Decay of moral values in F.S. Fitzgerald`s novel "The Great Gatsby"

Abstract

The 20th century was a period of great trial: world wars, revolutions tragedies of enormous scale that touched upon thousands of million people. The First World War is commonly viewed as a major historical break. The USA played a vital role in delivering final victory for the allies. This gave the Americans a feeling of invincibility as industrially and economically they were way ahead of the rest of the world. The developments in industrialization caused decay in moral values. This resulted in materialism’s obliteration of the doctrines and rules of moral duties. Literature and its great representatives couldn’t stand aside these painful changes in the society. They acutely raised the problems of the post-war society and very subtly depicted the generation going hedonistic searching for pleasure. F. Scott Fitzgerald was recognized as the ultimate chronicler of the American post-war boom and Jazz era describing extravagant non-stop, alcohol-fuelled party of the Pre-Depression years. In F.S. Fitzgerald’s novels the problems of the “lost generation” found its embodiment, they capture the restless, pleasure-hungry, defiant mood of the 1920s.