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Decadence In F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby

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The Great Gatsby is a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald about people living in the town of West Egg which is on the prosperous Long Island. The story concerns the young millionaire Jay Gatsby and his dreamy thoughts for his long lost lover Daisy Buchanan. Extract 2 has shown the decadence society at the Jazz Age filled with an atmosphere of extravagance. It further shows that the people judge each other by how high their social status is, wealth is a way to show that you have power. Furthermore, extract 2 discusses about Nick’s interesting relationship with the Buchanans. The Great Gatsby’s main theme is the power of wealth therefore he explicitly created an atmosphere of affluence and extravagance on Gatsby to display it out. He has …show more content…

From extract 2,”My house was at the very tip of the egg, only fifty yards from the Sound, and squeezed between two huge places that rented for twelve or fifteen thousand a season. The one on my right was a colossal affair by any standard — it was 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. It was Gatsby’s mansion.”In this quotation, we can see a very indisputable contrast between Gatsby and Nick’s house. Nick’s house was only fifty yards squeezed between two buildings while Gatsby’s was something close to an awfully opulent house with grand gates and a wondrous swimming pool. The use of the phrase “colossal affair” when describing Gatsby’s house, reflects how hard Gatsby is trying to show off his wealth in a certain kind of way. By calling Gatsby’s colossal mansion “a mansion inhabited by a gentleman of that name,” Nick ‘s opinion towards …show more content…

The lawn started at the beach and ran toward the front door for a quarter of a mile, jumping over sun-dials and brick walks and burning gardens”. This shows that Nick was not prepared to see how exquisite Tom’s house look like. Besides using Gatsby to show the trend of wealth. Fitzgerald also used the geographical location set in the novel. He compared West Egg and East Egg’s social status and the difference between them, from Extract 2, “I lived at West Egg, the — well, the less fashionable of the two, though this is a most superficial tag to express the bizarre and not a little sinister contrast between them.” The extract tells us Nick is from West Egg which represents new wealth. He described the place as “the less fashionable of the two” signifying that old wealth is better. In other words, being born rich is thought to be better. This is hostile from how the society today thinks when working to earn your money is more venerable than inheriting wealth from your family. Nevertheless, there isn’t really much divergence in West Egg and East Egg other than the way wealth is obtained and how long it has been in their hands. The West Egg get their money through

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Wanting to gain status, Gatsby shows his wealth by throwing extravagant parties and purchasing expensive items to display. To announce himself as a man of wealth to the New York upper class, he purchases 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), his mansion in West Egg. It is here that he chooses to throw parties every weekend, where everyone shows up, though rarely people are actually invited. It is here that he is able to show off the true extent of his wealth to other rich folk. For example, in his library, he has a collection of “absolutely real” books, rather than “durable cardboard” (45), expected by Owl Eye, and attendant of one of Gatsby’s parties.

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Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald allows Nick to draw attention to the vulgarity of the house until he finally describes it as huge incoherent failure of a house” (181), an overall aesthetic failure. Nick recognizes Gatsby house as inelegant, vulgar, and tastelessly extravagant; all synonyms that were used to describe the new wealth of the

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Jay Gatsby and Nick Carraway are two of the most important characters in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. Throughout the novel many comparisons and contrasts can be made, however, this may be arguably the most important due to the magnitude of importance of these two characters and the roles they play in progressing the story. Jay Gatsby, a fabulously wealthy young man living in a Gothic Mansion in West Egg and the protagonist, throws constant parties every Saturday night, but nobody has much insight about him. Nick Carraway, a young man from Minnesota who lives in New York City to learn the bond business, is typically an honest and tolerant man. Although they do share some similarities, they also share a plethora of differences in their

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On one hand, Gatsby gains enormous wealth through his own effort from the bottom of the society, which could be regarded as “the great” from a practical perspective in his guests’ eyes. However, in the end, his success becomes just an illusion. His ultimate dream—Daisy’s love –cannot be gained even if he is that wealthy, and his tragic death indicates that “the greatness” of his striving is easy to be destroyed. On the other hand, “the great” also reveals that Gatsby used to be a great figure in his numerous guests’ eyes, when he is able to hold glamorous parties every week. However, ironically, eventually he is just a nobody that none of his friends except Nick care after his death.

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Throughout the novel, Gatsby displays his riches through his mansion, expensive car, and many other things. Nick even describes how extravagant Gatsby’s house is, saying, “The one on my right was a colossal affair by any standard—it was a factual imitation of some Hôtel 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” (Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby 5). As Nick describes, Gatsby’s house is very large and modern, which shows his affluence. Before he became rich and privileged, Gatsby was James Gatz, a poor Midwestern boy who dreamed of becoming wealthy. This dream led Gatsby to do crazy things in order to make money, but it worked out for him in the end.

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In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald the misperception between appearance versus reality is thoroughly demonstrated throughout the whole novel. We meet certain characters such as Jay Gatsby, Daisy and Tom Buchanan who all paint us a vivid picture of what it is like to be living in close geological quarters, but are ranked differently in society. Fitzgerald describes New York as two separated locations, East Egg and West Egg. Although they are geographically close, they differ in respect to morality, happiness and values. These factors are expressed through the characters which overall contribute to the theme of contrast within a society.

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In order to attract Daisy's interest, Gatsby throws a lot of parties in his mansion, he displays his cars and fancy clothes. This can be related to today’s modern society as many people still show there prosperous side and wealthiness to attract other people’s

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The Great Gatsby GEOGRAPHY Throughout the novel, places and settings symbolize the various aspects of the 1920s American society that Fitzgerald depicts. East Egg represents the old aristocracy, West Egg the newly rich, the valley of ashes the moral and social decay of America, and New York City the dissolute, amoral quest for money and pleasure. Additionally, the East is connected to the moral decay and social cynicism of New York, while the West is connected to more traditional social values and ideals. Themes: The American Dream "Whereas the American Dream was once equated with certain principles of freedom, it is now equated with things.

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The Great Gatsby is a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald and narrated by a man named Nick Carraway. This novel was written with the intent of showing the readers how morally corrupt the 1920s were. Throughout the novel, characters abandon their moral values for a materialistic lifestyle. The novel depicts a great picture of the roles men and women played in the 1920s. Even with the changing roles of men and women, they continued to rely heavily on whom they were married to and what social class they belonged to.

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Nick Carraway and Gatsby live in “West Egg, the -- well, the less fashionable of the two” (Fitzgerald 5). West Egg is the area where the self-made men and women,

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One way Fitzgerald demonstrates appearance versus reality is through his characterization of Tom and Daisy Buchanan. Fitzgerald characterizes them as wealthy aristocrats who live in East Egg. They are considered as the old money and due to his status, Tom is well known around East Egg. When Nick first visits Tom in East Egg he states that, “their house was even more elaborate than I expected, a cheerful red-and-white Georgian Colonial mansion, overlooking the bay”

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When Nick Carraway marvels on how coincidental it is that Gatsby and Daisy are neighbours, Jordan Baker rebukes it stating that, “Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay.” (4.76) Gatsby bought a house in West Egg near East Egg where Daisy lives, rather than next-door to

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Jay Gatsby, one of the main characters in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, is a wealthy man with dubious sources of money; Gatsby is renowned in New York due to the lavish parties he holds every friday in his mansion. These are spectacles that fully embody the wealth and glamour of the roaring twenties, and are narrated through the eyes of another character Nick Carraway, an ambitious 29 year old man that recently moved back to a corrupt new york in a cramped cottage next to Gatsby’s palace. After admiring the careless behaviour of the parties from a distance, Nick gets a personal invitation to Gatsby’s next party, he promptly becomes infatuated by the extravagant and frivolous lifestyle the parties portray, along with the superficial

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