The party also reflects the lifestyle of society during that period of time. The party shows a mixture of guests that were respectable and also guests which were uninvited. The simile used to describe the guests of the party as “like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars” shows the people seem to be attracted to the bright lights of the party as like moths are attracted to the light. Furthermore, the guests of the party are only seem to be wanting to have fun and are intent on partying the whole day. This can be seen through the usage of the neighbour’s “Rolls-Royce (becoming) an omnibus, bearing parties to and from the city between nine in the morning and long past midnight, while his station wagon scampered like a brisk yellow bug to meet all trains”. The lifestyle of the people then is shown to be a life of partying and enjoyment.
Even the guests that attend the party have their own motives for attending the party. There were the guests that were respectable that attended the party for the sake of enjoyment and happiness but there were also other guests with other motives. There were the “wanderers” and “confident girls who weave here and there among the stouter and more stable”. The “wanderers” were the uninvited guests who just intending to get a chance to attend such a grand party and to be able to mix with the upper classes. The “confident girls” were then there at the party intending to look for suitors or lovers among the party. There were also people such as the “gypsies” who wanted to seek attention among the guests. But even as she wanted to grab attention from the other guests, she had down a cocktail “for courage” before steeping out “along on the canvas platform”. This shows that more often the motives of the guests were driven by alcohol.
The alcohol can also be seen as the root of the entire party as it causes much of the excitement and the life of the party. The party featured “a bar” that was “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”. The alcohol during the party is seen to drive the party and it is the drink of courage as it loosens the guests to be able to socialise till the “air is alive with chatter and laughter”. However, the alcohol does not attempt to form bonds between the guests but instead it is only temporary moments of socialising as “casual innuendo and introductions forgotten on the spot” are the way that the guests mix around. As the night progresses, the party is more and more drunk with alcohol. The alcohol causes the party to become wilder and is seemingly like the waves of the ocean. The parallelism of the party guests to the ocean can be seen as they were “spilled with prodigality” and the “groups change more swiftly” and “dissolve and form in the same breath” like the waves at the beach. The free-flow of the alcohol makes “laughter easier minute by minute” and till they were “tipped out at a cheerful word”. This clearly shows the effect of alcohol on the guests as they get more and more drunk.
As much as the party is extravagant, it also reflects waste and moral decadence. The waste that the party creates can be seen through the example that “eight servants, including an extra gardener” are required to “(repair) the ravages of the night before”. This also portrays that the party generates so much damage and havoc due to the free-flow of alcohol. Furthermore, waste can also be seen through the hiring of the “corps of caterers” and the “orchestra”. The usage of the word “corps” suggests that the number of caterers that were hired were extremely large in numbers and further waste can be seen in the “several hundred feet of canvas and enough coloured lights to make a Christmas tree of Gatsby’s enormous garden”. The orchestra that was hired was also “no thin five-piece affair” but instead had a “pitful” of different musical instruments and musicians. The party in the eyes of the narrator could be seen as an exaggerated party of material resources.
Moral decadence is also prominently seen throughout the passage as the party progresses. The party itself was driven by alcohol and hence requires this alcohol in order for the mood and atmosphere of the party to be “full of chatter and laughter”. However, this drink also causes them to lose control of themselves as it can be seen that “casual innuendo” are thrown around showing the degeneration of moral standards of the guests. The crowd at the party could also be seen “tipped out at a cheerful word” showing that they were drunk at the party. The motives of particular guests further show the moral decadence as the party is used to their own advantage such as the “confident girls who weave here and there among the stouter and more stable”. The usage of the party to find suitors or lovers is clearly abusing the privilege of being able to attend the party for their own purposes.
In conclusion, the party is extravagant that it is but it also a party where materialism and superficiality. The party was “spilled with prodigality” and even the guests that attended had their own motives. The party further shows moral decadence as alcohol is present throughout the party and in free flow. However, it is also to be noted the entire viewpoint of the passage is from the narrator and hence may be bias. Besides, it is also to be noted that the party is shown from the perspective of the guests at the same time without the introduction or presence of the party host. This will cause a sense of irony that the host is missing causing a lack of order of the party or the party is driven by other factors such as the guests and alcohol.
