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• Fitzgerald was writing in the Modernist period where technological change was rapid and this meant that society was moving towards modernity. But throughout, Fitzgerald's poetic language suggests his inspiration from the Romantic age.
• Fitzgerald was also influenced by the great Modernist poet T. S. Eliot - he called himself a worshipper of his poetry. We see the influence of Eliot's seminal poem, 'The Waste Land' in the novel. The Valley of Ashes alludes to this wasteland and both writers criticise modernity and its ruin of nature.
• In Classical tragedies, audiences see the fall of a noble man who is punished by the gods for making a mistake. The man is in conflict with the gods. Throughout his story, a Chorus talks directly to the audience and they become a voice of reason and morality.
• In 20th century tragedies, 'tragedy' could be used to describe an individual's suffering regardless of class or gender. The hero's downfall is not because of the gods, but because of society and so they can be a victim too. The 'Chorus' could be a narrator, or multiple characters
• The novel is sometimes considered to be a realist novel, in its realistic depictions of a New York that readers recognise: landmarks such as the Plaza Hotel and Central Park are familiar to readers. However, Fitzgerald alters Great neck and Manhasset Neck to East and West Egg. The large landfill site at Flushing is renamed the Valley of Ashes. Themes like sex and adultery emphasise the novel's realism.
• The novel is considered a social satire. Fitzgerald's use of irony, exaggeration and ridicule mocks and exposes the hedonism of 1920s America. For example, none of the guests at Gatsby's parties really knew who he was and the readers did not know who they were. Fitzgerald exposes the human tendency to be fallible, through Myrtle's attempt to transcend the status quo.
• Only those of the lower class die in this novel. Fitzgerald demonstrates how the lower classes are the victims of 1920s American society. Beneath all the extravagance is a deep callousness and shallowness.
• The readers understand the greatness of Gatsby through the unreliable narrator, Nick Carraway. Interestingly, Fitzgerald doesn't use an omniscient narrator, and yet the reader is expected to believe Nick. Nick's subjective point of view places Gatsby on a pedestal and as the real victim of the novel. The novel is not told in chronological order of the eponymous character of Gatsby's life, but through the chronological order of Nick's memories.