The Great Gatsby
By F. Scott Fitzgerald
Like a building’s foundation, the setting of a novel becomes
crucial to the development of a book. Each brick (time, location, circumstances,
etc.) becomes part of the final structure with every detail the mortar holding
it together. Thus, in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, it is the setting that
transforms the individual elements of the novel into an imaginative book.
From minute details to extravagant descriptions, Fitzgerald
configures a conclusive setting in his establishment of characters and time.
Such elements include the constant subliminal reference to elements of the
period such as “…a moving-picture magazine… cold cream…John D. Rockefeller
(Fitzgerald, Page 27).” Taking place in the early 1920s, motion-pictures were
just developing as popular sources of entertainment, cold cream was a common
drug-store item, and John D. Rockefeller was a national symbol of the American
dream of wealth and prosperity. Fitzgerald conjointly introduces developing
social issues such as the Civil Rights movement as the superiority of races is
referenced (Fitzgerald, Page 13). Additionally, characters are developed
through Nick’s innocently non-judgmental analysis of personality and detailed
description of physical appearance. Through
this section, the reader has been introduced to Nick Carraway, Tom and Daisy
Buchanan, Jordan Baker, Myrtle and George Wilson, Catherine, Mr. and Mrs.
McKee, and Jay Gatsby. These characters, particularly Nick, Tom, Daisy, Myrtle,
George, and Jay are influential as major characters within the novel’s
contorted love circle. The location of these characters in New York City, the
center of America’s business development and the symbol of the American dream,
additionally serves as a key aspect of the setting in correspondence to the
themes of wealth, class, morality, and dreams. Finally, it is the circumstances
of the characters, particularly the relationships, which fully complete the
setting and formulate the plot. 
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