MODERNISM

&

F. SCOTT FITZGERALDNOTES FROM DON POGREBA, JEAN O’CONNOR, & J. CLARK

WHAT IS MODERNISM?

• A RESPONSE TO REALISM

• REALISM: LITERARY AND AESTHETIC MOVEMENT THAT EMPHASIZED

ACCURACY IN REPRESENTATION OF THE WORLD

• LATE 19TH/EARLY 20TH CENTURY

• MODERNISM PUSHED BACK AGAINST THE STODGY CONFINES OF

REALISM

• QUESTIONED OLD ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT STRUCTURE, THOUGHT, THE HUMAN

EXPERIENCE, AND SOCIAL NORMS

REALISM

MODERNISM

HISTORICAL ROOTS

• WWI

• DISILLUSIONMENT: LOSS OF LIFE, FAILURE OF THE OLD

SYSTEMS OF GOVERNANCE AND BELIEF

• YOUNG PEOPLE QUESTIONED THE TRADITIONS AND BELIEFS

THAT THEY HAD BEEN RAISED ON & BECAME CRITICAL OF

GOVERNMENTS AND PHILOSOPHY

NEW INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENTS

• FREUD AND PSYCHOANALYSIS

• THE HUMAN BRAIN WAS DIVIDED INTO A CONSCIOUS AND

UNCONSCIOUS MINDS

• CONSCIOUSNESS: THE SMALL PART UNDER DIRECT CONTROL

• UNCONSCIOUSNESS: A STOREHOUSE OF FEARS, NEUROSES, SHAME, AND

UNCONTROLLABLE FEELINGS.

• THIS LED THE MODERNISTS TO QUESTION SOME OF THE

FOUNDATIONAL BELIEFS OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT ABOUT RATIONALITY

AND HUMAN DESTINY.

• MARXISM AND SOCIALISM

• CALLED INTO QUESTION THE VALUE OF THE INDIVIDUAL: HISTORY AND

HUMAN ENDEAVOR WERE THE PRODUCT OF SOCIAL FORCES AND

CLASS DYNAMICS.

• DARWINISM

• DARWIN POPULARIZED THEORIES OF EVOLUTION BY NATURAL

SELECTION (1865) THAT CALLED INTO QUESTION THE CENTRALITY

AND SUPREMACY OF THE HUMAN SPECIES, UNDERMINING BOTH

TRADITIONAL RELIGION AND ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY.

PROHIBITION: 1920-33

• IN THE UNITED STATES, THE PROHIBITION MOVEMENT

UNDERMINED AUTHORITY FOR LAW AND RESPECT

FOR GOVERNMENT.

IN LITERATURE

• ILLUSTRATES THE BREAKDOWN OF SOCIETY UNDER THE PRESSURES OF

MODERNITY.

• CHARACTERIZED BY A STRONG SENSE OF DISILLUSIONMENT WITH OLD

VALUES, TRADITIONS, AND WAYS OF THINKING ABOUT THE WORLD.

• PLACED AN EMPHASIS ON ORDER BASED ON ITS ABILITY TO CONVEY THE

TRUTH OF EXPERIENCE, RATHER THAN BEING LIMITED BY ARBITRARY THINGS

LIKE CHRONOLOGY.

• THE BELIEF THAT READERS ACTIVELY PARTICIPATE IN THE CREATION OF

MEANING.

• MEANING=READER + TEXT (A LA THE RHETORICAL TRIANGLE!)

• OFTEN CHARACTERIZED BY DIRECT, COMPACT WRITING

• THE SHORT STORY GAINED PROMINENCE AS AN IMPORTANT LITERARY

FORM.

• NOVELS BECAME SHORTER, MORE COMPACT IN THEIR FOCUS

• EMPHASIS WAS GIVEN TO THE MEANS OF TELLING A STORY RATHER

THAN JUST THE STORY ITSELF.

• EMPHASIZED CONCRETE SENSORY IMAGES AND DETAIL AS THE BEST

WAY TO CONVEY EXPERIENCE.

• WAS VERY EXPERIMENTAL IN FORM

FITZGERALD: SYMBOLS• SOME OF THE DOMINANT THEMES WE WILL EXPLORE INCLUDE:

• SETTINGS

• POSSESSIONS

• COLORS

• YELLOW

• BLUE

• GREEN

• WHITE

• DESCRIPTIONS OF CHARACTERS

• RELIGIOUS SYMBOLS

JUXTAPOSITION

• ONE PROMINENT EXAMPLE IS THE COMPARISON OF THE HOUSES THAT ARE LIVED IN BY NICK AND JAY:

• “MY HOUSE WAS AT THE VERY TIP OF THE EGG...AND SQUEEZED

BETWEEN TWO HUGE PLACES THAT RENTED FOR TWELVE OR

FIFTEEN THOUSAND A SEASON...MY OWN HOUSE WAS AN EYE-

SORE...I HAD A VIEW OF THE WATER, A PARTIAL VIEW OF MY

NEIGHBOR’S LAWN AND THE CONSOLING PROXIMITY OF

MILLIONAIRES- ALL FOR EIGHTY DOLLARS A MONTH”

FLASHBACKS

• REVEAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE PAST OF CHARACTERS.

• FITZGERALD USES THE TECHNIQUE TO FILL IN DETAILS FOR

NARRATIVE POWER AND FOR THE SAKE OF KEEPING THE

AUDIENCE WONDERING, JUST AS THE CHARACTERS IN THE

NOVEL WONDER.

WITNESS POV

• “ORGANIC ARRANGEMENT”

• MODIFYING THE FIRST PERSON POINT OF VIEW TO MAKE NICK

CARRAWAY A WITNESS TO THE EVENTS.

• MAKES THE STORY MORE REASONABLE AND ENGAGING, BECAUSE

THE READER IS WILLING TO ACCEPT SOME OF THE LESS REALISTIC

ELEMENTS OF THE NOVEL, BECAUSE NICK WITNESSED THEM.

• NICK IS POSITIONED AS BOTH CLOSE ENOUGH TO THE EVENTS TO

WITNESS THEM AND DISTANT ENOUGH TO BE OBJECTIVE.

• IN A SENSE, HE HAS A JOURNALISTIC VOICE

TRANSGRESSION OF POV

• FITZGERALD OCCASIONALLY ALLOWS NICK OMNISCIENCE—TO SEE OTHERS’ THOUGHTS

• “AS I WENT OVER TO SAY GOOD-BY I SAW THAT THE EXPRESSION OF

BEWILDERMENT HAD COME BACK INTO GATSBY’S FACE, AS THOUGH

A FAINT DOUBT HAD OCCURRED TO HIM AS TO THE QUALITY OF HIS

PRESENT HAPPINESS. ALMOST FIVE YEARS! THERE MUST HAVE BEEN

MOMENTS EVEN THAT AFTERNOON WHEN DAISY TUMBLED SHORT OF

HIS DREAMS-NOT THROUGH HER OWN FAULT, BUT BECAUSE OF THE

COLOSSAL VITALITY OF HIS ILLUSION. IT HAD GONE BEYOND HER, BEYOND EVERYTHING. HE HAD THROWN HIMSELF INTO IT WITH A

CREATIVE PASSION, ADDING TO IT ALL THE TIME, DECKING IT OUT

WITH EVERY BRIGHT FEATHER THAT DRIFTED HIS WAY. NO AMOUNT OF

FIVE OR FRESHNESS CAN CHALLENGE WHAT A MAN WILL STORE UP IN

HIS GHOSTLY HEART. “

AMBIVALENCE

• EXISTENCE OF CONFLICTING THOUGHTS OR FEELINGS.

• THIS TERM DESCRIBES FITZGERALD’S ATTITUDE TOWARDS

WEALTH.

• ON THE ONE HAND HE ADMIRES THE WEALTHY, AND WOULD

LIKE TO BE WEALTHY HIMSELF.

• ON THE OTHER HAND HE RECOGNIZES THE HOLLOWNESS OF THIS

GOAL, AND THE EMPTINESS OF THE LIFE THE WEALTHY OFTEN

LEAD

HEDONISM

• DEVOTION TO PLEASURE AND SELF-GRATIFICATION

AS A WAY OF LIFE.

• THIS TERM DESCRIBES F. SCOTT FITZGERALD’S

ATTITUDE TOWARDS LIFE, AS WELL AS THAT OF SOME

CHARACTERS IN THE GREAT GATSBY.