The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerlad's Insperation
F. Scott Fitzgerald 's Inspiration In the classic novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses the social and economic positions of Gertrude Ederle, Mary Dillion, and Zelda Fitzgerald in the creation of Jordan Baker, Myrtle Wilson and Daisy Buchanan. These famous women of the 1920s helped Fitzgerald create the best novel he has ever written in his lifetime. It still is famous today, eighty-eight years later. Gertrude Ederle was F. Scott 's first inspiration for characters in The Great Gatsby. She was an incredible athlete. She was known for swimming the entire English Channel faster than anyone ever before. Not only was she an amazing swimmer, but she also was know for her skills in golf and tennis. She was an amazing all around person. There was only one problem, she was incredibly full of herself. She had no problem letting someone know how hard it was to do what she had accomplished. She rubbed it in anyone 's face that came along. “...bear in mind how stupendous Gertrude Ederle 's achievement was. Imagine yourself swimming thirty-one miles in fourteen hours and thirty-one by doing laps in an ordinary pool. Now imagine doing it in cold water, with frequent rain and heavy winds, with waves so strong that they often throw the swimmer back back great distances. While Gertrude Ederle was swimming the Channel, the weather was so bad that that the captain of the boat thought for a time that he could not land at Dover. Her coach repeatedly told her to give up and come out of the water.” (Gross 113) Gertrude was amazing, a real role model. Her only fault was that she flaunted it. Jordan Baker, one of the main women in Fitzgerald 's novel. She was an incredible athlete, widely known for her skills in golf. She was never afraid to take on a challenge. Her will was strong and her ears were wide. She loved gossip, she ate it up. The more she knew the more she flaunted it. “It was. . . simply amazing... But I swore I wouldn 't tell it and here I am tantalizing
Cited: Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby, 1925 p. 17 39 44 46 52 Fitzgerald, F. Scott. Fitzgerald, Zelda. Dear Scott, Dearest Zelda:The Love Letters of F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald. Gross, Dalton. Gross, MaryJean. “Women Question:Changes During the 1920s” “Gertrude Ederle” Understanding The Great Gatsby A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Docutments,1998 p. 113 Gross, Dalton. Gross, MaryJean. “Women Question:Changes During the 1920s” “Mary Dillion” Understanding The Great Gatsby A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Docutments, 1998 p.118 Moss, Joyce. Wilson, George. “F. Scott Fitzgerald” Literature and It 's Times, 1997 p. 6