Preview

The Role Of Laughter In The Great Gatsby

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
937 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Role Of Laughter In The Great Gatsby
Mother always told me that laughter is the panacea to all illnesses, and a day without laughter was a day wasted. But what did she did know? I loved her dearly, but she had suffered from illnesses all her life, and laughter did not seem to cure her. I attribute all my success to my mother, for she was the one who introduced me to my first love- acting. The moment I stepped onto the stage, a star was born and the rest is history.
….
I had just finished filming in New York, when I was approached by my lover, Mildred Harris. “Oh Charlie, before we leave, can we go out east to Long Island?” she asked. “What’s there?” I responded back. “There’s this fellow, Gatsby, and he throws these grand parties. People from all over come just to enjoy
…show more content…
Would he be a man of fine taste, adventurous, and eager to indulge himself? What were the true motives behind his parties? After much pondering, we came to a stop and what a grand place it was. Exquisite cars, and people adorned in their Sunday bests surrounded the towering mansion. It was like a playground for the wealthy. However, the moment when we walked in, the facade of a sophisticated atmosphere quickly disappeared. Alcohol flowed freely, music was blasted at an ear splitting volume, but was it grand …show more content…
“You see, men like you and me, we come from humble upbringings. We have to do whatever is necessary to advance and become successful in life. You are pursuing acting, while I am pursuing love. There is this girl, Daisy, whom I love, and I will do anything to make her fall in love with me,” he trailed off. “Anyways,” he continued, “perhaps you will be able to provide entertainment for my guests, because the band has not shown up. I know that you are loved by the community. You’d really be doing me a favor.” “Well okay,” I began, “but only if you insist.” He led me downstairs, right through the middle of the throng of people, and introduced me as tonight’s entertainment, ‘The Tramp.’ And so I began my act, and by the time it was over, everyone was applauding and hootin’ and hollerin.’ This marked the end of the night, and guests began to trickle out the front door, into the brisk chill. When almost everyone had left, I found Gatsby again, and there was a look upon his face, that I’ll never forget. It was a look of unadulterated joy, and he proclaimed, “Thank you, Mr. Chaplin. You have made me laugh again.” I left his house with his words and my mother’s in mind. Here was a man, not with a physical affliction but an emotional one, and now he was jubilant. Perhaps she really was right, and maybe laughter is the universal cure, no matter the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Gatsby is generous to the people at his parties. He throws banquets and spends a lot of money on food, preparations and entertainment. Gatsby is a generous host. “most people were brought”…

    • 858 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “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 whispering and the champagne and the stars” (39). Nick described how the people came and behaved a Gatsby’s parties. Gatsby typically threw huge, expensive parties for complete strangers just attract Daisy’s attention. He was well known for his parties. He provided plenty for his guests. People went to the parties to have a great time, be seen and mainly to drink free alcohol. During the Roaring Twenties the temperance movement was in full effect. The laws banned the drinking of alcoholic beverages. Although alcohol was banded it didn’t stop Gatsby from serving it at his extravagant…

    • 448 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Gatsby exemplified the “Jazz Age;” he was known for hosting very luxurious and lavish parties on a weekly basis. Gatsby’s view on spending money was that if he had the money, he should spend it. He hosted parties that weren’t just small gatherings though, they were more of a way for people to show off there social status, an excuse to get drunk, and a way to meet ne people. In fact, most of the people who went to Gatsby’s parties didn’t know Gatsby at all; they just went to prove their social status. Nick Carraway, the narrator of the story, explains to us; “I believe that on the first night I went to Gatsby’s house I was one of the few guests who had actually been invited. People were not invited- they went there”…

    • 1137 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Oil Plopo

    • 1387 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Based on the list of people who attend Gatsby’s parties, how would you describe these people?…

    • 1387 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Great Gatsby Themes

    • 233 Words
    • 1 Page

    One of the many themes is society and class, Gatsby had hosted a lot of parties and many…

    • 233 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Daisy says these words as she describes to Nick and Jordan her hopes for her young daughter. Daisy is not a fool herself but because of her surroundings intelligent women are not viewed as valuable. Opposite of the older generation, the younger generation enjoys the thoughtless minds of the young and vulnerable women only seeking pleasure and not those that cater to their needs. Daisy’s remark is somewhat cynical: while she addresses the social values of her era, she does not seem to mind them. Rather, she describes that she is bored with life and it seems like she implies that a girl can have more fun if she is beautiful and simplistic. Daisy often conforms to the social expectation of the American woman in order to avoid issues.…

    • 958 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Extravagant parties at the Gatsby house just to impress a girl. This is a sharp contradiction which fits into Fitzgerald’s attempt to use satire to prove the point that the American Dream is gone.…

    • 656 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    F. Scott Fitzgerald presents many themes in this novel, The Great Gatsby. One of the…

    • 412 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Laughter is the first thing that a newborn child does when they are born into the world. From the beginning, they know how to laugh from ear to ear. The expression of joy through laughter is a force to be reckoned with. The natural response to humor is to come close to it and the opposite can be said for pain. It is one of the best remedies for things such as physical and emotional pain as well as help maintain a healthy relationship with friends and family.…

    • 483 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gatsby Vs Buchanan

    • 951 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Gatsby’s parties are always huge successes. While some people come without even meeting Gatsby, simply for the party, a large part of the success of the parties is due to Gatsby himself. Gatsby’s charisma radiates from exterior, and is obvious in one description of him:“He smiled understandingly- much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles ... It understood you just as you wanted to be understood [and] assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey” (p. 48). Gatsby resounds with people. They meet him and feel irresistibly drawn to him. This is because he identifies with them. He is the model of the 1920s- a self-made, hard working man. His determination launched him to this spot, and he continues to use his determination to reach his other goals. Other people can see this, and he makes such an impact on them that in turn they then love to tell their friends and various acquaintances about him, making him lowkey famous. People come to his parties hoping not even to become friends, just to have a good time, because they believe that someone who they can relate to must be looking out for them and be an excellent person of character- even if he isn’t. Even people not intimately close with Gatsby and the Buchanans can see the differences between the two parties- Gatsby’s parties resound with people because his determination is apparent in most every aspect of the…

    • 951 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Health is a concern for people regardless of gender and age. Being healthy is necessary when it comes to many things such as living life and being successful. Many people tend to think of their physical state and all the weightlifting, running and dieting they could do to improve their health. But health is not only about a person's physical state, a person's mental state is just as important. To the surprise of many, the aspiration for better health can be achieved in the simplest of way. In USA Today, Sarah Schmelling writes about laughter and health in her article Laugh Your Way To Better Health. Although Sarah is a third party observer and someone who isn't an expert on the topic, she succeeds in informing the readers about how laughing is beneficial to health.…

    • 920 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Great Gatsby is a classic novel in which many characters lives revolve around money, however money cannot buy happiness. F. Scott Fitzgerald pursued many things writing the book The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald offers many themes in the book he shows power, greed, and betrayal. Fitzgerald showed Gatsby as a Fitzgerald carefully sets up his novel into distinct groups but, in the end, each group has its own problems to contend with, leaving a powerful reminder of what a precarious place the world really is. By creating distinct social classes old money, new money, and no money Fitzgerald sends strong messages about the elitism running throughout every strata of society.…

    • 513 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Great Gatsby

    • 496 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Gatsby, like any unaware person, mistakes happiness with money. Nick describes the house as “a factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool and more than forty acres of lawn and garden” (9). By holding parties every weekend, Gatsby wants others…

    • 496 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nick begins to notice the most dismissive and discreet details. He acknowledges the length of the Gatsby’s unmanaged lawn as compared to his, in which he posed little to no interest prior to the death. Juxtaposing his brief observation is one far more conspicuous. “ One of the taxi drivers in the village never took a fare fast the entrance gate without stopping for a minute and pointing inside…perhaps he had made a story about it all his own.” Nick takes to mind the change in attitude and persona of those who were acquaintances of Gatsby. His death brings a cessation to lively parties and expansive gifts. Therefore, they who once lauded and idolized Gatsby, act as if one has never heard of him. The cruel and selfish face of human nature proves to be nothing less than pathetic.…

    • 412 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Last week, I attended one of Jay Gatsby’s lavish parties. It was almost exactly like I imagined it. The raucous women, the greedy guests, the whiskey, the fashion – it was quite the experience. I never received an invitation, but no one truly appeared to have one either. However, the biggest mystery of the party was the fact that Jay Gatsby was never seen. After all, one of the core reasons I had decided to attend the party was to meet him. I left the celebration around 2:00 AM after I lost my hopes. This was a major problem. If you are the host, you should welcome people casually inside your home – do not invite crummy people carelessly looking for sex into the event. As tension of Gatsby’s activities arose, so did the emotion of the people I was surrounded by. “I looked around. Most of the remaining women were now having fights with men said to be their husbands. Even Jordan’s party, the quarter from East Egg, were rent asunder by dissension” (Fitzgerald 51). If Gatsby would have made an appearance, the fighting might have stopped because people would have been more interested in the events. The insanity of it all was generally due to the mass quantity of alcohol consumed. People kept drinking, dancing, gambling, gossiping, and more. Where was Gatsby during all of this? Why would he throw an extravagant party and not attend? Many others wondered where he was, and thus decided it would be a great time to gossip about him. I couldn’t help but eavesdrop on them a little. “‘Somebody told me they thought he killed a man once.’ … ‘I don’t think it’s so much as that,’ argued Lucille skeptically; ‘it’s more that he was a German spy during the war” (Fitzgerald 44). I heard he was a German spy, he killed a man, even studied at Oxford, but what is true? Certainly, all of the gossip wouldn’t be happening if he had decided to make an entrance at the bash. Don’t get me wrong, the party was impeccable – the only…

    • 363 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays