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Nat Nah
Martin
AP Language and Composition
7 December 2013
A Link Between Worlds of the Rich
One can establish oneself by demonstrating ones own wealth to society. In Chapter
Three of F. Scott Fitzgeralds novel The Great Gatsby, set in the jazz era, the protagonist, Nick
Carraway, attends a lavish party hosted by Jay Gatsby, a wealthy man. Fitzgeralds descriptions
of the party, the people attending the party, and Gatsby himself reveal how the richer society
often assumes a faade towards one another and expresses their wealth differently.
Fitzgeralds descriptions of the party demonstrate how the richer society focuses on
lavish parties to express their wealth. Gatsby orders a corps of caterers with several feet of
canvas and colored lights which sets up an extravagant buffet table with expensive foods (40).
Gatsby is able to order a large quantity of food and exhibits his wealth by providing his guests
with an abundance of luxurious foods. He hires a full orchestra with a whole pitful of oboes and
trombones and saxophones and viols and cornets and piccolos, and low and high drums (40).
By hiring a whole orchestra to perform at his party merely for background music and ambiance,
Gatsby demonstrates his wealth to his guests. Gatsby illustrates the extent of his great wealth to
his guests as a means to express the lavish lifestyle of high society. To invite his guests, Gatsby
has his chauffeur deliver a formal note to attend his little party that night signed Jay
Gatsby, in a majestic hand (41). Though Gatsby is fully aware that his parties are expensive and
attract a large mass of people, he calls it a little party, implying that he is wealthy enough to
fund it and could host even larger and more extravagant parties. Through the descriptions of the


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many luxurious facets of Gatsbys parties, Fitzgerald reveals how the richer society tends to
focus on how to express their wealth by hosting lavish parties. Furthermore, by portraying the
guests at the party, he depicts the lifestyles of the upper class.
The descriptions of the guests attending Gatsbys party reveal how the richer society
favors extravagance. During Gatsbys parties, men and girls came and went like moths (39).
Fitzgerald likens the rich individuals attending the parties to moths as a means to depict how
people in the upper class lose their individuality, becoming a collective whole, and attend the
parties because they are attracted by the extravagance of the party itself similar to how moths are
attracted to light. Regardless of the fact that Gatsby did not invite most of the guests, the people
decided to attend anyway, and they conducted themselves according to the rules of behavior
associated with an amusement park (41). Though they are clearly not invited, they fail to
restrain themselves and attend purely for their own amusement. In this society, people do not
find it necessary for a personal invitation but are able to attend just to enjoy themselves. At the
party, enthusiastic meetings between women who never knew each other take place (40). In
this rich society, people imply familiarity with each other so as not to diminish their own
reputation by revealing their own faults. The people attending Gatsbys party assume a faade of
wealth and position, though they may not even know each other. The people present at Gatsbys
party suggest how those in rich societies attend in order to enjoy themselves in the extravagance
of the party and establish themselves as people of wealth and authority.
The descriptions of Gatsby himself illustrate how people in the richer society act behind a
masquerade. The people at the party are not personally acquainted with Gatsby, suggesting that
he killed a man once or he was a German spy during the war (44). Gatsby is an enigma,
especially to those attending his party, for although he well establishes the extent of his wealth,


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Gatsbys guests only see a surface-level caricature of the stereotypical wealthy male. A girl
remarks that upon ruining her own dress at one of his parties, Gatsby recompensed her loss by
sending her a package from Croiriers with a new evening gown worth two hundred and
sixty-five dollars (43). When a troublesome event occurs, such as a girl ruining her dress,
Gatsby demonstrates that he is able to fix a problem, no matter how trivial, and preserve his own
reputation by using his money. At one point, a certain drunken man finds his way into Gatsbys
library and is astounded that the books are absolutely realhave pages and everything rather
than being a nice durable cardboard just for show (45). Gatsbys library with real books
reveals that his wealth is not superficial but instead that he truly is wealthy. Additionally, like the
books, people do not know Gatsby himself; they see the outer cover but cannot be sure what he
is like on the inside. Though he is able to afford to host a lavish party, other than the fact that he
is wealthy and commands an air of respect, people do not know what he is like, demonstrating
how people living is rich societies may live pretentiously.
In the descriptions of the party, Gatsbys guests, and Gatsbys character, Fitzgerald
reveals that people living in richer societies tend to focus on living extravagantly and for their
own enjoyment and may be living behind a faade of wealth. They use their own wealth for their
own reputation and live according to the standards of their class. There are many uses for wealth,
and its gratification lies neither in its possession or expenditure, but rather its application for the
greater good.