Great Gatsby's Accomplishments

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The 1920s in the United States, better known as the “Roaring Twenties”, was a decade of economic growth, advancements in technology, and a rapidly changing society. On the other hand the 1920s saw the rise of a new version of the Ku Klux Klan that emerged with a much more nativist agenda, a corruption problem that mirrored the Gilded Age, and the agricultural industry taking a turn for the worst. The ups and downs of the 1920s were met with enthusiasm and critic. Criticism and frustration could be found in many forms during this time period but the best way to find them and get them across was through writing. Authors and poets such as Francis Scott Fitzgerald, Langston Hughes, and Claude McKay wrote essays and poems that not only showed what…show more content…
Achieving this level of economic success was a huge part of American culture. It is very close with a false ideal of the “American Dream”: coming from nothing and making it to the top in monetary and materialistic ways, devoid of other social and cultural values. However, this narrow version of the American Dream was not appreciated by all Americans. Famous author Francis Scott Fitzgerald was a detractor to the materialistic values of American society during the 1920s. Through his writings such as, Winter Dreams, he criticized that with all the glitter of the American Dream there is no gold. In summary, Winter Dreams is the story of a caddy, Dexter, who came from a middle class background and rises to the upper class. His motivation was not only to achieve prosperity monetarily but to gain the love and lust of a women, Judy, in the wealthier part of society. However by the end of the short story when Dexter realizes Judy will never love him the same way he does because he is not “like her,” he comes to discover that the American Dream is hollow and only exploits one’s…show more content…
For example, Langston Hughes in I, too, Sing America depicts his own awareness that in spite of being an American citizen, during this time period he does not feel like one, nor he is treated like one. Hughes uses the idea of him eating in the kitchen in the poem as a way to show what he yearns for; a day where instead of being the servant not eating at the table but that a day where it would be shameful for him not to be invited to sit and eat in the dining room: “Eat in the Kitchen, Then. Besides, They’ll see how beautiful I am And be ashamed--”. In addition to this style of poetry showing the anger of the black community Langston Hughes also wrote Democracy, which conveyed the message that not only is it the racism among our citizens but in the government as well. Another 20th century black poet, Claude McKay, wrote Enslaved and White House which as in I, too, Sing America, he also expresses the frustration with the lack of respect the black community in America receives expressing that it is not only a cultural problem but an issue of political dimension involving laws as well as policy and governmental
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