How Time Period Aids The Novel The Great Gatsby

Abby Sayers Mrs. Kwiatkowski Honors English P3 7 April 2017 How Time Period Aids the Development of the Plot in The Great Gatsby Use of settings and time periods give authors an ability to take readers through a new experience. Novels are rarely set in the present, but instead dwell on past eras or the mystery of what will happen in the future. Fitzgerald sets his widely-known novel, The Great Gatsby, in the early 1920s, a time of parties and celebration. Social and political changes were dramatic at the time and the stock markets were booming. Parts of the book, including Daisy not divorcing Tom, Gatsby’s attempts to swoon Daisy, a sense of trust, and Myrtle and Gatsby’s deaths all rely on this time. Setting The Great Gatsby in the†¦show more content†¦Divorce rates were more than doubling in the 1970s, because â€Å"[s]pouses found it easier in the Swinging Seventies to find extramarital partners, and came to have higher, and often unrealistic, expectations of their marital relationships† (Wilcox, 2009). Over 30 years later and divorce seems to be an overused option in many marriages. In the 2000s-2010s, 40-50% of people are getting divorces and â€Å"[c]urrently, 22 percent of women and 21 percent of men have...been in a divorce† (Stanton, 2015). Without setting The Great Gatsby in the 1920s, this aspect would have had to be completely different. Everything was bigger in the 20s, from the parties to the wealth to Gatsby’s extravagant gestures, all of which he used to his advantage to catch the eye of Daisy Buchanan. Watching movies or reading books seems to give everyone high expectations whether for success, love, or just life in general. It easy to say that the extravagant and romantic gestures have made many high expectations for the women watching and reading in awe. Today’s generation is so consumed with technology that they do not seem capable of the grand ideas and gestures that went through Gatsby’s head. Although, it is easier to get som eone’s attention through social medias and dating websites that 49,250,000 people out of the 54,250,000 singles in the United States are a part of (Statistic Brain, 2017). Either Gatsby and Daisy would have never met again or they would have met online throughShow MoreRelatedThe Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald1411 Words   |  6 Pagesdifficult truths immensely aids in understanding entire ideas. For this reason, the beloved novel, The Great Gatsby, written by F. 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