Look how awesome this hoodie is!!
This is the part we have all been waiting for, or at least I have. The first party at Gatsby's house. Who is this Great Gatsby? Everyone has presumptions, but in reality no one knows. Nick and Gatsby happen to be neighbors, but have not met yet. To encourage this to end, Gatsby sends a servant to Nick's with an invitation worth of a night's festivities. Now, this is not an ordinary party. This is a party in the Jazz Era, meaning that luxury is a must. However, Fitzgerald has a disdain for this. Through Nick's narration we can infer the author thinks all of this hullabaloo is slightly silly.
And yet, I am still captivated by the glory of Gatsby and I think initially Nick is too, "Every Friday five crates of oranges and lemons arrive from a fruiterer in New York--every Monday these same oranges and lemons left his back door in a pyramid of pulpless halves. There was a machine in the kitchen which could extract the juice of two hundred oranges in half an hour if a little button was pressed two hundred times by a butler's thumb. At least once a fortnight a corps of caterers came down with several hundred feet of canvas and enough colored lights to make a Christmas tree of Gatsby's enormous garden. 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. In the main hall a bar with a real brass rail was set up, and stocked with gins and liquors and with cordials so long forgotten that most of his female guests were too young to know one from another" (40). Obviously Nick is watching in complete shock and fascination, but I mean who wouldn't want to go to a party at Gatsby's after seeing this? It only sounds of elegance and luxury.
Then I got to wondering why would Gatsby throw such lavish parties? I mean, there has to be an underlying reason, right? Then I got even more confused when Nick said, "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 there. People were not invited--they went there" (41). Oh, Mr. Gatsby what is the reason for these parties? Don't worry Fitzgerald does not make you wait too long to discover this necessary purpose.
In fact, Jordan Baker is exposed to Gatsby's real reason for throwing gorgeous soirees, but is sworn to secrecy, "But I swore I wouldn't tell it and here I am tantalizing you" (53). Not only is Jordan tantalizing Nick, she is tantalizing us all! What could be this extremely important, but highly confidential secret?
And yet, I am still captivated by the glory of Gatsby and I think initially Nick is too, "Every Friday five crates of oranges and lemons arrive from a fruiterer in New York--every Monday these same oranges and lemons left his back door in a pyramid of pulpless halves. There was a machine in the kitchen which could extract the juice of two hundred oranges in half an hour if a little button was pressed two hundred times by a butler's thumb. At least once a fortnight a corps of caterers came down with several hundred feet of canvas and enough colored lights to make a Christmas tree of Gatsby's enormous garden. 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. In the main hall a bar with a real brass rail was set up, and stocked with gins and liquors and with cordials so long forgotten that most of his female guests were too young to know one from another" (40). Obviously Nick is watching in complete shock and fascination, but I mean who wouldn't want to go to a party at Gatsby's after seeing this? It only sounds of elegance and luxury.
Then I got to wondering why would Gatsby throw such lavish parties? I mean, there has to be an underlying reason, right? Then I got even more confused when Nick said, "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 there. People were not invited--they went there" (41). Oh, Mr. Gatsby what is the reason for these parties? Don't worry Fitzgerald does not make you wait too long to discover this necessary purpose.
In fact, Jordan Baker is exposed to Gatsby's real reason for throwing gorgeous soirees, but is sworn to secrecy, "But I swore I wouldn't tell it and here I am tantalizing you" (53). Not only is Jordan tantalizing Nick, she is tantalizing us all! What could be this extremely important, but highly confidential secret?
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