The Great Gatsby Analysis

Grade: 86%
Novel: The Great Gatsby
Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
Student: P. Yoon

New Money

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is a novel that depicts the lifestyle of the rich during the 1920’s. The protagonist, Gatsby, hosts a series of extravagant parties throughout the story. The men and women who attend his parties are the “new money.” They are the Americans who accumulated great wealth by taking advantage of the soaring stock market. Throughout the parties, the new money is portrayed to be vulgar, gaudy, rude, and careless. Fitzgerald criticizes these partygoers for putting too much emphasis on pleasure and appearance. The rich are unable to accept the hardships and realities of life. Thus, they attend Gatsby’s parties to escape from realty. Using rhetorical devices, Fitzgerald criticizes the upper-class by describing Gatsby‘s party.
In the passage, Fitzgerald uses excessive language to create imagery. Nick mentions there is a “whole pit full of oboes and trombones and saxophones and viols and cornets and piccolos and low and high drums” at Gatsby’s party. Nick is awestruck by the number of instruments at the party. Showing his excitement, he lists all the instruments he sees. He has never seen so many instruments before. Similarly, the party goers are excited too. Fitzgerald’s use of polysyndeton adds an atmosphere of excitement to the party. In addition, the excessive use of “ands” makes the sentence longer to read. The readers is influenced to believe the orchestra will play music for a long time. The severity of the polysyndeton ensures that Fitzgerald’s readers are able to hear the loudness of Gatsby’s party.
Fitzgerald criticizes the new money for living carelessly. Nick notices that Gatsby’s “halls and salons and verandas are gaudy” because they are decorated with “primary colors.” The use of polysyndeton allow the readers to imagine the enormity of Gatsby’s home. The home has more than one salon, hall, and veranda. Additionally, Fitzgerald states that his home is “gaudy with primary colors.” To an artist, primary colors are valuable because other colors are derived from them. Thus, Gatsby has decorated his home with expensive and priceless decorations. However, he is “gaudy” as the primary colors are red, green, and yellow. His home is not sophisticated because it’s like an amusement park. The rich just arrive and lounge at Gatsby’s home. Then they leave when the excitement is over. Nobody cares to show respect or thanks toward Gatsby. Furthermore, the women at the party have their “hair shorn in strange new ways and shawls beyond the dreams of Castile.” Dream-like imagery is used to describe these women. They dress and have their hair styled strangely to get attention. The rich will try “strange new ways” to be seen, noticed, and different. These women and men want everybody to know that they live like royalty because Castile was a prosperous kingdom in Spain. Living in their fantasies, the rich are unable to accept the realities of life.
Then, Fitzgerald describes the people who arrive at Gatsby’s party. There are swimmers who “come in from the beach” and cars from “New York.” By stating that the partygoers come from the beach and New York, Nick declares that people from all over come to Gatsby‘s party. These people do not arrive with elegance like the “old money.” They just arrive and begin socializing with each other. They do not care to know or greet the host. Then, Fitzgerald uses the partygoers to describe the environment of the party. Stating that the cars are parked “five deep in the drive,” the reader is able to imagine the mayhem at the party. There is a feeling that these people are urgent to be at Gatsby’s home. Even though there are too many people at the party, the partygoers do not care. Furthermore, the party is described to be “alive with chatter and laughter and casual innuendo and introductions forgotten on the stop and enthusiastic meetings between women who never knew each other’s names.” Rhetorical, the sentence sums up the behavior and attitude of the partygoers. They are having a good time as they meet new people. The use of polysyndeton emphasizes Nick’s reaction to the party. He is overwhelmed by the of all the conversations and laughter he hears. He feels an atmosphere of mayhem as the partygoers are extremely lively. Despite the cheerfulness of the party, Fitzgerald criticizes their interactions for being hallow as their “introductions” are “forgotten on the spot.” Nick observes that these people do not care nor want to know each other. To the rich, appearance is more important than realty.
In the second paragraph, Fitzgerald says the “lights grow brighter as the earth lurches away from the sun.” The lurching of the earth represents how late it is. Fitzgerald uses the word lurch to describe that time has passed suddenly at the party because the partygoers have become comfortable and lively. Since light symbolizes the party, the party is becoming more festive as time passes by. This can be seen as the “orchestra is playing yellow cocktail music.” The partygoers are happy as the color yellow is bright and cheerful. However, yellow is also associated with cowardice in the English language. Fitzgerald declares that the rich are cowards as they listen to yellow cocktail music. Instead of confronting the realties of life, the rich waste their time at parties.
Afterwards, Fitzgerald discusses about the influence of alcohol over the partygoers. As time passes by, the partygoers become drunk. Therefore, “laughter is easier, minute by minute, spilled with prodigality, tipped out at a cheerful word.” Fitzgerald deliberately uses asyndeton for the reader to notice the effects of alcohol. The asyndeton makes it seem like the people are constantly laughing. These people are easily amused as they laugh with “prodigality.” They laugh too much at inappropriate times. Drunk, they are more impetuous and outgoing. The asyndeton makes the image of the drunken partygoers more memorable. However, nobody cares about their drunkenness because “groups change more swiftly, swell with new arrivals, dissolve and form in the same breath.” Fitzgerald uses ocean imagery to make it easier to imagine the partygoers. These people have a grace of movement as they do not go against the tide. Like an ocean, they are in a never ending cycle. People constantly arrive and leave the party at a quick pace. Like a huge ocean wave, they arrive in big numbers. Then they disappear as a wave dissolves once it reaches shore. This cycle excites the partygoers as they can interact with new people. However, most of them don’t say thank or greet the host of the party as they move “swiftly.” Fitzgerald criticizes the rich for being rude.
Finally, Fitzgerald criticizes the empathy of the rich. He compares the rich to “wanderers” and “confident girls.” The partygoers are wanderers because they arrive uninvited. They do not know the host. They visit Gatsby’s home as it is a hotel. They eat, drink, and socialize. Then, they leave. Additionally, all the party goers are compared to “confident girls who weave here and there among the stouter and more stable, become for a sharp and joyous moment the center of a group and then excited with triumph glide on through the sea-change of faces and voices and color under the constantly changing light.” The partygoers are confident and outgoing. However, they “glide” and “weave” through people like ghosts. Fitzgerald uses ghost imagery to accuse the rich for being hallow. The rich are aware of their hollowness, but they glide with “triumph,” without care. The rich believe money can give them the power to triumph over any obstacle. Money gives them the joy and excitement they need. As the “changing light” symbolizes the party, the party is constantly changing. However, the partygoers are use to it as they are young. The party is a light that will never go dark. As it goes against nature, anything could happen.
The new money of the 1920’s is a group of elites who accept appearance over realty. They are hallow as they have nothing in their lives. They refuse to admit this realty. Instead, they pretend to be people they are not. The rich flaunt their money in order to hide their emptiness. They will do anything to be noticed because they starve for attention. Their friendship and relationships are facetious. The only people they care about are themselves. They lack social grace, taste, and perception. A primary theme, Fitzgerald declares that a man decays when he becomes attached to greed and pleasure like the rich.