Examples Of Extravagance In The Great Gatsby

Depictions of Extravagance The “Roaring Twenties” was a time of great prosperity in America. F. Scott Fitzgerald captures the booming spirit of America in his book The Great Gatsby through his grandiose description of Gatsby’s parties. Baz Luhrmann draws from both The Great Gatsby and Hieronymus Busch’s “The Garden of Earthly Delights” to portray his own cinematic interpretation of this time period. Philippa Hawker analyzes Baz Luhrmann’s Gatsby parties and depicts their lavishness in her article “The subtle art of staging Gatsby's lavish parties.” Similarly, Sinclair Lewis observes the alcohol-fueled events held by people in the 1920’s in an excerpt from his 1922 novel Babbitt. These various sources, through their emphasis on the materialism

Hawker’s article goes behind the scenes of Luhrmann’s rendition of Gatsby’s parties and states that the second party is “’sinister’” and “’vulgarized’” comparing it to one having too much to drink (Hawker). Luhrmann’s vulgarization of the second party stems from the inspiration he took from Busch’s triptych, where the separate levels of the painting represent the descent from God’s will to Earth, and how His message is tainted with earthly desires along the way (Bosch). As people in the 1920s grew more accustomed to their lifestyle, they became more firmly anchored to their earthly possessions and sensations, another aspect that is explored in Bosch’s painting. The pleasure-seeking chaos of Gatsby’s parties is also seen in Luhrmann’s trailer, another aspect which shows the grandiosity of the 1920s (Luhrmann). Similarly, Bosch’s painting demonstrates the level of heaven to be peaceful and lacking people, but as one descends to Earth, the amount of people becomes enormous, with many engaging in sinful activities, such as succumbing to temptation (Bosch). Another negative effect resulting from too many material possessions is a lack of satisfaction, as is seen with Gatsby; he focuses on making his parties more “over-the-top” (Hawker) as seen in Luhrmann’s film, but this does not satisfy his need to find a certain woman amongst the crowd. His parties grow larger, and with it, his

Society at the time was highly ostentatious, with desires that were extremely materialistic. Materialism is still a highly prevalent facet of society today; a person’s worth is often judged by the size of their house, or the size of their car. Furthermore, the sin and decadence that accompanied the new generation was seen as a worrisome problem for the previous generation at the time, and that same criticism be seen in current society as well. The previous generation criticizes the new generation’s immorality and transitioning lifestyle. However, with the unfavorable economy today, parties are not thrown with the same pompousness as they were in the 1920s; that era was special for its enormous boost in the economy which was reflected in societal life. The positives and negatives of the grandiosity in the 1920s is seen in Gatsby’s parties, and helps create a window to the