Gatsby 2 Essay, Research Paper

A great lecturer once said, |Man is so caught up in his own recklessness that he does not notice the values of life.X The theme proclaimed in the quote reflects literature in the abundance that it is used in throughout the history of writing. Author F. Scott Fitzgerald, spokesman of the Jazz Age, illustrates the shallow emptiness, careless recklessness, and materialistic concerns of the rich in his novel The Great Gatsby. First and foremost of all are the issues of the materialistic concerns of the rich. Jay Gatsby, a young rich bachelor, had so many personnel possessions because he wanted Daisy, the first love of his life, so much that she was the equivalent of |Winter DreamsX to him. Gatsby+s silk shirts being tossed over his head out of his dresser is a good example of how his money means nothing to him and how he would give it all away to have Daisy. Also his eccentric cars were the center of attention because of their high price and extreme beauty. All of these examples of prosperity represent the lives of the people of this novel to a point. Together, the citizens of this book are more concerned with their possessions and money, than their health and lives. Subsequently, the people at his parties show careless recklessness with their abuse of alcohol and their bodies. First of all, the people at Gatsby+s balls drank all night and showed no respect for Gatsby+s house or possessions. Also the participants of the parties held at Gatsby+s mansion are audacious enough to drive home while very intoxicated. Furthermore the individuals who were drinking were astonished to see the car in the ditch but none of them bothered to help. Alcohol in large amounts and large groups can cause misjudgements and even death. All in All drinking by Gatsby+s guests led to extremely reckless behaviors. Next and final of all is the emptiness that the characters of this book posses and how it affects their lives. Tom Buchannen, an insidious man who had an affair with Myrtle, has the nerve to be married to Daisy and have a mistress. Following Tom is a man they call Kiplinsinger, a gambling piano player, who lives with Gatsby and doesn+t go to the funeral but he has the brashness to ask for his tennis shoes back. Other guests of Gatsby are shallow enough to trash his house and not care that they are very drunk. The things that can make people happy such as women and money, can blind them to what is morally right. Within the minds and lives of the people of this text lies a source of shallowness that cannot be broken. In his novel The Great Gatsby., F. Scott Fitzgerald displays the careless recklessness, shallow emptiness, and materialistic concerns of the rich. This novel also translates over to everyday life in the way that if people are too reckless, they will also be visionless. I believe that the lecturer who spoke the great words of audaciousness saw the true meaning of life and not to take it for granted. Works Cited Comptons Multimedia Electronic Encyclopedia. Seattle: Western Software, 1994. Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Colier Books, 1992. – - -. |Winter Dreams.X The United States in Literature Reads. Ed. James E. Miller, Jr., et al. Classic ed. Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman, 1989. 438-51.