Outward Appearances In The Great Gatsby Essay

, Research Paper

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby outward appearances are

essential. They provide a glimpse at the artificial world inhabited by Jay Gatsby, a

product of his own imagination(Lehan,”the road to West Egg” 29) and Daisy Fay

Buchanan, the embodiment of glamour and wealth (Brewley 44), two characters whose

action thoroughly develops the plot, and two who have become so consumed by the

image they have created that they do not truly know their own identities. This

deceptiveness created by outward appearances is seen no more clearly than in the pictures

painted by Fitzgerald of Gatsby’s “bewildering parties” (E.K. 7), and in his business

dealings which are connected with the “underworld bond and brokerage business”

(Lehan). The valley of ashes, “where all hopes must be left behind”(long 123), and the

grand mansions of Gatsby and the Buchanans also offer the reader a look at the massive

illusions created by Fitzgerald’s characters. As the Great Gatsby progresses, the outward

appearances of events, places and people can prove to be very deceptive.

What more can explify the importance of outward appearances than the parties of

the roaring twenties and Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. The first three chapters of the

novel are devoted to party scenes; 1) the “proper dinner party” at the Buchanan’s in East

Egg; 2) the wild drunken party at Tom and Myrtle’s apartment in New York; and, 3)

Gatsby’s extravagant party in West Egg. These scenes introduce all of the important

characters and places in the novel, as to give the impression of artificially (Miller 107).

Each of these parties emphasizes the impression or outward appearance each character

hopes to convey to others. This is seen most vividly, long after he is sickened by the

familiarity of Gatsby’s uninvited guests (Ornstein 54). Jay Gatsby “dispenses hospitality

with lavish and dazzling extravagance – a modern Solomon erecting a bizarre temple to

the wayward popularity” (E.K. 7). Gatsby is compared to Solomon because, like

Solomon, Gatsby is king of his domain, the Son of God. It seems odd that Gatsby would

invite strangers to his house, but he has a need for his guests, and though it seemed the

guests came only for the free party, the private beach, and the endless flow of cocktails,

they also needed Gatsby. He provided them with an escape from reality, yet in the end

illusions and reality must go their separate ways (Brewley 43). One of the most moving

scenes in the novel is when Gatsby bids farewell to his guests. Nick describes “a sudden

emptiness seemed to flow now from the windows and the great doors, endowing with

complete isolation the figure of the host who stood on the porch, his hand up in a formal

gesture of farewell” (Fitzgerald 60). This scene evokes the image that the guests were

not human, but illusions created by Gatsby to support his vision. As Marius Brewley

stated, “The names of guests could have been recorded nowhere more appropriately as in

the margins of a faded timetable. They were the embodiments of illusions – as ephemeral

as time itself” (42). Brewley is referring, of course, to the list of names Nick recorded of

those who attended Gatsby’s parties that summer (Fitzgerald 65). The list itself evokes a

series of fabulous parties, attended by an endless number of eccentric, fashionable,

ambitious, and bored people (Miller 100). In the end the guests were nothing more than

the orange pulps and lemon rinds, what were left of Gatsby’s dream (Lehan, “The Road

to West Egg” 33). The mystirous and decieving outward appearances of the party’s

guest is by far out-shadowed by Gatsby’s past and business.

Gatsby’s business operations seem to provide the most interesting cover. Gatsby

got his start from his relationship with Dan Cody, but it is Meyer Wofsheim who gets

Gatsby into illegal business operations. Wolfsheim, who finds out, is the man who fixed

the 1919 World Series (Fitzgerald 78). He encounters Gatsby when he is discharges form

the War and covered with medals.. Wolfsheim becomes a sort of second father figure for

Gatsby, this “lord of the underworld” (Lehan “The Road to West Egg” 30). Wolfsheim

declares, I raised him up out of nothing, right out of the gutter” (Fitzgerald 179). It is

true that, in a sense, Wolfsheim raised Gatsby, but he raised him into the world of

artificial glamour that ultimately led to his destruction. The source of money holds no

significance for Gatsby; however, his goal is simply to earn enough money to win

Daisy’s love, and “it is with this money that comes from bootlegging, gambling and

bucket shops that Gatsby makes the fortune that allows him to buy his mansion in West

Egg” Lehan, “His Father’s Business” 57). In the beginning Daisy quips, “He owed some

drugstores, a lot of drugstore. He built them up himself” (Fitzgerald 114). It’s true,

Gatsby did own drugstores, but as Tom reveals in the denouncement s

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