8 March, 2013
English 11 Honors
Gatsby’s Parties: The Hidden Truth.
The Great Gatsby is set in the 1920’s in a mix of New York, NY and three fictional places called East Egg, West Egg, and the Valley of Ashes. The book is built around the love story of a man called Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan. Every weekend throughout the beginning of the novel Gatsby throws lavish parties. These parties Gatsby’s throws are just elaborate cover-ups. He uses his massive amounts of newly acquired wealth to hide the undesirable aspects of his past. He uses his money and his cunning and lies to create a whole new life story that people can only guess about, because he is never there to reveal the truth.
Gatsby did not come from a family with money; he came from a small farming family that lived in North Dakota, and like other small families during the late 1800s they were struggling to make ends meet. This is the reason Gatsby ran away from his family, to start a life he could have only dreamed about otherwise. Throughout the book Gatsby covers up his past with lies and half-truths sown to create a web of protection for his newly acquired wealth, constantly changing it to cover up any doubt that arises in those who he seeks to please.
Gatsby loves to flaunt his money to those who already have it. He throws parties every weekend, massive affairs with giant quantities of amount of food and drink to entice the rich people of East Egg and West Egg. These people are not his targeted audience; he seeks a single prize to be lured into the trap set by his parties, his lost love Daisy. The reason he moved to where he lives a mansion where it is because he found out that Daisy and her husband Tom live directly across the river. These parties, in Gatsby’s mind are the best lure from someone of Daisy’s stature.
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