The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald - 1395 Words

Romanticism and modernism are two philosophical thoughts so unlike each other, modernism embracing the cold truth of reality in the industrialized world of 1920s America, romanticism this same world through rose filtered lenses, summed up in the words of Mr. F. Scott Fitzgerald, â€Å"we are all just humans†¦ drunk on the idea that love, only love, could heal our broken bones.† Fitzgerald was a romantic living in the modernist 1920s, and his classic work The Great Gatsby was certainly a romantic book, and thusly did not succeed in his time; in fact, it did not succeed until after his death in the 1940s. Fitzgerald saw the green light, but it was just as out of reach to him as it was to Mr. Gatsby. Though The Great Gatsby was unappreciated†¦show more content†¦He found success on the tail of his book This Side of Paradise, which rapidly elevated him to stardom. They spent boatloads of money, but he could afford that by cranking out story after story. He had a lavi sh life, a romanticized life, so he dreamed romantically. Going into publishing Gatsby, he had romantic hopes, expecting it to well outsell his other books, and he was shocked when sales fell flat. Then, the â€Å"Jazz Age† gave way, and the Great Depression set in. People didn’t want to read about people living fabulously, dancing, driving around in flashy cars, and guzzling their alcohol, they wanted grittier works that reflected their gritty lives. Fitzgerald tried cranking out another book, Tender is the Night, and again, fell flat. He had lost his magic, it would seem, and with the loss of his magic came the loss of the padding inside his pockets. Zelda suffered a serious of mental breakdowns, and Scott was left in charge of their daughter. He hoped and dreamed for a wonderful life, while having to support his daughter, Scottie, through private school and college, and his wife in her countless trips to private sanitariums. The rest of the Fitzgeralds’ lives were dreary, Zelda having to bus tables in between her trips to asylums, and Scott dying in 1940. Then, suddenly, Gatsby hit gold, and established its worth in the world. In 1945, 155,000 copies were shipped overseas for soldiers in the war to read (1). The American Dream