In both times, easy money meant that many people could begin to dream of living out their days like Jay Gatsby, with life as just one grand party in a seersucker suit. In the 1920s, it had been a bubble in stocks that brought easy prosperity, while in our own time the bubble had been in the housing market. In both cases, though, unsustainable boom times led to devastating crashes with profound cultural consequences. The economic collapse of 2008 brought back distant and unwelcome memories of the stock market crash of 1929, casting the boom times of the 1990s and early 2000s as the modern-day version of the Roaring Twenties. The novel's very title has become a kind of buzzword for periods of excess and fake luxury. A girl who, as it happens, is married to someone else.ĭo we smell a Twilight-esque love triangle approaching?Īnd that's not the only reason why Gatsby still feels fresh today. The novel's star is Jay Gatsby, a young, rich man in love with a society girl from his past. For many of the post-World War I era's newly wealthy, materialism and immortality were the name of the game. He associated the entire period with materialism ('I want things! Lots of things!') and immorality. Scott Fitzgerald didn't see the Jazz Age as all about hip music and sparkly clothes. Parties? You bet? Cool cars? Absolutely-but more on that in a minute or jump ahead to our Great Gatsby summary. Published in 1925, The Great Gatsby is set in New York City and Long Island during the Prohibition era (remember, the Prohibition era was a time in which alcohol was illegal, no matter how old you were – yowsa). If you're looking at that list and thinking, Sweet!, you're in luck. Those long cigarette holders and old movie stars.

Maybe you came up with something like this: We'll wait here for you.Ĭool? Let's check out your list. When we say the words ' Roaring Twenties,' what are the first things that pop into your head? Go for it. Let's play a game called Free Association.

Want more deets? We've also got a complete Online Course about The Great Gatsby, with three weeks worth of readings and activities to make sure you know your stuff.

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