different types of wealth that each person has. In the story, the two main settings are East Egg and West Egg. Mostly all the people that live in these neighborhoods are wealthy and can afford many luxurious things. The american dream is described in the Great Gatsby through the attitudes and personalities of the people. Basically, money is the basis of the lives of everyone who lives in West Egg and East Egg, Long Island. Money also shows off the true colors of each and every character in the story as well. F. Scott Fitzgerald writes and compares the morals of each character through the symbols of old money and new money. Indifferences and disagreements between the old money and new money are clear in the Great Gatsby.

Old money represents the aristocrats in the Great Gatsby who live in East Egg. They had their wealth passed down from generation to generation, meaning that they have been in a family line of the wealthy. The old money dislike the new money because they feel that they are the ones that will bring down and ruin the society when it comes to wealth and money. Also, they felt more superior to the new money because old money people didn't have to earn their fortune and wealth, while as the new money had to work to get to where they were. An example of old money would be Tom Buchanan. He inherited his wealth and riches from his family name and is now living in East Egg, a luxurious living.

New money represents the people who live in West Egg and those who have earned all their riches. They didn't inherit their money but have worked for it or had gotten it some other way. It did not matter to them how they achieved their hopes and dreams as long as they got it. Some of them were lower class and middle class people who obtained huge amounts of money and now are using it to its full extent by buying themselves whatever they want. Jay Gatsby, the main character in the story symbolizes new money. He earned all his money by selling alcohol illegally. This was not unusual during the 1920's because of prohibition when alcohol was banned. With that money, Gatsby throws grand and luxurious parties at his mansion in the West Egg.

The 1920s

The 1920s, also known as the Roaring Twenties and the Jazz Age, was a period from 1920-1929 were the United States was very prosperous. After World War 1 America was experiencing a economic boom, allowing civilians to spend money again on leisure items. The Roaring Twenties was full of prohibition, dancing, and many new trends. Some popular dances from the twenties were the Charleston, the fox-trot, and the shimmy. Women picked up the fashion trend of bring a flapper, a casual elegantly dress women who loved to dance. These dances came about due to a new form of jazz. Now famous jazz musician Louie Armstrong, "the king of jazz" was a popular favorite for many Americans to listen to on the radio. Almost every single American in the 1920s owned a radio and used to to listen to music, sports, and live events. It was the central connection point for the 1920 society, everyone everywhere could get together and listen to whats happening. Major baseball player Babe Ruth was a national hero. Sports broadcasting was also very popular and many Americans loved to hear announcers commentate baseball games. Movies were also a very popular fad in the 1920s, they were developing a lot and people had plenty of money to go see them. The 1920s ended in 1929 when the United States stock market crashed sending America into a depression. Overall though, in the 1920s, Americans had plenty to look forward to, from movies, catching a game on the radio, dancing to Louie Armstrong, to just having a good time with little worry.

Flappers

In the 1920's, Flappers were women who went against tradition and values. They were wild, outgoing, and wanted to try just about anything. Many women had changes in their clothing and the way they styled their hair. They also dressed mostly like a boy, and put strips of cloth around their chest to flatten it more. Their waists all went down all the way to their hip lines. The hemlines of women's skirts were also cut higher and shorter."Kohl-rimmed eyes and bee-stung lips set the flappers apart from the rest. Accessories included newsboy caps, cloche hats, layered necklaces and horn-rimmed glasses. High heels came into fashion and dresses were often drop-waisted and knee-length to show off just enough leg when flappers danced. " This was the era when this style of make-up was popularized and used. "During this time, women ditched their conservative feminine looks and went for clothing, makeup and hairstyles that were a far cry from the norm and considered inappropriate at the time." These women didn't care about what others thought about their looks because the 1920's was the era when people wanted to break the rules and go their own way. Women started wearing make-up as well, wearing heavy make-up such as eyeliner, rouge, powder, and lipstick. These things made them stick out in the crowd and made them feel beautiful.

After World War I, Prohibition was the big thing going on in the country. Alcohol was banned, which led to rebellion and disagreements with many people. With his independence and feminism with women caused them to rebel as well and go their own ways. Many women dated a myriad of men, and were very sexually active. They wanted to express themselves with these wild behaviors. Others drove cars to make themselves look "more cool" and rode bicycles. Smoking and alcohol were a huge part during the 1920's. Flappers had these erratic and wild behavior which contradicted with the behaviors women had before that era.

Flapper women's attitude was real, straight forward, fast living, and reckless. Most of them were seen as scandalous and something people have never seen before. Their drinking and smoking most definitely added to the kind of attitude these women had. Most of them partied, drank alcohol excessively, and smoked everyday. They mostly had a cigarette and alcohol in their hands everyday.

Dancing in the 1920's was also a huge part of the life of a flapper. It was the Jazz Age, where many new dances were popularized such as the Charleston, the Shimmy, and Black Bottom.

This is a picture of Kim Kardashian and Reggie Bush dressed up wearing the attire during the 1920's. This isn't an actual picture during that time, but it clearly shows exactly what flappers wore during their time. They wore fishnets, short skirts/dress, headpieces, beaded necklaces, and always a cigarette in their hand.

Prohibition

Prohibition in the 1920's refers to the 18th Amendment, which nationally banned the sale, manufacture, and transport of alcohol in the United States. Also known as The Noble Experiment, prohibition came about when the United States Senate was under great pressure from the temperance movement, a social movement against the use of alcohol. During Prohibition, a period from 1920-1933, crime rates spiked, gangs grew, and a general disrespect for the law occurred. It became very unpopular during the Great Depression, especially in larger cities. On March 22, 1933 FDR signed a law that permitted the production and sale of certain kinds of alcoholic beverages. This was due to the overwhelming dislike of prohibition and the hate supporters got with it. Gangs and mobs were very strong during prohibition, they smuggled and sold alcohol to anyone and everyone. Violence and crime was also very strong during prohibition due to the hostile nature of the situation. A lot of people wanted to drink alcohol, but it was illegal and they couldn't do so without making special arrangements. Speakeasies were formed to get around police that were constantly looking for law breakers, in this case alcohol drinkers. They were underground salons that sold smuggled alcohol and provided entertainment. In general, prohibition is thought to have failed horribly, it was full of corrupt police, violence, crime, and other illegal activities. On December 5, 1933 Prohibition was officially repealed with the 21st Amendment marking the end of banning alcohol.