ally know. "' Really? I was down there at a party about a month ago. At a man named Gatsby's,'" (pg 36-37). Catherine is not even sure of the name of the person who held the party, giving it a mysterious effect. Gatsby was able to take advantage of the time of the twenties to build an enormous fortune; enough to throw parties where guests weren't even sure as to the host. Gatsby and Tom are both examples of rich and powerful men who add to the realistic ness of the novel.
             Furthermore, Fitzgerald portrays the twenties as accurately as possible through the use of nick as the narrator. Nick is an example of the partially involved citizen of the time who doesn't have money or power, but does, to some extent, have one foot on the ground. " I had been actually invited."(Pg 45). Before his invitation to the party, Nick had never gone he only watched from his lawn. " At high tide in the afternoon I watched his guests diving..." (Pg 43). Nick had only watched from the sidelines before his invitation hoping that some day he may be invited. He wasn't fully involved in the activities, although it is apparent to the reader that he would like to become more involved, but he doesn't have the connections.
             Finally, Fitzgerald kept the Jazz Age as realistic as possible by having characters and places that represented the completely uninvolved part of the society. This is the group, which never struck it rich, but lived a normal lifestyle without the riches or extravaganza's of the time. The first place is known as the valley of ashes, a part of town known as the slums, possibly, which was decaying and rotting. " Terrible place isn't it... It does her good to get away,"(pg 30). With the rotted old Bill-Board of T.J. Eckleburg and the mounds of ashes as described on page 131, it's no wonder why Gatsby feels that he is doing her a favor by taking her away from Wi...