Pastry Pigs and Turkeys

"On buffet tables, garnished with glistening hors d'oeuvre, spiced baked hams crowded against salads of harlequin designs and pastry pigs and turkeys bewitched to a dark gold" (Fitzgerald 40). 

In Gatsby's parties his wealth is always ostentatiously displayed, and this instance is no exception. Hors d'oeuvre are typically served for very rich people, and in Gatsby's parties they are also glistening.

Also, the hams are crowded which shows Gatsby's tendency to always strive for the maximum quantity and not settle. The fact that the salads have a harlequin design shows how the salads are more for show than they are for actual eating; thus, Fitzgerald reveals how one of the central ideas of the 1920's was style over substance. Additionally, the turkeys were bewitched to a dark gold which creates an image of the turkeys having a spell cast upon them by a witch who turned them gold. It almost elevates the status of the turkey just because it has reached this magnificent gold color. The word bewitched suggests that the turkeys reached that color unnaturally, which is similar to the illegal way in which Gatsby came into his fortune.

This sentence is a hyperbole because no one actually has this kind of opulence at parties, and Fitzgerald is mocking Americans for believing that wealth will solve their problems. Despite this being a hyperbole, people completely ignore Fitzgerald's mocking tone and attempt to live the lavish lifestyle of Gatsby by throwing Gatsby-themed parties because they are so obsessed with the lifestyle of the twenties. This ignorance shows humanity's propensity to emulate the rich despite Fitzgerald trying to show us the superficiality of Gatsby's life.