Values and Morals of the 1920s as Reflected by the Great Gatsby

At a glance some would say that the 1920s were one of the most radical times in the history of America. Sure, the late 60s were too but the 20s had the largest jump in trends, Values and Morals. It was now transportation age people were not confined to their homes and could now go out and socialize. This increase in mobility and the women’s rights movement helped too increase social stimulus and decrease moral values. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald was a perfect example of the lifestyles and values of people in the early 20s.

The Great Gatsby very ingeniously viewed the social and financial lives of all its characters. You could see the poverty stricken gas station owner George and his wife Myrtle Wilson, the middle class main character of the story, Nick Carraway. And the upper class Tom and Daisy Buchanan and Jay Gatsby. Nicks next door neighbor, Jay Gatsby whole purpose in the story was to win back his long estranged girlfriend Daisy Buchanan. His social standards did not consider the fact that Daisy already had a family. All Gatsby wanted in the story was to steal her back.

In the story The Great Gatsby, Nick’s cousin Daisy Buchanan had a family of her own. Daisy’s family included Tom Buchanan and there young daughter. Their family life was very much stretched. Daisy rarely saw her daughter as she always off somewhere else, most likely being pampered by the house sitters. But, when daisy and her child did meet it always seemed like they had been parted for years and all this Childs mother had to offer were words of spoiling content. You could almost claim the interactions from the mother to the child as ignorant and uncaring. Comparing then to today and I’m sure you will see a difference in attitude. Although I couldn’t attest to having such financially opulent parents like these, at least my parents care about me.

It would seem that in the Story the great Gatsby that Jay Gatsby lost the most, after all he did die. But his death could be attributed to the “Villain” of this story, Tom Buchanan. He was by far the most Ignorant, arrogant, hypocritical character in the story. He believes he is exempt from living up to the moral standards he set for his wife. He has an affair with Myrtle Wilson and becomes greatly offended when her discoveries his wife’s affair with Jay Gatsby. After confrontation of this Daisy kills Myrtle by accident in Gatsby’s car and Gatsby ends up being blamed by Tom Buchanan as the killer of his Affair partner. Tom leads George Wilson to killing Gatsby and ending the story.

In the end the 1925 classic Novel, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald was an excellent story. Written in the time period of these fictional events it is fair to say that the American life portrayed in this story are true to events of the time. Also true to the time period are the values and morals people held. Nick after becoming friends with Gatsby moves west in disgust of the loss of his friend and the loss of Morals he witnessed from his once friends the Buchanan’s.