Hedonism In The Great Gatsby

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The Relationship between Wealth and Hedonism in The Great Gatsby The Great Gatsby, indubitably F. Scott Fitzgerald’s most acclaimed work is lauded as the great American novel. Narrated from the perspective of Nick Carraway, a 29-year-old Midwesterner, as he navigates society in 1920s New York, the novel covers an impressive array of topics. One of the single most important themes is the connection between privilege, whether stemming from wealth or status, and hedonism. Nick’s covets such a life. However, Nick’s yearning for a life of greater privilege is not as simplistic as it may initially seem, his motives are varied. Chapter 2 addresses these motivations in full. Because Nick is a deeply repressed individual, particularly in terms of his …show more content…
In Nick’s eyes, the wealthy, such as Jay Gatsby and Tom Buchanan, appear to inhabit earthly paradises reflective of their highly alluring lives. The poor on the other hand, such as Mr. Wilson, inhabit ghettos representative of their undesirable condition in society at large. Nick cannot resist being dazzled by the physical surrounds of the wealthy just as he is repulsed by those of the poor. When Nick first experiences an impoverished area he says, “[t]his is a valley of ashes- a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air” (23). This description paints a bleak picture of both the neighborhood and its inhabitants. The term “a valley of ashes” is an oddly poetic way to describe a polluted industrial slum and grants it a sense of mysticality. It is a place characterized by homogeneous gloom; everything, from the “houses and chimneys” to the “men” blend together in a surreal manner. The way Nick describes the men as being quite literally one of the “forms” of the ashes dehumanizes them and creates a clear division between himself and the contemptible others. Nick’s evocative word …show more content…
One of the reasons behind this hypocrisy is revealed in the scene towards the middle of the chapter in which Nick socializes with, among others, Tom. Nick, like all the other characters, thus far introduced, is very motivated by a desire for material possession; this avarice draws him to the wealthy so that he may indulge in their decadence if only by proxy. Nick is almost as inebriated by the luxury surrounding him as by the “[second] bottle of whiskey” being passed around in blatant defiance of Prohibition (35). Nick freely imbibes in the offered whiskey, food, and conversation yet he claims, “I wanted to get out…but each time I tried to go I became entangled…” (35). The word choice of this quotation is significant; Nick’s proclamation that he “wanted to get out” rings hollow when contrasted with his lack of action and his defense of “entangle[ment]” is flimsy as involvement in an argument hardly hinders a polite exit. Nick’s decision to stay at the party reflects poorly on his moral character as he is willingly mingling with Tom, his cousin’s adulterous husband, and Myrtle, Tom’s mistress. Nick also has a sense of belonging to this group of people as evidenced when he describes the windows of Tom and Myrtle’s apartment as “our line of yellow windows” (35). This inadvertent language of possession clashes with
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