the 1920s and the american dream - mrs....
TRANSCRIPT
THE GREAT GATSBY
The 1920s and the American Dream
THE 20S: AN AGE OF TRANSITION
World War I and After
"The world must be made safe for democracy" Woodrow Wilson the
President had declared, "Its peace must be planted upon the tested
foundation of political liberty." --- WWI ended in 1918
A general disillusionment among the people which caused nervousness:
racism, intolerance, violence, Ku Klux Klan, immigrants, political
intolerance "ghost of bolshevism" behind every form of social protest/strikes.
Bolshevism is a political movement that combines elements of extreme
nationalism and the ideals of revolutionary leaders of the working class. It
is often anti-capitalist in tone, and sympathetic towards certain nationalist
forms of communism and socialism.
•1922 foreign policy of Isolationism
•1929 Stock Market Crash
•1932 New Deal Era
ROARING TWENTIES
Economy booming
America partied
Organized crime
Prohibition Act
Decline of moral standards
OPTIMISM
Business, change and innovation, laissez faire- economy (an economic environment in which transactions between private parties are free from government restrictions, tariffs, and subsidies, with only enough regulations to protect property rights)
Rapid growth of industry and mechanization: unlimited progress effecting an even wider distribution of the blessing of civilizations : electricity; automobile
Even skeptics believe in progress and in solving of problems: new “Golden Age” for America
CRITICS
They called it a decade of “decline and degradation”
Americans are caught up in a “surge of materialism”
People failed to grasp the meaning and significance of life
They feel disillusioned or disenchanted
They lost faith in life and in the possibility of social progress that caused their absolute lack of interest in politics
SOCIAL ATMOSPHERE OF
CHANGE
relaxing of structures within the sphere of private and
public morality
relationship between the sexes
change of the status of women
SPIRIT OF THE 20S
urbanization and the move away from the land
fascination with the dream of success
development of the cinema as a medium of entertainment
popularity of jazz
increased mobility brought about by the mass produced automobile
PROHIBITION
The 18th Amendment(1919)prohibited the sale and consumption of alcohol.
Although alcohol was illegal it was distributed through “bootleggers”. Those wishing to illegally transport alcohol would sometimes hide flasks of liquor in the shanks of a boot.
Bootlegging means the production and sale of liquor.
Alcohol was served in illegal night-clubs which were called “speakeasies”. They were "so called because of the practice of speaking quietly about such a place in public, or when inside it, so as not to alert the police or neighbors."
It was the time of famous gangsters like Al Capone and events like the St. Valentine's Day massacre happened. During that time the Mafia became important in American society.
THE CHANGING ROLE OF WOMEN
The 19th Amendment(1920) gave women the right to vote.
During the Twenties 9 million women were employed and earned money on their own, many younger women used their money to enjoy themselves.
Women bobbed their hair.
They were able to drink and smoke in public. For the first time female alcoholism is a major problem.
The liberated young women were called" flappers" .
FACTS ABOUT THE DECADE
106,521,537 people in the United States
(today - 317,511,500)
2,132,000 unemployed, Unemployment 5.2%
(today 6.7%)
Life expectancy: Male 53.6, Female 54.6
(today – Male 84, Female 86)
343.000 in military (down from 1,172,601 in 1919)
Average annual earnings $1236; Teacher's salary $970
(today - $50,502)
Dow Jones High 100 Low 67
(Today’s average High 16,588 Low 13,784)
Illiteracy rate reached a new low of 6% of the population
Gangland crime included murder, swindles, racketeering
It took 13 days to reach California from New York. There
were 387,000 miles of paved road.
FLAPPER CULTURE AND STYLE
The Flapper is an American icon. Born from post World War I feminism, she freed herself from stuffy Victorian ways and became the new "modern" woman. The flapper engaged in frivolity and recklessness. She was a rouge wearing rebel - a fast living, rule breaking, beautiful young woman.
Flappers were notorious for smoking, drinking, and dancing. These young girls did what only men had done before them. They drove automobiles and rode bicycles. They snuck alcohol into speakeasies during the Prohibition by strapping flasks to their inner thighs. Flappers were known to be promiscuous and sexual. They partied late into the night and danced the Charleston and the Shimmy.
The new, wild dances of the Jazz Age required women to move more freely. As a result, flappers stopped wearing corsets, and this became a focus of controversy. During the 1920's, corsetlessness was thought to be dangerous and evil. Flappers broke all the rules and started wearing a new type of undergarmet called a "step-in." Without the curve-enhancing corset, the flapper's figure was straight and boyish.
WHO IS F. SCOTT FITZGERALD?
Born in 1896, in St. Paul, Minnesota
He attended Princeton University
1917 joined the army
Met his wife Zelda
Published The Great Gatsby at age 29 in
1925
Regarded as the speaker of the Jazz Age
Drinking and wife’s schizophrenia
Died in 1940
WHAT IS THE AMERICAN
DREAM?
It describes an attitude of hope and faith that looks forward to the fulfillment of human wishes and desires
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
SPIRITUAL AND MATERIAL
IMPROVEMENT
Materialism achieved too quickly
Thus, lacking spiritual life/purpose
Gatsby is a character that represents this DREAM
FAILURE OF THE AMERICAN
DREAM
Poverty
Discrimination
Exploitation
Hypocrisy
Corruption
Suppression
HOW IS THE THEME DEVELOPED? Through the 5 central characters
Through certain dominant images and symbols
Through diction (the choice and use of words and phrases in speech or writing)
1.Why are we still reading a book written in the
1920’s? What gives a book its longevity?
2.How was the 1920’s a reaction to WWI?
3.Some people think that having money leads to
happiness. Do you agree? Why or why not?
What are the advantages or disadvantages of
being wealthy.
4.What is the "American Dream"? Where did it
originate, and how has it changed over the
centuries?
REVIEW ERAS
View of God: All
Sovereign
Man is depraved
Predestination
Pray for perfection
Theocracy
Man is good
God in man
Man is divine
God in nature
Flaws are part of the whole
Irony
God is detached
Fate unpredictable
Nature is violent at times
Modernism – disillusioned
– no spiritual connection
Lost generation
Puritan/Age of Reason
Romanticism/Realism/
Modernism