The Great Gatsby 7
Doesn't it always seem as though rich and famous people, such as actors and actresses, are larger-than-life and virtually impossible to touch, almost as if they were a fantasy? In The Great Gatsby, set in two tremendously wealthy communities, East Egg and West Egg, F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays Jay Gatsby as a Romantic, larger-than-life, figure by setting him apart from the common person. Fitzgerald sets Gatsby in a fantasy world that, based on illusion, is of his own making. Gatsby's possessions start to this illusion. He lives in an extremely lavish mansion. "It is a factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool, and more than forty acres of lawn and garden." (5) It models an extravagant castle with a European style. Indoors it has "Marie Antoinette music-rooms and restoration salons." (92) There is even a "Merton College Library, paneled with imported carved English oak and thousands of volumes of books." (45) There is even a private beach on his property. He also has his own personal hydroplane. Gatsby also drives a highly imaginative, "circus wagon", car that "everybody had seen. I
to give him the appearance of having old money. He says that he is the son of a wealthy family in the Middle West, San Francisco, and he was educated at Oxford. Supposedly after his family had all died he "lived like a young rajah in all the capitals of Europe collecting jewels, hunting big game, painting and doing things for himself." (66) During the war he was apparently a promoted major that every Allied government gave a decoration to." (66) However, the medal The fantasy world that Fitzgerald gives Jay Gatsby also concludes with parties that are practically like movie-like productions. These parties are so fantastic that they last from Friday nights to Monday mornings. His house and garden is decorated with thousands of colored lights, "enough to make a Christmas tree of his enormous garden." (39) "Buffet tables are garnished with glistening hors-d'oeuvre, spiced baked hams crowded against salads of harlequin designs and pastry pigs and turkeys bewitched to a dark gold." (40) He has famous singers that entertain his guests whom are the most well known and richest people. There is an orchestra with "oboes and trombones and saxophones and viols and cornets and piccolos and low and high drums." (40) People do not even have to be invited to come to his parties. Car loads of people arrive at his celebrations. Movie directors, actresses and many celebrities attend his extravaganzas. All these things make his parties well known by everyone. absurd." (48) Gatsby also has a particularly distinct phrase which is "old sport." Further, at his parties he stands apart from the other people. Unlike everyone else, he does not drink any alcohol. Also, there are no young ladies that lay their head on his sho
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Approximate Word count = 1174
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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