The book The Great Gatsby took place in the early 1920s (1925) (the roaring 20s)

During the jazz age.

The Dust Bowl (drought) 1930-1936
Prohibition act (Volstead act) (1919 banning alcohol)

Rich people have a sense of entitlement. Example tom Buchanan. He talked to his wife, nick, and Gatsby
as if they were inferior. Even though Gatsby was rich he saw him as a fake rich as he made his money by
bootlegging (illegally selling alcohol) (newly rich).

American dream: (a façade) is something every person wants to achieve but doesn’t provide a person
with the satisfaction they think they will get from achieving this.

The Great Gatsby:

1. Characters:
a. Jay Gatsby
b. Daisy Buchanan: Daisy’s actions are mostly controlled my money and monetary gain.
She chooses to be with generally wealthier people. She promised to wait for Gatsby
when he went to the war but then broke that promise to marry Tom Buchanan. She
doesn’t treat other characters with respect even her daughter whom she must love and
care for.
i. Does not have morals
ii. Doesn’t respect others
iii. Represents east egg (money and status represent her)
iv. Weak and selfish
v. Sound of money in her voice (women represent the community and only think
in such a way).
vi.
c. Tom Buchanan
d. Nick Carraway
e. Jordan Baker
f. Myrtle Wilson
g. George Wilson
h. Meyer Wolfsheim
2. Setting:
a. Long Island
i. New York
ii. West Egg
iii. East Egg
b. !920s
3. Themes:
a. Alienation
b. Corruption
c. Idealism in love
d. Gender Roles
e. Social Class
 4. Concepts:
a. Representation
b. Perspective
c. Transformation
d. Culture
e. Identity
f. Communication
g. Creativity

Final Reflections:
This book was quite a difficult read, it was hard to grasp some of the concepts that we were supposed to
such as the valley of ashes and the green light. It took a lot of research to better understand it. Despite
the book being hard, it was a fun read. It was fun to learn about how life was in the 1920s especially
after the prohibition act. It was eye-opening to see all the different types of people that we would see
back in the 20s.
The way Fitzgerald used every character to symbolize a different personality was quite interesting. As a
reader, I got completely sucked into this world and felt as if I was living it. Although I knew “it was just a
book” I was very affected by what happened in the story especially to Gatsby.