Fitzgerald's novel, The Great Gatsby did not seem to have the capacity to make this realization. In fact, as we explore the Edenic Myth in this story, we will see that Jay Gatsby's illusion of what should be was shattered once he tried to turn the fantasy into reality.
             The Great Gatsby takes place during The Roaring Twenties, or the Jazz Age as Fitzgerald named it. It was a period when the most enjoyed pastimes were drinking (which was illegal at the time), dancing, promiscuity, and all around partying. It was a fabulous time. America was a rich country; there was plenty of everything to go around, including money. It was a romantic time; people were expressing themselves and experimenting sexually more than ever before. Social status was important to all. Parties with important, influential, rich people, and celebrities, were popular in many circles. For some, it was a time of deception.
             The Edenic Myth is the notion that one could create the perfect place forever by starting over again. It is the idea that one could change history by negating the past. It would be much like creating a new Eden, a paradise where Adam and Eve lived before they ate the forbidden fruit. Jay Gatsby thought he could erase certain events in his past - the negative elements - allowing him to start over with only those things that would make him virtuous and give him ultimate happiness. In Jay Gatsby's case, ultimate happiness would be the reunion between him and Daisy Buchanan.
             Jay and Daisy met five years prior while he was a soldier in the army, and enjoyed a short-lived fiery romance.
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