Glamour and Decadence in the Great gatsby
In the book, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a literary classic contrasting Western morals and Eastern corruption. It follows the trail of a man, Nick, out of the West through the depraved and excessive society of the East during the Jazz age. His thoughts and feelings are the basic moralities that are ignored by people bent upon their individual pursuits of self-satisfaction. In the third chapter, Nick goes to a party thrown by his ostentatious neighbor, Gatsby and is presented with the realities of the corruption. Fitzgerald portrays the glamour and allure as well as the decadent and destructive natures of the party and partygoers. The party scene is the first thing described in this chapter and creates a lasting impression of glamour in decorations and food underscored by the destruction wrought by this occurrence. The "blue gardens" and " beach" speak eloquently of the wealth of Gatsby (43). The maintenance costs of such splendor seem inconsequential in comparison to his actual wealth and hence only provide a backdrop for the party. But it is nothing when compared to the "several hundred feet of canvas" required decorating or the "colored lights" that are enough to make a "Christmas tree" of the garden (44)
The "buffet tables garnished with glistening hors d'oeuvres" present an overwhelming amount of the available food (44). There are also turkeys "bewitched to a dark gold" suggesting something unnatural in the preparation that can not simply be described as roasted (44). The "salads of harlequin designs" further insinuates the amount of the care taken by the caterers (44). Liquid refreshment comes in the form of "a bar with a real brass rail" and stocked with such diverse alcoholic beverages that the younger female guests could not differentiate among them (44). The rail is also a symbol of privilege and power, especially during Prohibition. The bar may not be out of place now or even ten years after the occurrences of the party; this party was occurring during Prohibition though, which makes the bar a bit more spectacular and unusual in the presented setting. Since it outright defies the law, there is the question of Gatsby as a law-abiding citizen as well as of those that partake in his hospitality. It is an example of the subtly negative side of the party but not the only. Fitzgerald also shows the view of the rich upon those that serve them in the form of the subtle dehumanization of the servants throughout the chapter that reduces each of the servants to their functions. By doing so, he relegates the servants to the environment instead of allowing them to be people. At the beginning, the butler is reduced to the ability of his thumb to press a button "two hundred times" to extract the juices of two hundred oranges (43-4). When the party starts and the orchestra comes in, each individual musician is named by their instrument. They are "oboes and trombones and saxophones and viols" because it is what they provide for the people at the party (44). As the party continues, "floating rounds of cocktails" slowly become nothingness as cocktails are later simply snatched "out of the air" (44-5). The waiters are nothing more than invisible and insubstantial providers of alcohol. This party scene generat
Some common words found in the essay are:
East Jazz, Englishmen Englishmen, Kaiser Wilhelm, Scott Fitzgerald, West Eggers, Nick West, party scene, , glamour allure, people party, drunken crying, jazz age, primary colors, husbands wives,
Approximate Word count = 1366
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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