American+Decadence+Reflection

The nineteen twenties in America was the beginning of the development of pervasive decadence in American society that continues today. In order to characterize that period, I chose a quote from //The Great Gatsby//, which showcases the luxury and anonymity of the period. The woman the quote describes is obviously quite wealthy, but also no one knows who she is. In the pursuit for wealth and material, people easily lose sight of who they are, and in many ways the woman is similar to the story of James Gatz, who transforms himself to Jay Gatsby. The song, //Like a Rolling Stone// echoes almost exactly the sentiments of F. Scott Fitzgerald. His song describes what I believe to be Edie Sedgwick, a prominent socialite and the epitome of decadence. She becomes invisible and a "complete unknown". Sedgwick ingratiated herself with Andy Warhol in order to achieve fame and prominence and in doing so also forgets herself and loses everything she once had. Whitman's poem, City of Orgies, is a work deploring decadence. He speaks of all the glories of Manhattan all the spectacles, sights, and soirées. But in the end all this does not matter to Whitman and it is the city itself, the love that it offers, that "repays" Whitman. The man in the photo captures Whitman's sentiments perfectly, he is pensive and does not seem to be fazed by all that is going on around him. BACK