“In his blue gardens, men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars.” (Fitzgerald 32)
The chosen quote is important as it illustrates that Fitzgerald brilliantly portrayed the American society’s carnival lifestyle of the so-called dreamers, excited with fun and carelessness. The American Dream means the individual’s striving for success, material well-being, and other kinds of achievement, implying an ascent to recognition, wealth, and fame. One of the pictures symbolizing this concept is an illustration of the 20th century as the jazz age, depicting luxurious villas on the Atlantic coast, where the music sounded on summer evenings and cheerful people. When describing a related celebration, Fitzgerald uses the epithet “blue garden” (32). The garden seems to acquire the sad meaning that correlates with the jazz music genre – blues. There is also a comparison: the silhouettes of people are likened to moths, nocturnal insects. Mr. Gatsby’s guests appear in all their concreteness and artistic vitality. These faceless and nameless people are prominent representatives of the society of dreamers.
Reference
Fitzgerald, Francis Scott. The Great Gatsby. Om Books International, 2018.
- Quote 1: “In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars” (Fitzgerald 32).
- Quote 2: “They were at least agonizingly aware of the easy money in the vicinity” (Fitzgerald 34).
- Quote 3: “I bought a dozen volumes on banking and credit and investment securities, and they stood on my shelf in red and gold like new money from the mint, promising to unfold the shining secrets that only Midas and Morgan and Maecenas knew” (Fitzgerald 9).
