The Great Gatsby and its 1925 Contemporaries

221 Pages·2017·1.18 MB·English

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English Dissertations Department of English
4-16-2008
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Marjorie Ann Hollomon Faust
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Faust, Marjorie Ann Hollomon, "The Great Gatsby and its 1925 Contemporaries." Dissertation, Georgia
State University, 2008.
doi: https://doi.org/10.57709/1059553
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THE GREAT GATSBY AND ITS 1925 CONTEMPORARIES

By

MARJORIE ANN HOLLOMON FAUST

Under the Direction of Dr. Thomas L. McHaney

ABSTRACT
This study focuses on twenty-one particular texts published in 1925 as
contemporaries of The Great Gatsby. The manuscript is divided into four
categories—The Impressionists, The Experimentalists, The Realists, and The
Independents. Among The Impressionists are F. Scott Fitzgerald himself, Willa
Cather (The Professor’s House), Sherwood Anderson (Dark Laughter), William
Carlos Williams (In the American Grain), Elinor Wylie (The Venetian Glass
Nephew), John Dos Passos (Manhattan Transfer), and William Faulkner (New
Orleans Sketches). The Experimentalists are Gertrude Stein (The Making of
Americans), E. E. Cummings (& aka ―Poems 48-96‖), Ezra Pound (A Draft of XVI
Cantos), T. S. Eliot (―The Hollow Men‖), Laura Riding (―Summary for Alastor‖),
and John Erskine (The Private Life of Helen of Troy). The Realists are Theodore
Dreiser (An American Tragedy), Edith Wharton (The Mother’s Recompense), Upton
Sinclair (Mammonart), Ellen Glasgow (Barren Ground), Sinclair Lewis
(Arrowsmith), James Boyd (Drums), and Ernest Hemingway (In Our Time). The
Independents are Archibald MacLeish (The Pot of Earth) and Robert Penn Warren
(―To a Face in a Crowd‖).
Although these twenty-two texts may in some cases represent literary
fragmentations, each in its own way also represents a coherent response to the spirit
of the times that is in one way or another cognate to The Great Gatsby. The fact that
all these works appeared the same year is special because the authors, if not already
famous, would become famous, and their works were or would come to represent
classic American literature around the world. The twenty-two authors either knew
each other personally or knew each other‘s works. Naturally, they were also
influenced by writings of international authors and philosophers. The greatest
common elements among the poets and fiction writers are their uninhibited interest
in sex, an absorbing cynicism about life, and the frequent portrayal of disintegration
of the family, a trope for what had happened to the countries and to the ―family of
nations‖ that experienced the Great War.
In 1925, it would seem, Fitzgerald and many of his writing peers—some even
considered his betters—channeled a major spirit of the times, and Fitzgerald did it
more successfully than almost anyone.

INDEX WORDS: Sherwood Anderson, James Boyd, Willa Cather, E. E.
Cummings, John Dos Passos, Theodore Dreiser, T. S. Eliot,
John Erskine, William Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ellen
Glasgow, Ernest Hemingway, Sinclair Lewis, Archibald
MacLeish, Ezra Pound, Laura Riding, Upton Sinclair,
Gertrude Stein, Robert Penn Warren, Edith Wharton, William
Carlos Williams, Elinor Wylie
THE GREAT GATSBY AND ITS 1925 CONTEMPORARIES

By

MARJORIE ANN HOLLOMON FAUST

A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree
of

Ph.D.
In the College of Arts and Sciences
Georgia State University

2008
Copyright by
Marjorie Ann Hollomon Faust
2008
THE GREAT GATSBY AND ITS 1925 CONTEMPORARIES

By

MARJORIE ANN HOLLOMON FAUST

Committee Chair: Thomas McHaney
Committee: Pearl McHaney
Matthew Roudané

Electronic Version Approved:

Office of Graduate Studies
College of Arts and Sciences
Georgia State University
May 2008
iv

DEDICATION
This dissertation is dedicated to my dear mother who became tired of waiting on me
to complete it and went on to heaven in 2005 to join Daddy, who preceded her in
1982. They both say, ―It‘s about time you finished school.‖ Daddy did not even
make it to high school. And Mother always said she did well just to graduate from
high school. Although she did not really understand what I was doing in attending
school so long or why, Mother loved me and always said, ―Whatever makes you
happy, Margeann.‖ Occasionally she would ask, ―Now tell me again why you‘re
still going to school?‖ She was at my graduation from Georgia State University
when I received my B.A. degree in 1990, and she was at my graduation when I
received my M.A. degree from East Tennessee State University in 1995. She will be
there in spirit when I receive my Ph.D. degree in 2008.
v

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First, I must express my gratitude to Reverend Nancy Noblin, who lent me her
garage apartment rent-free, giving me the financial opportunity to earn my Ph.D.
degree. Second, I owe the completion of this dissertation to my director Dr. Thomas
McHaney. Through his patient recommendations and editing, the manuscript took
shape and gradually developed into a finished product. In addition, I extend my
appreciation to Dr. Matthew Roudané and to Dr. Pearl McHaney, members of my
committee, who also lent their valuable editorial skills to this presentation. Next, I
would like to thank all the librarians, many of whom remain nameless—librarians
at Georgia State University; University of Georgia; Albany State University;
Georgia Tech University; Library of Congress; Sue Presnell, Reference Associate,
The Lilly Library, Indiana University; and Debbie Yerkes, Documents Microform
Department, Thomas Cooper Library, University of South Carolina. Finally, my
thanks to the presenters of the Thesis/Dissertation Formatting Workshop—Amber
Amari, Academic Advisor for the Office of Graduate Services; Sara Fuchs, Digital
Technologies Librarian; and Joel Glogowski, Learning Commons Librarian.
vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS
DEDICATION iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v
CHAPTER
1 INTRODUCTION 1
CHAPTER
2 THE IMPRESSIONISTS 8
CHAPTER
3 THE EXPERIMENTALISTS 43
CHAPTER
4 THE REALISTS 80
CHAPTER
5 THE INDEPENDENTS 116
CHAPTER
6 CONCLUSION 151
WORKS CITED 186
APPENDICES
A AUTHORS 210
B D ATES OF PUBLICATION 211
1

CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION

This study focuses on important literary authors who each published a
significant text in the year 1925. Midway between the two great wars, and between
the end of World War I and the Great Depression, ―1925,‖ the critic R. P. Blackmur
wrote, ―was part of the Golden Years of the modern age . . . when suddenly an
‗explosion of talent took place‘ in the Western world that has dwarfed everything
since‖ (qtd. in Pratt xxiii). Although these twenty-two texts may in some cases
represent literary fragmentations, each in its own way represents a coherent
response to the spirit of the times. The fact that all these works appeared the same
year is special because the authors, if not already famous, would become famous,
and around the world their works were or would come to represent classic
American literature. The twenty-two authors either knew one another personally or
knew one another‘s work, were commonly influenced by one another and by
writings of international authors and philosophers, and ―produced a body of work
that promises to be read for a long time‖ (McCormick Middle 114). The greatest
common elements among the poets and fiction writers are their uninhibited interest
in sex, an absorbing cynicism about life, and the frequent portrayal of disintegration
of the family, a trope for what had happened to the countries and to the ―family of
nations‖ that experienced the Great War. An interesting fact about the six poets
included here is that they were all born about the same time: William Carlos
Williams (1883); Ezra Pound (1885); T. S. Eliot (1888); John Crowe Ransom (1888);
Archibald MacLeish (1892); and E. E. Cummings (1894). Since ―there is not much
validity in comparing themes in poetry‖ (McCormick Middle 111), all we can say is