The Death of a Dream

1
F. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby
How to be a Millionaire or Just Look Like
One Jay Gatsby The Artful Poseur
2
Importance of Setting in The Great Gatsby

• 1922 The 1920s represented an era of rapid
  change. WWI had ended, America was victorious,
  and the economy shifted to prosperity (largely
  due to mass production of exportable goods and
  the creation of a consumer culture.

3

• Defiance of the Prohibition Act, women gaining
  the right to vote, relaxing of social mores, the
  rise in organized crime, the influence of
  Hollywood, advertising, and the fashion
  industries, all contributed to the advent of the
  Roaring 20sa time of reckless spending,
  get-rich-quick schemes and an abandonment of the
  noble ideals of hard and honest work.

4

• East Egg (where the old money families live) and
  West Egg, Long Island (where the nouveau riche
  newly rich reside.
• The Valley of Ashes (Industrial section) the
  depression and grime symbolize
• the wealthys exploitation of the working
  class. Myrtle Wilson feels trapped in the ash
  heap.

5
Settings reflect social class

• Note, for example, the contrasts between the
  interiors of Gatsbys and the Buchanans houses,
  Tom and Myrtles apartment in New York City or
  the Plaza Hotel, and George and Myrtle Wilsons
  garage/apartment.

6
Political/Social Climate in 1920s

• President Woodrow Wilson had led the country
  through WWI.
• Warren Harding (Republican) was elected President
  in 1921. His administration is remembered for
  its CORRUPTION.
• The government and law enforcement did little to
  stop the illegal sale of alcohol.

7

• The nouveau riche (new rich) emerged a
  generation of wealthy individuals who did not
  inherit their social and financial status, but
  who became suddenly well-off due to lucrative
  business ventures (some were illegal). The
  American Dream was attainable without hard
  work or perseverance.

8
Warren Harding
9

• President Warren G. Harding
  (1922-1923)Though he promised a return to
  normalcy after the war, Harding accomplished
  little as president. Some political analysts
  believe he was elected because of his distinct
  charm and strong, masculine good looks rather
  than his political intelligence.

10

• During 1922 he unknowingly contributed to an
  elaborate oil scam known as the Teapot Dome
  Scandal, where members of his own cabinet were
  using the rights to public oil reserves for
  personal gain. He died of a heart attack in 1923,
  leaving behind one of the most corrupt
  administrations to ever occupy the White House.

11
18th Amendment Fails

• 18th Amendment prohibiting the sale,
  manufacturing, or transporting of alcohol, went
  into effect January 16, 1920. The intent of the
  Amendment was to help the working man rise up
  from the poverty his drinking habits had created.
  Instead, alcohol sales sky-rocked.

12
Prohibition Creates Bootlegging Industry

• Crime increased because people rebelled
• against laws prohibiting alcohol.
• ? Numerous speak-
• easiesnightclubs
• where alcoholic drinks
• were soldcropped up.

13
Gangsters

• Gangsters profited during this decade by
  smuggling alcohol and distributing it to
  different illegal businesses. Al Capone from
  Chicago was one of these gangsters. He made 105
  million a year smuggling alcohol. Political and
  law enforcement corruption contributed to the
  rise in crime.

14

• What do Al Capone, Coco Chanel, and Greta Garbo
  have in common with Jay Gatsby ?
• They all reinvented themselves in the 1920s.

15
Al Capone is America's best known gangster and
the single greatest symbol of the collapse of law
and order in the United States during the 1920s
Prohibition era. Capone had a leading role in the
illegal activities that lent Chicago its
reputation as a lawless city. (Chicago
Historical Society Home Page).
16
From Alphonso the pin boy to Al the king pin

• Born 1899 in Brooklyn, NY and grew up
• in a rough neighborhood.
• Dropped out of school in the 6th grade at the
  age of 14.
• Joined 2 gangs as a teenager.
• Held various menial jobs pin boy in bowling
  alley clerk in candy store, etc.
• Got involved in Five Points Gang (Manhattan)
  (Chicago Historical Society Home Page).

17

• Frankie Yale, the boss of the Five Points Gang,
  sent Capone to Chicago after Capone caused
  serious injury to a rival gang member.
• John Torrio, Yales old mentor, saw great
  potential in Capone because of his physical
  strength and intelligence (and because Capone was
  capable of killing gang rivals) (Chicago
  Historical Society Home Page).

18

• Soon Capone was running Torrios bootlegging
  business, brothers and saloons.
• When Torrio was shot and wounded by a rival gang
  member, he left town. Capone took over as Boss
  (Chicago Historical Society Home Page).

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Other Social/Political Factors of the 1920s
21
?19th Amendment

• August 26, 1920, the 19th Amendment passed.
• Now women had the legal right to vote.
• Although women did not flock to the polls to vote
  after the 19th Amendment, this landmark
  legislation does reflect the 1920s
• image-conscious independent woman. (Women
  still gained status via a good marriage).

22
Consumerism Rises

• The prosperity of the post-WWI era is
• attributed to the Culture of Consumerism
• fueled by advertising in mass circulation of
  magazines such as Ladies Home Journal and The
  Saturday Evening Post.
• Hollywood experienced a boom. Tabloids
  flourished (b/c we wanted to read about the rich
  and famous).

23
The Fashion Industry also Flourished
24
How important is fashion to Jay Gatsby?

• At 17, when Jimmy Gatz decides he is really Jay
  Gatsby, his mentor, Dan Cody,

takes him to Duluth and buys him a blue coat,
six pairs of white duck trousers, and a yachting
cap to sharpen Gatsbys image (100).
25
Gatsbys clothes are mentioned several times in
the novel.

• Theres a caramel-colored suit (64)
• He shows Nick a picture of himself and other
  young men in blazers at Oxford (67).
• He wears a white flannel suit, silver shirt, and
  gold-colored tie when he meets

26
Gatsbys suits are mentioned several times in the
novel.

• Theres a caramel-colored suit (64)
• He shows Nick a picture of himself and other
  young men in blazers at Oxford (67).
• He wears a white flannel suit, silver shirt, and
  gold-colored tie when he meets Daisy at Nicks
  house (84).

27
His multiple shirts move Daisy to tears.

• When he gives Daisy a tour of his house, Gatsby
  shows her his wardrobe
• he opened two hulking patent cabinets which
  held his massed suits and dressing gowns and
  ties, and his shirts, piled like bricks in stacks
  a dozen high (92). He took out a pile of
  shirtsshirts of sheer linen and thick silk and
  fine flannel

28

• Daisy comments to Gatsby You resemble the
  advertisement of the man (119).
• Tom makes fun of Gatsbys pink suit (122)

29

• "How many cares one loses when one decides not to
  be something, but to become someone."
• --Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel

30

• Designer Coco Chanel was born Gabrielle Bonheur
  Chanel in 1883, although she would later claim
  that her real date of birth was 1893, making her
  ten years younger.
• Her mother died when Coco was 6 years old. She
  spent most of her childhood in the orphanage of
  the Catholic monastery of Aubazine. There she
  learned the trade of sewing.
• During WWI, Coco moved to the resort town of
  Deauvile, where she met and became mistress of an
  English military officer, and then of a wealthy
  industrialist.

31
From Gabrielle to Coco

• Through the patronage and connections that these
  men provided she was able to open her own
  millinery shop in Paris in 1910 and she soon had
  boutiques in both Deauville and Biarritz.
• During WWII, Chanel was a nurse, but her affair
  with a Nazi officer had a negative impact on her
  popularity. She moved to Switzerland to avoid
  the scandal.

32

• Coco Chanels fashions (the little black dress
  and pill box suit) lost popularity in
• Europe, but gained status and desirability in
  the United States, where movie stars
• such as Grace Kelly and Audrey Hepburn
• made famous her boxy cardigan suits and
  elegant but simple dress styles.

33
Revising the Past

• Later when questioned about her background,
  Chanel would claim that when her mother died, her
  father sailed for America and she was sent to
  live with two cold-hearted spinster aunts. She
  even claimed to have been born in 1893 as opposed
  to 1883, and that her mother had died when Coco
  was twelve instead of six. All this was done to
  diminish the stigma that poverty, orphanhood, and
  illegitimacy bestowed upon unfortunates in
  nineteenth-century France (Coco Chanel
  Biography).

34
Gabrielle
Coco
35
Hollywood also Thrived

• By 1920, there were more than 20,000 movie houses
  operating in the US.
• The basic patterns and foundations of the film
  industry (and its economic organization) were
  established in the 1920s (Dirks).

36
Hollywood, cont.

• The studio system was essentially born with
  long-term contracts for stars, lavish production
  values, and increasingly rigid control of
  directors and stars by the studio's production
  chief and in-house publicity departments
  (Dirks).

37

• After World War I and into the early 1920s,
  America was the leading producer of films in the
  world - using Thomas Ince's "factory system" of
  production, although the system did limit the
  creativity of many directors(Dirks).

38

• Production was in the hands of the major studios
  (that really flourished after 1927 for almost 20
  years), and the star system was burgeoning.

39
Jay Gatsby Hobnobs with Stars

• Chapter 4 mentions among Gatsbys party guest
  list Newton Orchid who controlled Films Par
  Excellence and Eckhaust and Clyde Cohen and Don
  S. Schwartze, and Arthur McCarty, all connected
  with the movies (these are fictitious names).
  62.

40

• Hollywood, where images are created, actors
  change their names to something the public will
  like, where fortunes can be lost and made
  quickly, and where scandals abound, has made
  ILLUSION
• one of the most lucrative businesses in this
  country.

41
A Star is Born Greta Garbo, 1925
42
Reinventing the Self

• Garbo born Greta Louisa Gustafsson in
  Stockholm, Sweden on September 18, 1905. Her
  father died when she was 14.
• Worked as a lather girl in a barber shop, then
  as a salesgirl and occasional model
• in a department store.
• Met Mauritz Stiller, Swedens foremost film
• director.

43
From Gustafsson to Garbo

• 1925 Stiller went to Hollywood to work
• for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
• Stiller took Garbo with him and she got
• an acting contract with M-G-M.
• Her first films in AmericaThe Torrent (1926)
  and Flesh and the Devil (1927)-- silent films,
  made her a success.

44
Garbo withdraws from Hollywood

• After her 1941 film, Two Faced Woman,
• flopped, she retreated from Hollywood
• at the age of 36 and led a private, somewhat
  secluded life in New York City.

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46
From Jimmy Gatz to Jay Gatsby

• What motivates Gatzs transformation?
• When did it begin?
• How does Gatsby become wealthy?
• Does Gatsby represent the American Dream or a
  Corruption of that Dream?

47

• James Gatzs parents were shiftless and
  unsuccessful farm people from North Dakota (98).

48
At a young age, James puts himself on a rigorous
self-improvement plan, trying to follow Hopalong
Cassidys advice.
49
Hopalong Cassidy American Icon
Henry Gatz tells Nick that Jimmy had a copy of
the book, Hopalong Cassidy, when he was a
boy. On the back fly-leaf Jimmy printed
his self-improvement schedule (173).
50
Hopalongs Creed

• The highest badge of honor a person can
  wear is honesty. Be truthful at all times.
• Your parents are the best friends you have.
  Listen to them and obey their instructions.
• If you want to be respected, you must respect
  others. Show good manners in every way.
• Only through hard work and study can you
  succeed. Don't be lazy.

51

• Your good deeds always come to light. So don't
  boast or be a show-off.
• If you waste time or money today, you will
  regret it tomorrow. Practice thrift in all ways.
• Many animals are good and loyal companions. Be
  friendly and kind to them.

52

• A strong, healthy body is a precious gift. Be
  neat and clean.
• Our country's laws are made for your protection.
  Observe them carefully.
• Children in many foreign lands are less
  fortunate than you. Be glad and proud you are an
  American.
• Hopalong Cassidys character was invented by
  author Clarence Mulford, who wrote 26 books about
  the cowboy between 1907-1941. Several films
  followed.

53
Does Jay Gatsby Adhere to Hopalongs Creed?

• We know Gatsby is NOT honest.
• We know he does not honor his parents.
• We know that Gatsby has impeccable manners.

54

• We know that Gatsby does not believe hard work
  and academic perseverance will earn him the
  respect or status he wants
• He drops out of St. Olaf College (MN) after 2
  weeks because he doesnt like working as a
  janitor to pay his tuition (99).

55

• We know he does not obey the law (he bribes a
  police officer about to give him a speeding
  ticket his affiliation with Meyer Wolfsheim
  suggests Mob connections).
• We know that instead of being modest, Gatsby goes
  to great lengths to display his wealth to lure
  Daisy Buchanan.

56

• Instead of practicing thrift he epitomizes
  ostentatious, careless spending.
• We do not know if Gatsby was kind to animals.

57

• Gatsby runs away from his background, disowns his
  parents (he tells Nick they are dead), and
  reinvents himself.

58

• At 17, when he meets Dan Cody, whose yacht on
  Lake Superior represents an opportunity, James
  Gatz becomes JAY GATSBY.

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60

• Dan Cody, 50, is an alcoholic who made his
  fortune in silver and copper mines.
• Cody discovers that Gatsby is ambitious and
  intelligent. Gatsby stays with Cody for 5 years.
  It is Gatsbys apprenticeship to teach him how to
  behave like a rich person so he will blend in.

61

• Gatsby meets Daisy when he is stationed in
  Louisville, Kentucky.
• He takes her under false pretenses, for he
  presents himself of a man from a family of high
  social standing.
• Daisy represents Jay Gatsbys entry into a world
  of sophistication and wealth.

62

• Gatsby cannot acquire status by marrying a rich
  woman, since this would violate social
  expectations and reverse gender roles (the 1920s).

63
Gatsbys Transformation cont.

• Gatsby not only wants to erase his own past, as a
  product of poor farmers from North Dakota, he
  also wants Daisy to deny that her past with Tom
  held meaning for her.

64

• In short, Gatsby wants to turn back time and meet
  Daisy again, now as someone worthy () of her.

65
Gatsbys Dream

• Gatsby dreams of one day being reunited with
  Daisy Buchanan.
• To win her back, he makes a fortuneapparently
  through dealings with mobsters.
• His dream of gaining entry into the
• East Egg society is shattered.
• Daisy allows Gatsby to take the blame for Myrtle
  Wilsons death.

66

Jay Gatsby
67

• The wealth of the 1920s however, belies careless
  disregard for responsible spending (and the
  importance of hard work and perseverence) and for
  moral principles.
• The Party has to End lavish spending and
  disregard for family and more traditional values
  (such as fidelity to ones spouse) contributed to
  economic collapse and a decline in national
  morale.

68
Greed Wins the Day

• In The Great Gatsby, the central characters
  achieve wealth and social status, but Nick
  Carraway, the narrator, comes to see them at the
  novels end as shallow people who lack empathy.
  Daisy pretends she did not run over Myrtle
  Wilson, Tom continues his boorish ways, and
  Gatsby winds up dead (as do Myrtle and George
  Wilson).

69
Gatsby was overwhelmingly aware of the youth and
mystery that wealth imprisons and preserves, of
the freshness of many clothes, and of Daisy,
gleaming like silver, safe and proud above the
hot struggles of the poor (150).
70
Works Cited

• "Advertising in the 1920s," EyeWitness to
  History, ltwww.eyewitnesstohistory.com (2000) lt26
  May 2010gt.
• Al Capone. Chicago Historical Society.
  (http//www.chicagohs.org/history/capone.html lt26
  May 2010gt.
• Dexter, Matthew. http//matthewbdexter.files.word
  press.com/2010/04/f-scott-fitzgerald-and-hi-001.jp
  g lt12October 2010gt.
• Coco Chanel. lthttp//www.thebiographychannel.co.u
  k/biographies/coco-chanel.html lt26 May 2010gt.
• Dirks, Tim. The History of Films the Early
  Twenties. lthttp//www.filmsite.org/20sintro.html.
  lt26 May 2010gt.
• Haley, Vanessa. Collages. http//www.PlayGamesto
  Learn.com.
• Hopalong Cassidy. lt http//www.hopalong.com/cree
  d.htm. lt26 May 2010gt.
• Leyendecker, Joseph. Arrow Shirt Advertisement.
  lt12 October 2010gt.
• Penguin edition book cover, artist not known.
  http//www.robertarood.files.wordpress.com/.../gga
  tsby.jpg. lt12 October 2010gt.
• Poseur. One who affects a particular attribute,
  attitude, or identity to impress or influence
  others. lthttp//www.thefreedictionary.com/
• poseurgt. 26 May 2010.