The Great Gatsby: an American novel photo

The Great Gatsby: an American novel

  1. Introduction to The Great Gatsby by Francis Scott Fitzgerald: from the Lost Prairies to the Realist Jungle
  2. The Great Gatsby: characters and characterization
  3. The Great Gatsby: the Romantic Quest
  4. Structure and Narration in The Great Gatsby
  5. The ordering of events in The Great Gatsby
  6. The Great Gatsby: an American novel

A refracted vision of America

The Great Gatsby is like a mirror of the America of the 1920s. America in the Great Gatsby is a fundamental notion and the novel cannot be studied without the historical context of the time.

The novel reflects the Jazz Age or the Roaring Twenties and the opposition between East and West.

The Great Gatsby emphasizes the strange association between materialism and spiritualism, which is crucial to the Puritan ethic. Gatsby is seeking wealth because he is pursuing an idealistic vision.

A corrupted vision

The Crack-Up (1937) is a collection of short stories by F.S. Fitzgerald where he tried to catch the mood prevailing in the 1920s.

The mood was characterised by hedonism, the search for pleasure: “America was going on the greatest gaudiest spree in history”. Spending money to be part of the show means society is more based on appearance than substance.

The time of the action is the summer of 1922. America, after World War 1, has become the most prosperous and thriving nation in the world. It is the period of the Golden Boom (America has sold weapons and has become rich) and widespread corruption is at its apogee.

Bribery was a frequent practice. It has been shown by historians that after the Civil War, corruption was nothing compared to the Roaring Twenties. Even if the 1850s carpetbaggers took advantage of the situation of that time, it was far less important than in the 1920’s.

Corruption also marks the weakening of spiritual and moral values. After the butchery of World War I, disillusion had set in and therefore isolationism was striking rich.

In the 1920s, political circles were also corrupted. Warren Harding, president from 1921 to 1923, was marked by a series of scandals. In the summer of 1923, the president died in mysterious circumstances.

The 18th Amendment of the Constitution voted in January 1920, laid down that producing and selling alcohol would be forbidden. The Prohibition, also known as “the noble experiment”, triggered an increase in delinquency.

Al Capone belonged to that context. In people’s collective mind, the image of the bootlegger was worshipped and admired because the bootlegger was the man who dared to resist, to rise against the law.

The historical background

The Great Gatsby is based on a series of events published in the newspapers. F.S. Fitzgerald did not invent all the facts: he shaped and created a character who was emblematic of his time.

In The Great Gatsby, apart from Gatsby, we find characters based on real figures such as Meyer Wolfshiem, who is actually Arnold Rothstein, a master of the New York underworld.

In Chapter 4, at the metropole, the guy shot down was based on reality, it happened before the novel was written: he was gunned down because he had ratted on Becker, the corrupt NYPD chief.

The results of the 1919 baseball championships were fixed. In the text, Meyer Wolfshiem is responsible for tampering with the results while in reality, it is all Arnold Rothstein.

In Chapter 4, we learn that Wolfshiem lives above the laws: “They can’t get him old sport. He’s a smart man”. Arnold Rothstein was nicknamed “the brain”, “the bankroll”, and “the Morgan of the Underworld”. A Morgan is a magnate, a nabob, a tycoon in the capitalist 19th century.

Gatsby’s models in real life

One of Fitzgerald’s models for Gatsby came from a trial that took place in New York: the Fuller-McGee case. Edward M. Fuller, one of the two men, had been a neighbour of Fitzgerald’s in Long Island.

The Fuller-McGee case concerned illegal speculation. They both had been partners in a brokerage firm. Yet, it was soon discovered that they had cheated people. Later on, it was proved that Fuller and McGee were acting for Rothstein, the head of the New York underworld.

We can suspect Fitzgerald is to Fuller what Nick Carraway is to Gatsby.

Gatsby has earned a lot of money very quickly, more or less illicitly. He also polished his manners: “It took me three years”.

Gatsby is said to have had a hand in “the drug business” and in “the oil business”: there is no precision and his business remains quite vague.

The clue to the truth is that Gatsby must have earned a lot of money through shady dealings and illegal transactions. This is spelt out at the end of the book, after Gatsby’s death, when Nick answers the phone call: “Young… in trouble. They picked him up when he handed the bonds over the counter”.

We can therefore conclude that Gatsby has been involved in the trafficking of bonds.

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The American Civil War : 1860-1865 photo

The American Civil War: 1861-1865

  1. Introduction to Puritanism and Expansionism
  2. Antebellum South
  3. Life in the Plantations
  4. USA: North and South
  5. O’Sullivan’s Manifest Destiny
  6. The social context of America in the early 19th century
  7. The American Civil War: 1861-1865
  8. America: The New Nation
  9. After the American Civil War: The Reconstruction
  10. America: West to the Pacific
  11. Years of Growth

The American Civil War started with the secession crisis on April 12 1861 and ended with the assassination of Lincoln and the abolition of slavery on May 9, 1865. It transformed the political, economic and social life of the nation.

It first began with a constitutional struggle and then became a test of federal authority but soon took a broader dimension. The initial belief it would be short proved tragically to be mistaken.

The seceding states fought to achieve independence and yet, they closely modeled the government of their Confederacy on the American one. Lincoln’s administration responded with a crusade to preserve the union and expanded its war aims to include the destruction of slavery and the liberation of all black slaves.

In the end, the Union had been preserved and questions left unresolved were answered at a very high cost in human terms: 600 000 lives, which is still the largest fatality in any American war (it was worse than Vietnam).

The Civil War: the story of a secession

The secession started in South Carolina, which withdrew from the Union. It was a direct response to Lincoln’s election. That decision was taken in December 1860. In less than 6 weeks, the other 6 states of the “Lower South” had also seceded: Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas.

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Hell on Wheels saison 5 photo

Hell on Wheels saison 5

Voici la cinquième et dernière saison de Hell on Wheels sur AMC.

Le chemin de fer n’est toujours pas achevé et Cullen Bohannon se trouve toujours avec la Central Pacific Railroad.

Il est toujours déterminé à finir sa tâche, rallier la Californie à l’Utah, et espère toujours retrouver sa famille. Enfin, s’il arrive à ne pas se faire tuer ou à ne pas croiser les mauvaises personnes sur son chemin !

Cette dernière saison de quatorze épisodes sera diffusée en deux parties : sept épisodes durant l’été 2015, puis sept autres épisodes en 2016.

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hell-on-wheels-s4

Hell on Wheels saison 4

Voici la quatrième saison de la série Hell on Wheels sur AMC.

Cette saison se centre encore et toujours sur l’expansion vers l’Ouest de l’Union Pacific Railroad.

Des conflits entre le gouvernement et des entreprises, des ranchers, des colons et la ligne de chemin de fer éclatent.

Tous ces intérêts différents entrent en compétition les uns avec les autres pour le contrôle de la ville de Cheyenne, dans le Wyoming, l’un des noeuds les plus importants de la ligne de chemin de fer en 1867.

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eastbound-down-s4

Eastbound and Down saison 4

Après l’annulation l’année dernière, Eastbound and Down renaît de ses cendres pour une quatrième saison sur HBO et normalement (!) ce devrait bien être la der des der!

Kenny Powers est maintenant père de famille, avec sa femme April, deux enfants et une maison dans une banlieue paisible.

Tout va pour le mieux dans le meilleur des mondes lorsque lors d’une soirée avec un de ses anciens équipiers et actuelle star de la télé pousse Kenny à sortir de l’ombre pour retrouver les feux de la rampe.

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hell-on-wheels-s3

Hell on Wheels saison 3

Hell on Wheels est de retour pour une troisième saison sur AMC.

Cullen Bohannon revient au centre du show et abandonne son désir de vengeance pour sa famille pour continuer l’expansion vers l’ouest de l’Union Pacific Railroad, tout en combattant Thomas “Doc” Durant pour le contrôle.

La tagline de cette saison est : “Outlaw In Charge”.

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Copper saison 2 photo

Copper saison 2

Voici la seconde saison de Copper, diffusée sur BBC America.

February 5, 1865. Five Points remains a bedlam. Young men are dying and disappearing at an alarming rate and a career criminal is terrorizing the Sixth Ward.

With pressures from Tammany Hall raining down upon the police force, Detective Kevin Corcoran and the coppers of the Sixth Ward must follow the guidance of returned ward leader, General Brendan Donovan.

Meanwhile, Doctor Matthew Freeman visits his mentor and is presented with an attractive offer that will cause a rift in his marriage.

Uptown, Robert Morehouse and Elizabeth Haverford make plans for their wedding and Confederate spy Kennedy’s execution. In the tombs, Francis Maguire is set to learn his fate.

Amazon Prime Video
true-blood-s6

True Blood saison 6

True Blood nous revient sur HBO pour une sixième saison.

On revient sur la réincarnation plutôt gore de Bill mais personne – même Sookie, Eric ou Jessica – ne sait vraiment qui ou ce qu’il est. D’ailleurs personne ne désire vraiment s’approcher pour le découvrir.

Pendant ce temps, Alcide prend le pouvoir comme pack master et découvre qu’il y a quelques privilèges associés à cette position. Andy doit gérer le fait d’être papa.

Le gouverneur de Louisiana déclare la guerre aux vampires. Et Jason fait de l’autostop avec un étranger plutôt louche.

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Southland saison 5

Southland est de retour sur TNT pour sa cinquième saison.

John se retrouve en conflit avec son nouvel élève-officier, qui est un vétéran qui revient d’Afghanistan. Pendant ce temps, Lydia essaie de jongler entre le fait d’être mère et le travail d’inspecteur.

Ben s’associe avec un groupe de policiers plutôt louches et Sammy se retrouve impliqué dans une bataille juridique cauchemardesque pour la garde de son enfant.

Cette saison comprendra 10 épisodes et accueille de nouveaux policiers (récurrents) dans les forces de police de Los Angeles avec Chad Michael Murray, Lesley Fera, Derek Ray, Anthony Ruivivar et Yvette Saunders.

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Dexter saison 7

Et voici le retour de Dexter Morgan, notre tueur en série préféré, sur Showtime pour la septième saison de Dexter !

Après avoir assisté au meurtre de Travis Marshall par son frère, Debra essaie de se réconcilier avec lui tout en luttant pour dissimuler leur responsabilité dans le crime.

Pendant ce temps, l’inspecteur Mike Anderson connait une mésaventure malheureuse, Quinn et Batista commencent à enterrer la hache de guerre et LaGuerta met la main sur des preuves qui la pousse à reconsidérer l’affaire du Bay Harbor Butcher.

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copper-s1

Copper saison 1

Voici la première saison de Copper, une nouvelle série produite et diffusée par BBC America.

New York City, 1864. Nous sommes après la guerre de Sécession et Kevin Corcoran, un immigrant irlandais au service de la police, enquête sur des crimes qui se sont déroulés dans la zone des Five Points.

Cette série de 10 épisodes qui se focalise sur un jeune policier irlandais dans les communautés immigrantes du New York du 19ème siècle est co-écrite par Tom Fontana (qui a travaillé sur OZ, Homicide: Life on the Street, St. Elsewhere) et Will Rokos (Monster’s Ball, Southland).

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The Newsroom S01E01 : What Makes America The Greatest Country In The World photo

The Newsroom S01E01 : What Makes America The Greatest Country In The World

J’ai regardé le premier épisode de la série The Newsroom, actuellement diffusée sur HBO, et – sans avoir réellement accroché aux personnages ou à l’histoire – j’ai tout de même bien apprécié ce petit moment :

La vidéo est constamment retirée de YouTube et ne peut être intégrée sur des sites tiers donc en voici une version kinétique :

What Makes America The Greatest Country In The World

[Jenny]
Hi, my name is Jenny, I’m a sophomore and this for all three of you. Can you say in one sentence or less – what – (laughing in background) you know what I mean: “Can you say why America is the greatest country in the world?”

[Emily Kathleen A. Mortimer – As Sharon]
Diversity and opportunity.

[Debate Moderator]
Louis?

[Louis]
Ah freedom and freedom, so let’s keep it that way.

[Debate Moderator]
Will?

[Jeffrey Warren “Jeff” Daniels As Will]
The New York Jets.

[audience laughs]

[Debate Moderator]
No, I’m gonna hold you to an answer on that. What makes America the greatest country in the world?

[Jeff Daniels]
Well, Louis and Sharon said it. Diversity and opportunity and freedom and freedom.

(audience member holds notebook)
IT’S NOT. BUT IT CAN BE.

[Debate Moderator]
I’m not letting you go back to the airport without answering the question.

[Will]
Well, our Constitution is a masterpiece. James Madison was a genius. The Declaration of Independence is for me the single greatest piece of American writing.

[Will]
You don’t look satisfied.

[Debate Moderator]
One’s a set of laws and the other is a declaration of war. I want a human moment from you.

IT’S NOT

[Debate Moderator]
What about the people? Why is it?

[Will]
It’s NOT the greatest country in the world, Professor. That’s my answer.

[Debate Moderator]
You’re saying?

[Will]
Yes.

[Debate Moderator]
Let’s talk about…

[Will (Speaking to Sharon]
Fine. Sharon, the NEA is a loser. Yeah, it accounts for a penny out of our paycheck, but he gets to hit you with it anytime he wants. It doesn’t cost money. It costs votes. It costs airtime. And column inches. You know why people don’t like liberals? Because they lose. If liberals are so fuckin’ smart then how come they lose so goddamn always?

[Sharon]
Hey!

[Will (to Lewis]
And with a straight face, you’re gonna sit there and tell students that America is so star-spangled awesome that we’re the only ones in the world who have freedom? Canada has freedom. Japan has freedom. The U.K. France. Italy. Germany. Spain. Australia. BELGIUM has freedom. (laughs) Two hundred and seven sovereign states in the world, like, a hundred and eighty of them have freedom.

[Debate Moderator]
All right…

[Will]
And you, Sorority Girl, just in case you accidentally wander into a voting booth one day, there’s some things you should know. One of them is there’s absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we’re the greatest country in the world.

We’re seventh in literacy. Twenty-seventh in math. Twenty-second in science. Forty-ninth in life expectancy. A hundred and seventy-eighth in infant mortality. Third in median household income. Number four in labor force and number four in exports.

We lead the world in only three categories: Number of incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults who believe angels are real, and defense spending, where we spend more than the next twenty-six countries combined, twenty-five of whom are allies.

Now none of this is the fault of a twenty-year-old college student, but you nonetheless are without a doubt a member of the worst, period, generation, period, ever, period. So when you ask what makes us the greatest country in the world, I dunno what the fuck you’re talkin’ about. Yosemite?

(Audience surprised.)

[Will]
Sure used to be. We stood up for what was right. We fought for moral reasons. We passed laws, struck down laws, for moral reasons. We waged wars on poverty, not poor people. We sacrificed. We cared about our neighbors. We put our money where our mouths were. And we never beat our chest.

We built great big things, made ungodly technological advances, explored the universe, cured diseases, and we cultivated the world’s greatest artists and the world’s greatest economy.

[pause]

We reached for the stars. Acted like men.

We aspired to intelligence. We didn’t belittle it—it didn’t make us feel inferior.

We didn’t identify ourselves by who we voted for in the last election, and we didn’t, oh, we didn’t scare so easy. Ha. We were able to be all these things and do all these things because we were informed. By great men. Men who were revered. First step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one. America is not the greatest country in the world anymore.

[pause]

Enough?

Petite précision pour la sorority girl : America is not a country, the USA is.

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