World War I, the first war of its kind anyone had ever known, had ended in 1919. Politically speaking, this was a time of growth and prosperity, as well as a time of corruption. The novel, published in 1925, explores life in the early- to mid-1920s. To remove the story from its full historical context is to do it a grave injustice. To understand Fitzgerald's genius more fully, one must be aware of the politics that underlie the story. Part of Fitzgerald's charm in The Great Gatsby, in fact, is his ability to encapsulate the mood of a generation during a politically and socially crucial and chaotic period of American history. In 1925, however, the novel served as a snapshot of the frenzied post-war society known as the Jazz Age, while today it provides readers with, among other things, a portal through which to observe life in the 1920s. The initial success of the book was limited, although in the more than 75 years since it has come to be regarded as a classic piece of American short fiction. In The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald, known for his imagistic and poetic prose, holds a mirror up to the society of which he was a part.
It is a novel of triumph and tragedy, noted for the remarkable way its author captures a cross-section of American society. The Great Gatsby, published in 1925, is hailed as one of the foremost pieces of American fiction of its time.
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