The Great Gatsby

In The Great Gatsby, the narrator describes the scene at a large and lavish party he attends. The author uses vivid language to capture the atmosphere and feeling of the party. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses varied sentence structure and descriptive word choice to convey the endless excitement of the party. Fitzgerald uses varied sentence structure by using polysyndeton and asyndeton. He also uses lengthier sentences with less punctuation throughout. Polysyndeton is used in the quote, ‘but a whole pitful of oboes and trombones and saxophones and…’ The sentence emphasizes the number of instruments. The host of the party shows his wealth by having extravagant bands play at his parties. Asyndeton is used in the quote. ‘Laughter is easier minute by minute, spilled with prodigality, tipped out at a cheerful word.’ Prodigality is lavish abundance of something and in this case, the attendees are prodigal with laughing. This proves that the party was very energetic. In this quote, ‘The groups change more swiftly, swell with new arrivals, dissolve and form in the same breath.’ When Fitzgerald uses lengthy sentences with few conjunctions, such as the given quote, it speeds up the scene, which shows that the people who attend the party are being friendly with everyone. There aren’t groups of people only talking within their groups. The atmosphere is shown to be energetic again, and also very friendly. Fitzgerald uses descriptive language to illustrate the atmosphere of the party. In the quote, ‘and then, excited with triumph, glide on through the sea-change of faces and voice and color and under the constantly changing light.’ The narrator glides through the crowd of people, which shows that he is used to walking through crowds. This means that the parties happen often. This supports that the people are close to each other and the atmosphere is friendly and happy. In the next quote, ‘The lights grow brighter as the earth lurches away from the sun, and now