Examples Of Extravagance In The Great Gatsby

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The Extravagance of Wealth

There are various ways a writer can portray a certain atmosphere or mood to the reader. All good writers use these methods to allow the reader to experience the same feelings that the characters experience. F. Scott Fitzgerald uses these techniques in his most famous novel The Great Gatsby, to describe one of Gatsby’s notorious parties. Fitzgerald uses repetition, imagery, and diction to create an atmosphere of extravagance, allowing the reader to share in the excitement with the guests.

Fitzgerald uses repetition to demonstrate Gatsby’s wealth and the extravagance of the party. The colours yellow and gold are mentioned several times in the chapter to describe people and the atmosphere at the party. The turkey …show more content…
The orchestra is so elaborate and the description allows the reader to feel the excitement of the people who are listening and dancing to the music. “By seven o’clock the orchestra had arrived, no thin five-piece affair, but a whole pitful of oboes and trombones and saxophones and viols and cornets and piccolos, and low and high drums.” (Fitzgerald 42). The number of instruments in the orchestra is very extreme and this demonstrates the amount of money Gatsby spends on the party and the music. It also allows the reader to envision the exhilarating energy produced by so many instruments. The food served at Gatsby’s party sounds very over the top and the reader can almost smell the food just from its description. “On buffet tables, garnished with glistening hors-d’oeuvre, spiced baked hams crowded against salads of harlequin designs and pastry pigs and turkeys bewitched to a dark gold.” (Fitzgerald 41). The phrase “glistening hors-d’oeuvre” makes the food sound very extravagant because of the way that it glistens and the description used for each food item. The imagery Fitzgerald uses allows the reader to visualize the extravagance of the party and share in the …show more content…
He uses the phrase “corps of caterers” which makes one think of a large amount of caterers who are serious about their job and who are professional. One can picture the caterers as well-dressed in expensive suits, who are paid generously. This demonstrates the extravagance of the party and the amount of money Gatsby has spent because there are so many people hired to serve at it. Everyone at Gatsby’s party is also having a good time and diction is used to allow the reader to experience the same joys. “...girls were putting their heads on men’s shoulders in a puppyish, convivial way, girls were swooning backward playfully into men’s arms, even into groups, knowing that someone would arrest their falls.” (Fitzgerald 51). The words convivial, swooning, and playfully, contribute to the lively and exciting atmosphere which enables the reader to visualize the excitement. Fitzgerald’s word choice contributes to an extravagant atmosphere allowing the reader to feel the excitement of the guests.

There are multiple devices which are used in literature to convey the mood and atmosphere. F. Scott Fitzgerald uses repetition, imagery, and diction to demonstrate the extravagance of Jay Gatsby’s party and to allow the reader to experience the excitement. Gatsby’s party demonstrates the excessive parties of the wealthy during the 1920s. People who had the money, spent
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