THE JAZZ WRITER

FRANCIS SCOTT FITZGERALD (September 24, 1896 December 21, 1940) That is part of the beauty of all literature. You discover that your longings are universal longings, that you're not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong. Francis Scott Fitzgerald was born on September 24, 1896, in St. Paul, Minnesota. He studied at Princeton University where he dedicated himself to honing his craft as a writer. He coined the term Jazz Age to refer to the period more commonly known as the Roaring Twenties. He is known to effectively portray the American cultural moment in his time through his literary works which are now accepted as remarkable pieces of literature, one of which is his novel, The Great Gatsby. His first novel, The Side of Paradise in (1920) was one of his novels which gave us the rare glimpse of the morality and immorality of Americas youth , and it made him famous as a writer. After such recognition, he was invited to write on the prestigious literary magazines such as the Scribners as well as high -paying publications including the Saturday Evening Post. Fitzgerald has written and published several novels like The Beautiful and Damned in 1922, which gave him additional praise, Tender is the Night in 1934 and The Last Tycoon in 1940, which was made into film. He also wrote and published collections of short stories like Tales of the Jazz Age and All the Sad Young Men. The Great Gatsby, on the other hand, was published in 1925 which quickly brought him praise from the literary community. The novel revealed the American life during the 20s which was commonly known as the Roaring Twenties. Americans, after the World War 1, were enjoying the fruits of the economic boom, the economic joy ride were noticeable as people were so much engaged into dancing jazz music, drinking liquor, going to movies and dressing in new fashions that shocked the more conservative citizens. Fitzgerald stresses out the darker side of the Roaring Twenties, its unnoticed corruption and its empty indulgence on materials things which were their happiness during that time. It is not surprising that during this age of change, different literary artists are becoming more real when it comes to their works and pieces. They are encouraged to cease using unbounded language; hence, they are encouraged to write about realistic happenings of their lives. Fitzgerald followed the call of the new realism, being an unorthodox writer, not conforming to the standard way of writing which made him known and famous. His works can be considered as to the works of James Joyces The Ulysses (1922), Virginia Woolfs Mrs. Dalloway (1925) and are compared to those works written by other American writers of the 1920s such as Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, Willa Cather, and Sinclair Lewis.

THE GREAT [OH-NOT-SO-GREAT] GATSBY

The story is seen and filtered through the keen and observant eyes of Nick Carraway, who is both a part of and separate from the worlds he describes in the story. Set in the 1920s after the World War 1 , the story tells about the struggles of an absolute dreamer Jay Gatsby, his weal thy neighbor in West Egg district of Long Island, who throws lavish and luxurious party every weekend at his mansion and his quest for his dream the desire to bring back his long lost love, Daisy Buchanan. The story tackles about the journey of a man into a society where he strives to fit in. The Great Gatsby mirrors the societys failure to fulfill its uttermost essence for humankind. Fitzgerald has intricately outlined the events which depicts the society during the Jazz Age and how people struggled for the pursuit of their dreams and aspirations. It is greatly emphasized in the story the American dream, which led the character to strive and persevere to accumulate and gain wealth and get rich. This, thus, reveals the rotten values of the American dream- that money, wealth and popularity are all there is to achieve in this world. He had given and shown everything he had emotionally and physically- to win in the battle of survival which led to his downfall. Also being shown in the story is the society during the Roaring Twenties. After the Word War 1, there is an economic boom which triggers the peoples materialistic attitudes. The economic expansion surged high and turned the 1920s into a time of easy money, hard drinking of liquors despite the prohibition of the constitution and extravagant parties. Also prevalent in the story is the emergence of the three different social classes of people in the society old money, new money and no money. Old money is the class who has fortunes dating from the 19th century or before and had built reputations and gain powerful connections and is superior in every single member of the society. The new money is the class who made their fortunes in the 1920s economic boom and therefore has n o social connections and tends to outstand this with their lavish display of their wealth. The story shows the newly developing clash between the new money and the old money manifested by the main character Gatsby and his rival on the love of Daisy, Tom. As usual, the no money class appears to be the overlooked and sometimes forgotten by the struggle between those middle class and top people. Another important theme stressed out in the story by the author is the conflicts between the past and the future. The narrator Nick and the central character Jay are continually troubled by time. The past haunts Gatsby; he dedicated his life in recapturing the perfect and cherished past with Daisy. He believes that his money and wealth can recreate the past they had. On the other hand, Nick fears of the future and the things that will come in the next years of their lives. Different symbols as well as images are being shown in the story. The first one is the green light and the color green. The green light which Gatsby always stares to at the opposite shore represents his hopes and dreams. It represents everything that haunts him: the physical and emotional distance

between him and his one true love Daisy, the past and the present, the promises of the future and the money. Another one is the eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg on the billboard overlooking the valley of ashes symbolizes the haunting waste of the past, also symbolizes the empty or blank eyes of Gatsby often staring out blankly and also symbolizes the eyes of God that sees everything that happens in the society. The Valley of Ashes is also a symbolic figure used in the story. It is an industrial wasteland, an area halfway between New York and West Egg, which symbolizes the depressing ruins of dreams of the people caught in between the mystery and beauty of the world represented by New York and West Egg symbolizing the people who have gotten rich because of the roaring economy of the Roaring Twenties. Gatsbys mansion also symbolizes the grandness of the economic boom of the 1920 s. He justifies this luxury by celebrating extravagant party every weekend. Also, it symbolizes his love for Daisy because he once used his new money to avail the house to create the place he wished Jay Gatsby and Daisy would have. The story depicts the dark side of life of the American people during the Jazz age. Fitzgerald has crafted a well-celebrated piece of literature which talks about life and dreams. He had written a piece that captures the brilliant drama between the people and their dreams- their American dream during the time when it takes a fall into corruption, corruption of the purity of the mind and of contentment. Fitzgerald, however, had shown us the real drama of life that there was one time in our life that we ask and want for more than what we need which may lead us to our greatest downfall. We must not be guided by rotten principles and values in life. Nevertheless, we should not stop dreaming; we should always search and look for greener pastures in a manner that is bounded by right principles and virtue. In the last part of the story, the narrator imparted us that all people must move forward with their arms outstretched toward the future, like boats traveling upstream against the current of the past. The narrator wants us to ponder on ourselves not to dwell on the past hence use it as a stepping stone to achieve the greatness of your present day life to prepare for the future you imagined. Just recently, the new movie adaptation of The Great Gatsby had been released in May 10, 2013 starring Leonardo De Caprio as Jay Gatsby and Tobey Maguire as Nick Carraway. The movie has received several reviews, both good and bad. The most thrilling and interesting part of the movie, as critics and reviewers would attest, is the confrontation between Jay Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan and Tom Buchanan in the Plaza Hotel. Overall, the movie had survived from the keen eyes of the critics. Several movie adaptations had been made for the Great Gatsby, including the latest one. In November 21, 1926, the first Gatsby movie was released; however, no copies of the entire film had known to exist. The second movie was in 1949; the third in 1974; the fourth in 2000 and the fifth adaptation was released in 2002. Nevertheless, Francis Scott Fitzgerald had shown us the realities of life depicted in his wellacclaimed classic and timeless tale of an ambitious young man taking his journey in an unnoticed, corrupt and decadent world of the Roaring Twenties.