Examples Of Loneliness In The Great Gatsby

In life, others see many examples of people with all the riches of the world, but don’t end up with merriment and satisfaction. Throughout the story of The Great Gatsby, the reader is given perspective on the rich and poor conflicts of the roaring 20’s, where people either live in luxury or live in dirt. A character by the name of Jay Gatsby has all this wealth but isn’t happy because of a missing desire for the love of Daisy Buchanan. The author explores this idea through items and events that exploit the character of Jay Gatsby’s loneliness. In The Great Gatsby, author F. Scott Fitzgerald reveals how material wealth does not bring happiness through symbols of the Green Light, the extravagant parties, and the pool.

To start off with, exhibiting

The character of Jordan Baker tells Nick Carraway “And I like large parties. They’re so intimate. At small parties there isn’t any privacy” (Fitzgerald 54). Jordan highlights this detail showing off the true intensity of the party Gatsby is throwing and how it differs from the ones others host. Nick Carraway touches upon the fact that “I believe that on the first night I went to Gatsby’s house I was one of the few guests who had actually been invited. People were not invited—they went there… Sometimes they came and went without having met Gatsby at all, came for the party with a simplicity of heart that was its own ticket of admission” (Fitzgerald 41). All the people who attended Jay Gatsby’s parties didn’t actually know Jay Gatsby, but instead showed up for an experience of a lifetime. Author Mclean goes about the inside life of the party and how “Even the dancing at West Egg is innocent and childlike, as 'girls were putting their heads on men's shoulders in a puppyish, convivial way' and 'swooning backward playfully into men's arms'” (Mclean par. 43). At Jay Gatsby’s parties, anything could happen and someone could see anyone from any set of standpoint. It was amplified how all the characters who were present at something so extravagant always had a good time and acted in sort of a playful and youthful manner,

The Character of Jay Gatsby tries to persuade Nick Carraway to come and take a swim and says “Well, suppose we take a plunge in the swimming pool? I haven’t made use of it all summer” (Fitzgerald 82). Jay has this wonderful house with all the magnificent assets ranging from cars, to excessive clothing, to swimming pools. Having all these items may look impressive on the surface but for one who doesn’t make much use of things truly illustrates one's loneliness through wealth. The pool is something of significant beauty and for something like that to go untouched is upsetting to see from a viewpoint of a regular person. Jay talks to one of his workers about the pool explaining “ ‘Don’t do it to-day,’ Gatsby answered. He turned to me apologetically. ‘You know, old sport, I’ve never used that pool all summer’ ” (Fitzgerald 153). As Gatsby converses with Nick Carraway, Fitzgerald makes a point to the reader that it got to the end of summer and Jay Gatsby was yet to use the swimming pool. Jay Gatsby went the whole entirety of a hot and humid summer without taking a dip in a cold and luxurious swimming pool, allowing the reader to examine Gatsby’s image. Author Levitt goes on about where “Gatsby waits for Daisy to call; but resigned to the fact that she will not, he takes a towel and heads for the pool, where he is later found dead”