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Entry No. 4

 

Entry No. 4: Biographical and Historical Context

The Great Gatsby was written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, it was published on April 10th, 1925. Fitzgerald was born on September 24, 1896 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. In 1913 while he was attending Princeton University, he began to work on his first novel This Side of Paradise. Later he married Zelda Sayre and one year after they wedded their daughter Frances Scott Fitzgerald was born. After the birth of his daughter, Fitzgerald spent many years traveling and moving across America seeking help for his wife Zelda whose mental state was progressively dwindling as a result of mental illness. In the late 1930’s he moved to Hollywood and worked on various screenplays, during this time period he was also writing his final book The Last Tycoon. Unfortunately, this book was never completed since Fitzgerald died in 1948 as a result of health complications due to a pervious heart attack.


As was previously mentioned, The Great Gatsby was published in 1925. Fitzgerald wrote the novel during the summer and fall of 1924 while in France with his family. In the last months of 1924 to the beginning months of 1925, Fitzgerald revised and made edits to the book while in Rome. It was finally published in April and although The Great Gatsby received positive praise from critics, sales were low. This novel was written during the roaring twenties, a decade filled with economic prosperity where many socialites such as Fitzgerald enjoyed carefree lives and lavish parties. During this same time period, the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S Constitution was passed making the sale, manufacturing and transporting of alcohol illegal. However, many Americans continued to consume alcoholic beverages illegally, meaning that many bootleggers got rich, making profit from selling alcohol smuggled into the country. 


With this added historical context, it is obvious that Fitzgerald drew inspiration for The Great Gatsby from the world and things that surrounded him in the 1920’s. This can be said since The Great Gatsby takes place in the middle of the Jazz Age with the whole story taking place east of New York City. There are many portions of the novel that contain vivid descriptions of the wealth and prosperity of Jay Gatsby and those who attended his extravagant parties that depict the roaring twenties so incredibly well. And to make this novel an even more interesting read, it occurs in the middle of the prohibition as Gatsby himself is a bootlegger whose wealth comes from the illegal selling of alcoholic beverages. In his book, Fitzgerald often points out that the rich get wealthier while the poor fall further into poverty also as if he was providing a warning about the Great Depression that was to come in the 1930’s. 

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