apers "In his blue garden people came and went like moths amongthe whisperings and the champagne." This shows the carelessness of theguests. Another quote about the parties refers to the way the guestsdevour the endless supply of food and never give a thought as to whogave it to them. "Every Friday five crates of oranges and Lemonsarrived from a fruiterer In New York- Every Monday these same orangesand lemons left his backdoor in a pyramid of pulpless halves." This isalso a symbol; it relates the 'pulpless halves' to the rather 'empty'guests, soulless people obsessed by image and wealth, a corruption ofthe American Dream. Another sign of the fall of the American Dream inThe Great Gatsby is the way Gatsby makes his money. Gatsby gets hisfortune through the illegal sale of alcohol ('bootlegging'). The saleof alcohol was prohibited in the United States in the 1920s. Gatsbycame from the western United States where there was 'old money.' Therehe met Dan Cody who taught him how to 'bootleg.' As Gatsby becamericher he moved to West Egg in New York. Gatsby's house is a ratherartificial place, the house was originally built to impress Daisy withhis so-called wealth, and this is a sign of a corrupt way of 'winning'love through money and wealth. Gatsby's house is furnished well withold looking ornaments and (probably) second hand antiques, Gatsby'shouse also has a library which is full of 'uncut' literature. Theconversation between Jordan and an unnamed man at one of Gatsby'sparties talks about the books: "Absolutely real - have real pages andeverything. I'd thought they'd be a nice durable cardboard." Thesebooks and antiques are just Gatsby's way of showing off his wealth toothers, however Gatsby doesn't really care for materialism, we can tellthis because his bedroom, the only room he really ever uses, is emptycompared to the rest of the house. Gatsby's love life is also a signof declining morals, and also a sign of further corruption of theA...
