The Great Gatsby has been described as a definitive record of the glamorous side of the Jazz Age

The Great Gatsby is full of lavish spending, huge parties and all round hedonistic enjoyment, video display a definitive record of the glamorous facial expression of the 1920s on every level.America in the 1920s had the highest living standard in the world, the coupled States owned around 40% of the entire worlds wealth, with this property the established rich spent their time living a glamorous life-style. In the 1920s the class of the established rich certainly knew how to be glamorous, as Fitzgerald shows through Daisy and gobbler Buchanan. The Buchanans residence was more elaborate then nick expected, it was a Georgian Colonial mansion, and they in any case had luxury items such as a motor boat and horses. Tom obviously took pride in his house and processions, saying that he has got a nice place.The money was also spent im chastely they always seem to hold a plentiful amount of alcohol, similar the cocktails which Tom drank like it was a drop on the bottom of a glass s howing he must drink a lot. This alcohol was bought illegally as prohibition was in place from 1920 to 1933 which banned the manufacture, sale and transportation of liquor in the USA. RACISMNot only did the established rich have luxury items, they also did not work for their money, giving them plenty of free time to spend as they please, Jordan Baker had enough time to take up golfing, and play in tournaments. save with all this money and free time the Buchanans lives are unfulfilled as they have spiritual goals, Daisy is unhappy in life and questions her purpose in life by saying What shall we do this afternoon? And the day after? And the next thirty years? this showing the darker side to the 1920s.Fitzgerald shows glamour through Gatsbys extravagant parties, Gatsby is new money as he worked for his money. From Gatsbys ridiculous quantities of oranges to the orchestra which played at his parties, Gatsby made sure that his parties were glamorous. At first Gatsbys parties seem mag ical, as Gatsbys blue gardens were alive with the whispering and the champagne and the stars. The floating rounds of cocktails permeated the garden and the air was alive with chatter and laughter, everybody seemed to be having a fantastic time. Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda would have known first-hand how glamorous these jazz age parties were as they often attended them and they lived a glamorous life style.Yet underneath the glamour of Gatsbys parties we see the bleaker side of the 1920s. Fitzgerald shows the work put in to the parties, to make the orange juice a butler had to press a little button two hundred times. After the parties eight servants toiled all day with mops and scrubbing-brushes repairing the ravages of the night before, as the party guests left so much decease in their way. Gatsbys parties may be glamorous but he paid a great deal to make them this way.It is alleged that Gatsby made his money immorally, by bootlegging, Tom suggests this when he said I picked him for a bootlegger the first time I saw him. It was easy to make money illegally in the 1920s, due to prohibition many found it easy to sell alcohol over the counter or to speakeasies, which were secret bars in the 1920s, these community were often called bootleggers. This was an illegal way of getting the money showing unglamorous, illegal acts were done to make these glamorous parties.Therefore alcohol in Gatsbys parties was plentiful, he even had his own bar, but this alcohol led to carelessness as owl eyes was drunk for about a week and alcohol also lead to recklessness in the form of car crashes, and violent actions with women kicking off into the night, dragged away by men said to be their husbands.Gatsby paid a great amount of money but did the guests really care about their host? Nick was one of the few guests, who had actually been invited, and of all of the guests who were at Gatsbys parties only one came to his funeral, this shows the caring attitude and shallowness of peo ple in the 1920s.Despite the unprecedented economic growth and excessive glamorous spending during the 1920s, the tornado between rich and poor became increasingly prevalent. As most of the characters are very wealthy the rich and glamorous atmosphere defines the novels tone, the way on the upper class lifestyle gives the novel a mood of extravagance. However, this society is contrasted with the poverty of those living near the Valley of Ashes which is based on T.S Elliotts poem The Wasteland. Like Elliotts wasteland, the Valley of Ashes is a hideous image of a spiritually dead world, a symbol of the collapse of moral values after the chaos of the war. In the Great Gatsby we see how the Wilsons live, which is a stark contrast from the Buchannans glamorous lifestyle. Nick could not imagine that the Wilsons lived in such a place, he thought the garage must be a blind, and that sumptuous and romantic apartments were concealed overhead. Their lifestyle is so unglamorous it gives the darker side of the Jazz age.Myrtle Wilson tried hard to climb the classes by having an affair with Tom Buchannan, but even the apartment he provides for her is elegant and Tom treats her badly, he even breaks her nose, in his eyes she will always be lower than Daisy. George also tries very hard to make his money honestly, when Tom comes in he is so eager to have some business, George is a failure of the American Dream, he will never achieve the glamorous lifestyle he wants to provide.