The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. A great lecturer once said, Man is so caught up in his own recklessness that he does not notice the values of life.” 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 are the materialistic concerns of the rich. Jay Gatsby, a young bachelor, had so many personal possessions because he wanted Daisy, his first love, so much that she was equivalent to Winter Dreams” for him. Gatsby’s silk shirts being tossed over his head from 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. His eccentric cars were also the center of attention because of their high price and extreme beauty. All of these examples of prosperity represent the lives of the people in 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 parties drank all night and showed no respect for Gatsby’s house or possessions. Additionally, 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 misjudgments and even death.
All in all, drinking by Gatsby’s guests led to extremely reckless behaviors. Finally, the emptiness that the characters of this book possess affects their lives. Tom Buchanan, 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 Kipling Singer, a gambling piano player, who lives with Gatsby and doesn’t go to the funeral but 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 love and wealth, can blind them to what is morally right. Within the minds and lives of the people in 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 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 did not take it for granted.
The Great Gatsby, published by Collier Books in 1992. Winter Dreams” is included in The United States in Literature Reads, edited by…
James E. Miller, Jr., et al. Classic edition. Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman, 1989. Pages 438-51.
