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The Great Gatsby Background World War I • WWI began in 1914 and ended in 1918. • It was a struggle between the Allies (Britain, France, Belgium, Italy, Serbia, Montenegro, Japan, and Russia (Russia eventually dropped out, and the US joined) AND the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey). World War I and America’s Involvement • Although President Woodrow Wilson wanted America to remain neutral in this war, this proved impossible, as a German submarine sank the Lusitania (which was the pride of the British merchant fleet). 128 of the 1,200 people on board were Americans. Germany then went on to sink four American merchant ships, and the US eventually joined the Allied cause. The Sinking of Lusitania The REALITY of the war • At first, the reality of the war did not sink in. Americans were carefree and confident, as they sent troops overseas. That cheerfulness soon passed when Americans experienced the horrible and dangerous conditions of WWI. • Several American authors saw the war firsthand. E.E. Cummings, Ernest Hemmingway, and John Dos Passos served in the war. Fitzgerald was in the army, but he did not take part in WWI. An Ugly War… • WWI was one of the bloodiest and most tragic conflicts ever the occur. • Trench warfare and modern weaponry, such as machine guns, tanks, and chemical weapons made this a grueling war. • More than 9 million soldiers were killed, and more than 21 million were wounded. Trench Warfare Video • Video explaining trench warfare WWI and Trench Warfare • Trench warfare was used, and the introduction of the machine gun made it virtually impossible for one side to launch successful attacks on its opponents’ trenches. • In trench warfare, opposing armed forces attack, counterattack, and defend from relatively permanent systems of trenches dug into the ground. Hardships of Trench Warfare • Rats infested the trenches. • Lice was a never-ending problem. Lice caused trench fever, a disease that started with severe pain followed by a high fever. • Frogs, slugs, horned beetles, and nits also were prevalent within and on the sides of the trenches. • Trench foot was also prevalent. It was a fungal infection caused by cold, wet, and unsanitary conditions. It could turn gangrenous and often resulted in amputation. • The awful combination of smells (poison gas, thousands of rotting bodies, chloride, overflowing latrines, terrible body odor, etc.) Fighting for the right to vote! • Carrie Chapman Catt spoke out forcibly for women's suffrage. She devised a state-by-state campaign to win the vote. • She was successful, as year by year, more states in the West and Midwest gave women the right to vote. Eventually, more women called for an amendment to the Constitution. Chapman Catt Continuing the fight! • Alice Paul and others met with Woodrow Wilson soon after he took office. Wilson was not opposed to women’s suffrage, but he did not support a constitutional amendment. • After numerous meetings, suffragists began to picket the White House. Many women, including Alice Paul were arrested. They went on a hunger strike, but they were force-fed. Upon release, they picketed again. Paul The Temperance Movement • After the American Revolution, drinking was on the rise, which created a temperance movement. At first organizations pushed moderation, but eventually they pushed prohibition. • This movement blamed alcohol for societies ills, especially crime and murder. Members of the Temperance Movement The 18th Amendment: Prohibition • By 1916, over half of us states already had statues that prohibited alcohol. • In 1919, the 18th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified. This prohibited the manufacture and sale of alcohol. It went into effect in 1920. • This led to bootlelegging, speakeasies, widespread law breaking, and gangster activity. Speakeasies The 19th Amendment • By 1918, the hard work of women suffragists paid off, and Wilson agreed to support an amendment. • In 1919, Congress passed the 19th Amendment. • In 1920, ¾’s of the states ratified it. This Amendment doubled the number of voters in the US and eliminated LONG-STANDING INJUSTICE. After the war… the Roaring Twenties, the Jazz Age • Throughout the 1920’s the nation seemed to be on a binge. • After a brief recession in 1920 and 1921, the economy boomed. – New buildings rose everywhere – Radio arrived, as did jazz – Movies became big business – Fads abounded (raccoon hats, flagpole sitting, a dance called the Charleston) Flappers • The term “flapper” first appeared in Great Britain after WWI. It was used to describe young girls, still somewhat awkward in movement who had not yet entered womanhood. • Fitzgerald described the ideal flapper as “lovely, expensive, and about nineteen.” Lifestyle of Flappers • The flapper attitude was characterized by truthfulness, fast living, and sexual behavior. • Flappers cut their hair short (the bob), wore make-up, and shortened skirts. • They often smoked (something only men had done previously). They drank as well. • They enjoyed dancing. They loved dances, like the Charleston, the Black Bottom, and the Shimmy. The Flapper The Charleston • The Charleston was the most popular dance during the 1920’s. • The Charleston The Birth of Modernism • The devastation of WWI brought about an end to the sense of optimism that had characterized previous years. • Many people were left with a feeling of uncertainty and disillusionment. • People no longer trusted the ideas and values of the world out of which the war developed, so they sought to find new ideas that better suited 20th century life. Characteristics of Modern Literature • Because writers struggled to find new ways of expressing the uncertainty people felt about the world they lived in; they experimented with new literary forms in an effort to communicate the chaos and disorder that they saw in modern life. • Characteristics include: search for meaning, alienation, loss, despair, reference to myth, rejection of traditional values, preference for the individual over the universal Structure of Modern Literature • To reflect the fragmentation of the modern world, Modernists constructed works out of fragments, omitting the expositions, transitions, resolutions, and explanations used in traditional literature. • In poetry, they abandoned the traditional forms and meters in favor of free verse. • Themes were usually implied rather than stated directly, creating a sense of uncertainty. Imagism • Imagism is a poetic movement, which lasted from 1909 to 1917. • Imagists rebelled against the sentimentality of nineteenth century poetry. Instead, they created poetry with hard, clear expression, concrete images, and the language of everyday speech. William Carlos Williams’ “The Red Wheelbarrow” so much depends upon a red wheel barrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens. The Lost Generation • Postwar disenchantment caused many American writers to become expatriates. Many of these writers settled in Paris. They saw very little in their civilization to praise or even accept. • They were inspired by Gertrude Stein, who coined the term “lost generation” to describe those disillusioned by WWI. • Stein’s home in Paris attracted many authors, such as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Sherwood Anderson, and Ernest Hemingway. • Other influential expatriates were Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot Gertrude Stein Painted by Picasso F. Scott Fitzgerald F. Scott Fitzgerald • Fitzgerald was born in 1896 in Minnesota. • He was named after his ancestor Francis Scott Key, the author of “The Star Spangled Banner.” • Even though he was a mediocre student, he still managed to enroll at Princeton in 1913. • He never graduated. He left and enlisted in the army in 1917. There he became a second lieutenant, and he was stationed in Montgomery, Alabama. Fitzgerald meets Zelda • In 1918, Fitzgerald met Zelda at a dance in Montgomery, while he was stationed there. • Zelda refused to marry Fitzgerald until he had better financial prospects. • She married him in 1920, after his first novel This Side of Paradise was published. • One of the characters in his book was said to have been inspired by Zelda, so she became an instant celebrity. She often contributed her opinions on modern love, marriage, and childbearing to the media. A Carefree Lifestyle • Fitzgerald and Zelda embraced the freedoms and excesses of the 1920’s. • Zelda became an icon of the “flapper” lifestyle and a symbol of the emerging fascination with youth, consumption, and leisure. Zelda Fitzgerald The Fitzgeralds Zelda: Fitzgerald’s Inspiration • In 1921, Zelda gave birth to Frances “Scottie” Fitzgerald. • Her reaction to her birth is said to have been used by Scott in The Great Gatsby. “I’m glad it’s a girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool –that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.” The Fitzgeralds with Scottie More Inspiration • When Scott’s novel the Beautiful and Damned was published, the New York Tribune hired Zelda to review it, and she hinted that a passage in the book was lifted straight from her missing diary. The Beginning of a Breakdown • By the late 1920’s, the Fitzgerald’s often stormy relationship began to breakdown as Zelda sought new outlets for creativity (art and dance). • She had a psychological breakdown resulting from stress from attempts at becoming a professional ballerina. • In 1932, she entered Johns Hopkins University’s Phipps Clinic. There she completed her novel Save Me the Waltz. This recounted her unstable marriage. Parting Ways • The Fitzgerald’s parted ways in 1934, but they never divorced. • From 1936 to 1940, Zelda resided at Highland Hospital in Asheville, NC. • In the meantime, Scott descended into alcoholism and literary obscurity. He eventually relocated to Hollywood to establish himself as a screenwriter. Dismal Deaths • Fitzgerald died of a heart attack in Hollywood in 1940. • After returning to Montgomery, Zelda occasionally returned to Highland Hospital for depression. Zelda died at Highland Hospital in 1948, after a fire swept through the main wing of the hospital. She was one of nine women killed.