Why Do We Break From Tradition

Tradition is one thing that is deeply rooted within our society.  In class this past week we talked about the 1920's and specifically the emergence of Modernism.  Modernism is defined as a style or movement in the arts that aims to break with classical and traditional forms, and we were shown examples of this in an increase in the women's rights movement and people buying more luxurious items to show off their wealth like customizable curtains for your car windows.  This is shown in F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" where Nick Carraway is living in a small house for 80 dollars a month in West Egg right next door to his neighbor Mr. Gatsby whose mansion rented for "fifteen thousand a season" and had "a marble swimming pool, and more than forty acres of lawn and garden."  When thinking about this, I wondered why this increase in luxury goods was seen as a break from tradition.  Human beings are evolutionary predisposed to "flex their wealth" as it tends to help them find a mate.  This isn't only shown in humans though.  Many other animals show this trait, like peacocks.  Male peacocks show of their bright feather, and this is why Milkman from "Song of Solomon" was attributed to the peacock for the majority of the book.  By the end of the novel, Milkman had bettered himself and broken away from material possessions, and this fact seems more like breaking away from human tradition.  In the end though, the existence of the wealth portion of Modernism may just be attributed to the fact that many new items were created and some at cheaper prices so more people were able to buy them. So maybe its possible that one tradition broken to create a new one for the middle class to "flex their wealth" instead of only the very wealthy.