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The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual, artistic, and social era change that took place in Harlem, New York, during the 1920’s. This movement was known as the “New Negro movement” because  it marked a moment when white America started recognizing the contributions of Black culture and civilization, along with African Americans asserting their individual identity and culture. In the book The Great Gatsby, the Harlem Renaissance is presence by the use of jazz music to show the difference between the previous generations to the 1920s, where African American culture began to spread to caucasian households. It also created a connection where white Americans would compare their struggles to those that African Americans encounter. An important figure during the Harlem Renaissance is Billie Holiday. She is considered one of the best jazz vocalists of all time,  working as a jazz artist in Harlem until she met her fate with substance abuse. She maintained her own iconic stage persona where she worked against the limits for African American women during the Harlem Renaissance.

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The married pair, Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, were seen as the icons of the Jazz Age, living the ideal American life in the 1920’s. Scott grew up in a lower class household and began writing. He was motivated by Zelda because she had a taste for wealth, which is why Zelda left and came back after his first book became successful. Zelda was used as a model for many of his female protagonist roles in his novels and was seen as the basic 1920s flapper. Zelda began to write her own pieces, including articles and short story publications. Their relationship was complex, as they both had cheating tendencies but the affairs seemed to not really affect their relationship. Despite his success in his writing career, Scott Fitzgerald was actually known as being a poor student and an atrocious writer as a child. Scott was a mysterious man who never lived somewhere for more than a few years.

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Jay Gatsby- Padlet just deleted all my character notes I want to cry Mrs. Dierig. Gatsby is Nick's neighbor who owns a large mansion in the West
Egg New York. Gatsby's lust for wealth circulates around Daisy, his ex lover whom he is trying to win back. He fell in love with Daisy during military training before WW1. Gatsby's downfall represents the recklessness present in many during the roaring twenties.  Three traits that represent Gatsby are mysterious, optimistic, and dishonest. In the novel the author states ,"He stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward – and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock."
This quote represents these traits by showing the mysterious side of Gatsby, reaching for a random light with no clear intention, optimistic for the future as he would do anything to achieve his dreams, and dishonest because of his mysterious background and tendencies to hide his feelings.  Dishonesty continues to be a major theme throughout the novel as more lies about Gatsby are uncovered. He lied about why he came to New York and how he came upon his large sum of money, Although often dishonest, he shows honesty to Nick by confessing his feelings for Daisy. after Gatsby dies, Nick learns his true identity. Despite his lack of honest, Nick still found Gatsby to be one of the greatest people he has ever met.
Nick Carraway- The novel is told from Nick's point of view, which is an interesting point of view because of how uninteresting Nick is compared to the other characters in the novel. Nick moves to New York to learn the Bond Business. As Daisy's cousin and Gatsby's friend/neighbor, Nick is often meddled by their relationship and is rather fascinated by the complexity of reviving it. Nick seems to be one of the only characters interested in the moral decay of society in the 1920's in New York. Nick is optimistic, understanding, and honest.  A quote that represents Nick's humorous side is, "My own house was an eyesore, but it was a small eyesore, and it had been overlooked, so I had a view of the water, a partial view of my neighbor's lawn, and the consoling proximity of millionaires—all for eighty dollars a month." This shows that despite living in a lower class house in the roaring city of New York, Nick maintains a positive attitude and seems to consistently have better hopes for the future and doesn't seem to mind when things don't go his way, while Gatsby on the other hand isn't content when things don't go as plan and would do anything to accomplish his goal. Nick is understanding throughout the novel as he often acknowledges the working servants and underclass people and visualizes the impacts the rich makes on them. For example, in chapter 3, the author states ,"And on Mondays eight servants, including an extra gardener, toiled all day with mops and scrubbing-brushes and hammers and garden-shears, repairing the ravages of the night before." This shows how Nick would feel compassion for those effected by the prospering of the wealthy. Finally, Nick is honest throughout the novel, and makes that very well known by his famous quote I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known." This means that Nick feels morally obligated to be truthful at all times, even though it doesn't always mean being nice.
Daisy Buchanan-  Being that the novel is circled around Gatsby, who's only obsession and desire in life is Daisy, the whole novel is basically circled around the character  of Daisy. Daisy is a beautiful young woman from Louisville, Kentucky (somewhat based off of Fitzergerald's wife) who is married to Tom Buchanan. Previous to the war, Gatsby lied to Daisy about his wealth and upbringing. This resulted in a romantic relationship between the two. When Gatsby left for WW1, Daisy promised to wait, but instead chose to marry Tom Buchanan, who came from a very wealthy family. Daisy is shallow, careless, and wealthy. Throughout the novel, Daisy manipulates hers around her, whether it is allowing Gatsby to take the blame for Myrtle's death when she was driving the car or using her husband for wealth, Daisy was using others to her advantage showing her shallow side. In chapter 4 the author states ,"Here, deares'." She groped around in a waste-basket she had with her on the bed and pulled out the string of pearls. "Take 'em down-stairs and give 'em back to whoever they belong to. Tell 'em all Daisy's change' her mind. Say: 'Daisy's change' her mine!'" This shows how careless Daisy is about materialistic objects and her wealth, revealing a spoiled side, but also a sensitive side that would rather choose love over wealth. Unfortunately, her true character shows when she picked Tom, again showing her shallowness for wealth. Another quote that represents Daisy's personality is "It'll show you how I've gotten to feel about – things. Well, she was less than an hour old and Tom was God knows where. I woke up out of the ether with an utterly abandoned feeling, and asked the nurse right away if it was a boy or a girl. She told me it was a girl, and so I turned my head away and wept. 'All right,' I said, '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.'" This quote shows  how disinterested she is in her own child, but also her intelligence. Despite being careless about her wealth, absorbed in her wealth, and shallow in her wealth, Daisy is a sad woman who wishes for her daughter to live in ignorance so she doesn't have to face the harsh evils of the world.

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The Great Gatsby is set in the 1920's during the Harlem Renaissance on Long Island in New York. Long Island is separated by two areas, West Egg and East Egg. Nick's house is located next to Gatsby's in West Egg where people with "new money" live, or money that has been recently required as people continue to make their way through the social hierarchy. East egg represents the rich and luxurious life during the 1920's, where Daisy and Tom's mansion is location. Another important location in the novel is the Valley of Ashes. The Valley of Ashes represents the moral decay that is present due to the gain of wealth by the upper class. It shows how capitalism and the broken American economy during the 1920's affected minority and lower class groups.

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Tom Buchanan- Tom is the very wealthy husband of Daisy and the abusive lover of Myrtle. Tom is described as a  ,"sturdy, straw-haired man of thirty with a rather hard mouth and a supercilious manner. Two shining, arrogant eyes had established dominance over his face, and gave him the appearance of always leaning aggressively forward." Traits that describe Tom are abusive, cheater, and arrogant.  Tom shows his aggression throughout the novel both physically and through his character. A quote that shows the abusive trait of Tom is between Daisy and him when he hurt her finger. The passage states ,""You did it, Tom," she said accusingly. "I know you didn't mean to, but you did do it. That's what I get for marrying a brute of a man, a great, big, hulking physical specimen of a– " This quote shows the careless aggression behind Tom and his tendencies to injure women.
Tom has the character trait of being a cheater because he simply had multiple affairs on Daisy, one being with Myrtle. Tom justifies his cheating by saying he still has love for Daisy, which also shows his arrogance.

Arrogance is another fine trait Tom has as he shows this multiple times throughout the novel, one being his quote ,"I suppose the latest thing is to sit back and let Mr. Nobody from Nowhere make love to your wife. Well, if that's the idea you can count me out ...Nowadays people begin by sneering at family life and family institutions, and next they'll throw everything overboard and have intermarriage between black and white." Although racism was very present during the 1920's, this quote shows the simple-minded and arrogant way Tom handles his morals.
Jordan Baker- Jordan is a famous golfer who belongs to the upper class portion of society. Similar to Tom, Jordan is a cheater, at life and at golf. According to Nick ,"Jordan Baker instinctively avoided clever, shrewd men, and now I saw that this was because she felt safer on a plane where any divergence from a code would be thought impossible. She was incurably dishonest. She wasn't able to endure being at a disadvantage and, given this unwillingness" Along with dishonesty, Jordan possesses the common trait of carelessness that many characters in the novel undergo.  A quote that shows Jordan's carelessness is represented in the conversation held by Nick and Jordan about her careless behavior, and she responded with ,"Well, other people are,' she said lightly. 'They'll keep out of my way,' she insisted. 'It takes two to make an accident."  This shows the reckless behavior her and many other people of the era possessed. The extent to how little she cares is shown by how she doesn't even mind how her reckless behavior affects others.
Finally Jordan is hypocritical. Throughout the novel, Jordan critiques others on their reckless behavior and "hates careless people", when herself is careless and reckless.
Myrtle Wilson- Myrtle is Tom's mistress who lives in the Valley of Ashes. She is Myrtle attempts to escape her social position by becoming a mistress to the wealthy Tom Buchanan, who rents her an apartment where Myrtle can act as if she lived an upper class lifestyle; dressing up, throwing parties, expressing disgust for servants, etc.       Myrtle is foolish because she believes that Tom truly loves her, despite the fact that he won't leave his wife for her and tells her that is because his wife doesn't believe in divorce (when she isn't even Catholic).
Another character trait that Myrtle has is she is snobby. A quote that resembles this trait well is ,"I told that boy about the ice.' Myrtle raised her eyebrows in despair at the shiftlessness of the lower orders. 'These people! You have to keep after them all the time." This shows the snobby attitude Myrtle maintains in order to impress the wealthy and sound fancier.
Finally, Myrtle is short tempered. This is shown when she gets in a fight with George and tells him ,"Beat me!' he heard her cry. 'Throw me down and beat me, you dirty little coward!" Myrtle is known throughout the novel to be quite obnoxious and have a loud mouth, and is constantly seems to be tempting everyone into fighting her (such as when she chanted Daisy's name at Tom).
George Wilson- George Wilson is Myrtle's lower class passive husband, who deserved better. George is a shy and bland man, quite the opposite of his wife Myrtle who is very outspoken. Traits that describe George are submissive, faithful, and hard-working.
George shows all these traits throughout the novel, although his presence in the novel is short and simple, and seems to be one of the best built characters, moral wise.  George shows his submissive and shy side through Nick's point of view. The book states ,"Generally he was one of these worn-out men: when he wasn't working he sat on a chair in the doorway and stared at the people and the cars that passed along the road. When any one spoke to him he invariably laughed in an agreeable, colorless way. He was his wife's man and not his own."
George shows his faithful side to his wife and God in the novel. He tells Myrtle that she "can't fool God," that "God sees everything"  This shows that unlike the rich careless classes, the lower classes can't retreat into money for comfort. He returns his faith to his wife by killing who he believed murdered her in a drive-by, when in reality it was Daisy.
George is hard-working in the sense that he has his own car garage business and is consistently working to create little profit.
Meyer Wolfsheim- Meyer is a mysterious, shady, and a corrupt business associate and friend with Gatsby. Although we don't know much about Wolfsheim- other than he's really creepy and wears human teeth on his clothes- he does often expose other characters. He is mysterious because he reveals not much about himself and his 1920's gangster lifestyle, but he does say that ,"Gatsby’s very careful around women. He would never so much as look at a friend’s wife." Which shows how Gatsby already feels "married" to Daisy, despite her being actually married.
He is shady because he did not attend Gatsby's funeral, but did send a letter for sentimental purposes. The letter said ,"Let us learn to show our friendship for a man when he is alive and not after he is dead… After that, my own rule is to let everything alone."  This highlights his mysterious and shady traits that restricted him from attending the funeral.
Finally, Wolfsheim is corrupt. We know this because of his past with gangster mobs, corrupt business, and his meddling with the world series. He represents the scarier, dark, and mysterious side of New York and the new era.

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The mansion (Dissatisfaction and wealth)- The first main symbol shown in the Great Gatsby is Gatsby's glorious mansion. The mansion represents wealth and luxury during the carefree times of the 1920's. The parties thrown by Gatsby are all for Daisy, with the purpose that she will walk in one day. When Daisy finally attends one of his parties with Nick, Gatsby is disappointed by the glamorous party he threw because he felt like it wasn't good enough for Daisy.
The Green light (love)- The green light present at the end of Daisy's dock represents the hopes and dreams Gatsby is reaching for, along with the physical distance between Gatsby and Daisy. This shows love his strong love for Daisy.
Doctor T.J Eckleburg (religion)-
The eyes of Doctor T.J Eckleburg haunt over the Valley of Ashes on a billboard sign. To Nick, this represents the hauntings of the past. To George, the eyes of Doctor Eckleburg are they eyes of God which sees everything in the Valley of Ashes. This symbol is mentioned multiple times throughout the novel as Nick notices the eyes, constantly glaring over everything.
Setting Symbols'- (Social Classes)
The settings within the Great Gatsby are actually symbols themselves, representing the separated rich from the poor in the luxurious times of the 1920's. Throughout the novel, Nick addresses the social class differences based on the location you live. For example, if you were to live in the East Egg, you had "old" money were you were able to live a glorious upper class life, while in the West egg you had "new" money as you were searching for luxury. While in the Valley of Ashes, you can see the physical and emotional difference between the lower class characters, showing the ruins of the people caught between the roaring economy in the 1920s.
Lies and Deceit-
Throughout the novel, the adjective "careless" is used a lot, because it describes a lot of the characters in the novel. Throughout the novel, car crashes symbolize the careless and reckless behavior made by those of the upperclass, dismissing how those around them are affected. When Daisy killed Myrtle and Gatsby died for it, she couldn't even be bothered to attend his funeral when she was his one goal in life.