The Great Gatsby Five Crates Of Oranges

Wealth and money can be used in attempts to cover up their empty lives, but in reality it exposes them ever more. In the book, The Great Gatsby, by Francis Scott Fitzgerald, the rich people who attend Gatsby’s parties act as though their lives are wonderful, even though their lives are meaningless. Fitzgerald constantly uses comparisons during the preparation for the party, the party itself, and after the party has finished in order to uncover the truly empty lives of the wealthy individuals attending.
Even before the party itself had begun, Fitzgerald finds ways to hint at the fact that the rich guests have empty lives. During the set-up of the party “five crates of oranges arrived…these same oranges left his backdoor in a pyramid of pulp …show more content…
After the party has finished, the servants have to go and repair “the ravages of the night before (39).” The term ravages is usually used when describing a devastating disaster. Fitzgerald compares the party to a natural disaster like a hurricane because it causes the reader to better understand the ability of the guests to create such a disaster. The guests enter the party at their own will and leave destroying everything in their path. The guests do not care about the elegant mansion that the party takes place in. This wild behavior shows that the guests are not as classy as they want to be, thus exposing their false character even more. After the party ends, Nick takes a look around and says that he is “one of the few honest people that [he] has ever known (59).” The fact of the matter is that the behavior of the guests and the rubble that they left are clear signs that they lack class. Even Nick is able to bypass the wealth and see the truth behind it. Nick uncovers the fake people that entered the party as people who have yet to fill the empty void in their lives. He calls them dishonest because the act that the people put on is digging the void deeper and deeper until it reaches the point where they cannot escape. As people leave the party, two wives get into a malevolent dispute and “were lifted, kicking, into the night (52).” The women who are supposed to have class do the opposite of the behavior that is expected of their social status, they kick and whine about having to leave the party. They are putting on an act and pretending to be top class people. It is not just the women, but all of the guests are lying to themselves and to everyone around them by pretending to be what they want to be. The guests that enter Gatsby’s party are not civil, upper-class people; they are actually people whose lives are