Social Occasions in The Great Gatsby
Uploaded by crawfordc12 on Mar 01, 2012
How many people do you need for a party? Andy Warhol once said, “One’s company, two’s a crowd, and three’s a party”. According to Warhol’s definition, Jay Gatsby spent most of his life at a party. Therefore it makes sense for F. Scott Fitzgerald to use the extravagant parties Jay Gatsby throws for his friends in The Great Gatsby to showcase the important values during the 1920’s. The get-togethers Jay Gatsby throws for his friends show the important values of the characters during the time period such as money, power and class.
Jay Gatsby’s parties show the characters valued money. He often throws lavish parties for his friends where no expense is spared. Jay Gatsby attempts to fulfill the characters love for money by supplying every possible luxury to his guests:
There was music from my neighbor’s house through the summer nights. In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars. At high tide in the afternoon I watched his guests diving from the tower of his raft, or taking the sun on the hot sand of his beach while his two motor-boats slit the waters of the Sound, drawing aquaplanes over cataracts of foam. On week-ends his Rolls-Royce became an omnibus, bearing parties to and from the city between nine in the morning and long past midnight, while his station wagon scampered like a brisk yellow bug to meet all trains. And on Mondays eight servants, including an extra gardener, toiled all day with mops and scrubbing-brushes and hammers and garden-shears, repairing the ravages of the night before. (Fitzgerald 39)
This quote demonstrates the great lengths Jay Gatsby goes to as a host to provide his guests with everything they could ever want and need while also using the opportunity to show his great wealth.
Jay Gatsby’s parties exhibit the society’s value of power. During the events Jay Gatsby throws for his friends, he is always in a powerful position. Most men in the roaring twenties felt in power when they were showing off their strength or dominating conversation. Jay Gatsby is different. He feels in control in when he is hidden among his peers, watching from afar: “[…] and this man Gatsby sent over his chauffeur with an invitation. For a moment he looked at me as if he failed to understand. ‘I’m Gatsby,’ he said suddenly. ‘What!’...