The great gatsby

In Chapter 7 of the novel “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Trimalchio refers to a character in the novel “The Satyricon” by Petronius(full nameGaius Petronius Arbiter). The Trimalchio of the novel (full name Gaius Pompeius Trimalchio Maecenatianus), is actually a flamboyant man. This, of course, is what Jay Gatsby is as well, shown precisely in his glitzy parties at his home in West Egg, Long Island.

Trimalchio is a former slave in The Satyricon novel. A former slave is subsequently called a “freedman.” He has now attained a life much different from his prior meagre means. Trimalchio is now a rich man with power to go along with this bounty. Being prosperous and being able to satisfy his whims, Trimalchio has lavish dinner parties for a host of guests, and this is akin to what Jay Gatsby does frequently at West Egg. It is a gaudy show of wealth by both men in the respective novels. Their parties are really overdone – the lavishness of them is overbearing with more than enough food and drink for all – as if winking at gluttony.

It is all show. It is as if these two men are trying to make up for years of want. It seems that they are trying to reach out to others with these extravagant parties, from an inner feeling of emptiness, hoping these parties will satisfy their real human longings. Gatsby’s parties could be a cry for the love of others. Trimalchio’s pretentiousness is a perfect parallel to Jay Gatsby’s - two different men, in two different eras, striving for the same acceptance by others.