F. Scott Fitzgerald And Jazz Age

In the 1920s during the Jazz Age in the United States, American literature grew. One of the best writers in the 1920s was Francis Scott Fitzgerald (O’Connor). Everyone called him F. Scott Fitzgerald. At this time, there were three Republican presidents in a row from 1920 to 1932. All three of these Republican presidents supported big business (Nash 347). This meant the owners of those big businesses were very wealthy. One of the major problems of the 1920s was that there were many people that were very wealthy while most were poor. They had so much money that they do not even know what to do with it. There were so many American writers that wrote about society in the country. There was one American writer that was the most well-known and that was F. Scott Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald wrote 160 stories and 4 novels about the 1920s (Curnutt). He did not just write about one problem or issue, he wrote about anything he felt that should be changed in the country. F. Scott Fitzgerald was born in 1896 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. He died in 1940 of a heart attack in Hollywood pursuing his dream as a film screenwriter (Bruccoli). In Fitzgerald’s short time on earth, he wrote some of the best novels and short stories are ever written and he died at only 44 years old (Bruccoli). Francis Scott Fitzgerald impacted The United States positively by writing a great novel, The Great Gatsby, creating the image of the 1920s, and his passion in writing.

F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote one of the best-selling novels in the 1920s, The Great Gatsby. He wrote the novel in 1925 (Nash 390). The Great Gatsby was mainly about a man named Jay Gatsby who was very wealthy. Gatsby tried to impress a young pretty woman. This novel became a play, motion picture movie and then later it became a movie. In one part of the novel “Jay Gatsby throws 20-dollar gold coins into a pool filled with girls to show his wealth” (Hall). Gatsby only wanted to show that he was wealthy and thought that girls would just love that. Jay Gatsby is an interesting character, he is so wealthy that he can basically throw away money. Fitzgerald put in showed how a wealthy person acts to others that aren’t as wealthy. This “novel helped him financially” (Oxford). He was never a wealthy person and even his childhood was pretty rough. The Great Gatsby was an impactful novel for the people of the 1920s.

Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby had a massive impact on The United States in the 1920s. The economy started to fall and people started to panic. This novel showed the American people that the wealthy were doing fine while others were struggling. Fitzgerald wanted to show how Gatsby reacted to others around him. The Great Gatsby left an impact on everyone and continues to impact people today (“Scott Fitzgerald Look into the Middle Age”). This novel showed the many different things happening in the 1920s. Every person that read the novel reacted to it based on their own life experiences. Not everyone could agree that there was just one impact that Fitzgerald’s novel made. Fitzgerald showed that “Gatsby only tried to impress girls with his money” (“Scott Fitzgerald Look into the Middle Age”). He could not impress the girls with anything else because all he had was money. He was not a person consumed with money unable to care about anything else. He has impacted the United States with one of the best-selling novels, The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald also set the stage for how people acted and lived in the 1920s.

F. Scott Fitzgerald created the image of the 1920s. He began the Jazz Age and many new cultural things to do in the 1920s. In the election of the 1920s women were given the right to vote (Nash 345). Women started to have a voice in politics and were viewed more like respected citizens. Fitzgerald brought dancing to the mind of many women. Some of these women cut their hair so it did not get in the way. They also wore different clothes, it was the first time women started to wear clothes that would show their legs. These women that danced and had a different look was called Flappers (Nash 383). In the 1920s, women had started to dance-pop dance. There was a different style before the 1920s. “The Gibson Girls was the more ideal feminine beauty before World War I, had long flowing hair.” (Nash 382). This is one of the many things Fitzgerald changed in the 1920s. The Gibson Girls were before the 1920s and the Flappers became the new Gibson Girls. He showed women that it was fine to show off their bodies and to enjoy their life, instead of being controlled by men. Women finally realized that they could do anything, they had their own important ideas. Fitzgerald did not just change the way people lived in the 1920s, he also was very passionate about his writing.

F. Scott Fitzgerald was a very big person in the Jazz Age. One of the main reasons it was called the Jazz Age is because of jazz music. Jazz music blew up in the 1920s, there were so many different groups of people that wrote and performed jazz music. Besides jazz music movie theaters were everywhere. There were so many theaters in cities and even towns. “Americans went to the movies once a week in the 1920s.” (Nash 386). The reason they saw so many was because new movies were being produced often. There were so many different types of movies from action to romance and everything in between. Theaters began to grow “There were 9 motion picture theaters for a town of 35,000.” (Nash 386). Theaters were growing and people attended. Before the theaters multiplied, only the wealthy went to the movies. Now almost everyone goes to the movies to see the latest movie of their choice. Fitzgerald was involved in the filming process in his later life. He helped create the image of the 1920s whether they were a female or male he changed lives. Fitzgerald had a passion for his writing and that had a major impact on the United States.

The writing was the best life Fitzgerald had, it was his passion. He always loved to write, he was one of those childhood dreamers that wanted fame, which he achieved at a very young age. Fitzgerald’s first novel that he wrote in 1920 was called Side of Paradise (Moretta 4). Everybody knows that he was a great writer but he was not a stellar student. Fitzgerald did end up attending Princeton University after going to private schools (“F. Scott Fitzgerald”). He was writing the moment he could write his name to the day he died. He only wrote a few novels but that is not the only writing he did. Fitzgerald wrote over a hundred short stories. During his private school and college career, he wrote humorous stories for students. He was only married to his wife a short while before she started to have medical problems. Fitzgerald’s wife Zelda was having mental problems “His wife was a patient at John Hopkins Hospital” (“Book Notes”). His wife’s problems had a major toll on his writing career. This slowed down his writing and caused him financial trouble. Once his wife managed her medical issues, he began to pick the pace back up and started to get more revenue. His passion for writing is what makes F. Scott Fitzgerald one of the best American writers to the present day.

Fitzgerald’s Career in writing was not just a career for him it was also his dream. His passion in writing left such a big impact on the United States. He inspired many Americans to write. Fitzgerald wrote many novels and short stories from the Jazz Age (Renolds). No matter the topic, he had the best time writing stories. Whether the story was serious or humorous, he would write with so much happiness, like a kid on Christmas. This is the real reason people loved him, he was not just a fabulous writer. There was so much happiness in the man because he was living his dream. People around the country were looking for enjoyable jobs, but most of the jobs in the 1920s were in factories or stores and the higher class had the elite jobs, or so they say. But when the American people saw that Fitzgerald was famous and was not a person of wealth they started to believe their dreams could come true. Fitzgerald was a writer of both fiction and realistic fiction. In one of his writings, he explained how parents were not parenting. For example “The parents do not seem to think a lot about their children.” “The parents think children should be taught everything at school.” (“Hold ‘Flappers Fail as Parents”). Fitzgerald loved to write for enjoyment but he also liked to inform people of what was happening in the country or what he thought should be happening. He was a very informative writer but also a great entertainer. All in all, F. Scott Fitzgerald inspired many writers because of his passion for writing.

In the 2000s, Americans are still talking about one of the best American literature writers F. Scott Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald did many things in his short life, he wrote one of the best-selling novels in the 1920s. He also influenced how people in the 1920s acted. Fitzgerald was even ranked as one of the greatest American writers in the 1920s (“F. Scott Fitzgerald”). Fitzgerald changed people’s lives with his novel The Great Gatsby (“Scott Fitzgerald Look into the Middle Age”). He even influenced how the school systems run. Many schools around the country still read his best-selling novel The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald has positively impacted The United States with his amazing writing skills.

In the 1920s during the jazz age, there was an American writer that stood out from the rest, he was F. Scott Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald changed the way Americans look at American literature and the way they look at the world (“Scott Fitzgerald Look into the Middle Age”). He also influenced the way people lived during the Jazz Age, just like the Flappers (Nash 383). Fitzgerald had a huge passion for writing (Moretta). He had a long-term impact on The United States that affected people (“Scott Fitzgerald Look into the Middle Age”). In conclusion, F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote a great novel, set the image of the 1920s and he had a major passion for writing that impacted The United States positively.

Works Cited

1. “Book Notes.” The New York Times, (May 11,1932): 17, ProQuest. Historical Newspapers.
2. Bruccoli, Mathew. “A Brief Biography of F. Scott Fitzgerald.” Fitzgerald in Saint Paul. 2002.
3. Curnutt, Dr kirk. “Biography F. SCOTT FITZGERALD 1896-1940.” F. Scott Fitzgerald Society.2018.
4. “F. Scott Fitzgerald.” F. Scott Fitzgerald (2019). History Reference Center. ResearchIT CT.
5. Hall, Mordanut. “Gold And Cocktails.” The New York Times, (Nov 22 1926): 28, ProQuest. Historical Newspapers.
6. “Hold ‘Flappers fail as parents.” The New York Times, (sep 18, 1933): 17, ProQuest. Historical Newspaper.
7. Morretta, Alison. F. Scott Fitzgerald and the jazz age. Writers and their times. 2015. 4. Print.
8. Nash, Gary B., ed. American Odyssey: The United States in the Twentieth Century. New York: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, 2002. 345, 347, 382, 383, 386, 390. Print.
9. O’Conner, Kate. “The Curious Life of F. Scott Fitzgerald”. Great Writers Inspire. 2013.
10. Oxford, Edward. “Dashing, Brilliant, and Self -Destructive, Author F. Scott Fitzgerald Led a Life that Epitomized the Jazz Age that he Wrote About in his Acclaimed Novels and Short Stories.” American History (2001). History Reference Center. ResearchIT CT.
11. Reynolds, Mogan. “F. Scott Fitzgerald: Writer of the Jazz Age.” F. Scott Fitzgerald: Writer of the Jazz Age (2002). ResearchIT CT. History Reference Center.
12. “Scott Fitzgerald Looks into the Middle Age.” The New York Times, (Apr 19, 1925): B9, ProQuest. Historical Newspapers.