Month: February 2025

Recently, I have been enthralled by the third season of HBO’s The White Lotus. Each Sunday, I lie comfortably in bed and watch the latest installment of the series. The first and second seasons were among my favorites, and while rewatching and analyzing the plot and themes, I found many connections between the show and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby.

At its core, The White Lotus is a social commentary on the wealthy, but each season differs in its characters, locations, and subthemes. The show is an anthology, each season set in a different international branch of the luxury hotel chain, The White Lotus. The first season was set in Hawaii, the second in Sicily, and the third in Thailand. In this blog post, however, I will focus on the comparison between the first season and The Great Gatsby, as I believe it contains the most poignant parallels between the two.

The first season explores themes such as wealth, power, class divisions, and the lingering effects of imperialism. Much like the ending of The Great Gatsby, both Gatsby and the hotel’s powerful manager, Armond, are murdered—each death revealing a complex web of motives and power struggles. The season offers a sharp critique of overconsumption and social hierarchies. I drew a comparison between the way the working-class staff who served Gatsby’s extravagant parties were described as “floating” and the treatment of resort employees in The White Lotus. The entitlement and disregard exhibited by the wealthy guests toward the native Hawaiian staff highlight the deep discomfort of these class dynamics.

Setting also plays a crucial role in both works. Decadence reigns supreme—whether through Gatsby’s lavish parties or the resort’s lush, pampered environment—yet beneath the facade of beauty and success lies rot and corruption. All that glitters is not gold. Both The White Lotus and The Great Gatsby seek to expose the moral decay lurking beneath the idealized lives of the rich, revealing their corruption, immorality, and their role in perpetuating a toxic status quo.

Finally, both works emphasize the consequences of endless personal ambition. Whether in the pursuit of wealth, the American Dream, status, or desire, characters in both stories ultimately find themselves facing disappointment, destruction, or a lingering sense of emptiness.

Perhaps The White Lotus took inspiration from The Great Gatsby or maybe it’s because the issues shared between the two are prevalent as ever. If anything, it’s a testament to the quality and enduring legacy of The Great Gatsby. We still have so much to learn from it as our issues clearly have not been resolved yet. Engaging in media such as satire and social commentary is critical to examining the social injustices and future that our society will produce. The continuation of Fitzgerald’s legacy of ideas sees a bright and entertaining future in The White Lotus, a work of fiction, that to my hopes, will go down as a classic just like The Great Gatsby.

“You always look so cool… You resemble the advertisement of a man.”

I am currently majoring in Advertising, studying many subjects and skills related to product marketing. Because of this interest, this quote stood out to me due to my knowledge of advertising and because it confirmed something I had also thought of: comparing Gatsby’s facade to an advertisement.

Gatsby carefully crafted an image of himself as if he were a product to be admired by Daisy and accepted by high society. However, in doing so, he left his inner self hollow, superficial, and defined by an artificial persona rather than a genuine character. Daisy complimented Gatsby on this, calling him “cool.” A key purpose of advertising is to convince a customer that a product is “cool,” promising a desirable lifestyle rather than actual function—much like Gatsby.

His unknown inner self and mysterious past create an enigma that draws in Daisy and many other characters. Nick similarly picks up on this, stating at one point that listening to Gatsby was like “skimming hastily through a dozen magazines,” exemplifying the glamour and showiness of his carefully curated lifestyle while lacking substance or an anchor to reality. Magazines are often known for capturing the most glamorous celebrity moments—epitomizing the facade put on by the rich and famous to remain untouchable yet relatable enough to garner attention and desire.

Unbeknownst to Daisy, this comparison perfectly encapsulates the effect that a wealth- and consumerism-driven society has on romance and appearances throughout the novel. Gatsby does everything in a calculated manner. He tries to construct an image that is accepted by and consistent with the society Daisy belongs to and that he so desperately wants to join. Consequently, his pursuit of a life and personality that are not truly his leaves him a phony, alone, and ultimately a victim of society’s expectations and Daisy’s lifestyle. Fitzgerald uses this critique of Gatsby’s character and actions to highlight his overall disdain for excessive superficiality and the emphasis on wealth within the American Dream, exposing the erosion that lies beneath the shiny advertisement Gatsby represents.

Biblography

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald. eBook #64317. Project Gutenberg, January 17, 2021. Online. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/64317/64317-h/64317-h.htm

Daisy Buchanan exists within a gilded cage. She is subservient to her husband, kept quiet by the luxuries he affords their family, and ignores the impact of his infidelity and terrible character. Her most important role in her home is to be a beautiful and lifeless trophy. She is expected to be the homemaker, the mother, and the moral backbone of the household, an image of delicate femininity.

Her only child, a daughter named Pammy, faces the same imprisonment that tortures Daisy. Pammy is a very minor character in the novel, mentioned only a few times, emphasizing her insignificance within the family. The only acknowledgment Pammy receives from her mother is when Daisy wants to show her off, dressing her up to create the illusion of ideal motherhood. In reality, Pammy is neglected by her parents.

Perhaps Daisy is such a negligent mother because she has no hope that her parenting will change anything, that her own misery will inevitably pass down to her daughter. Or maybe she believes it is futile to raise a daughter, knowing that in her home, Pammy will be nothing more than an object of affection, always inferior to Tom and his male counterparts. It could also be a reflection of Daisy’s nature: self-centered, hedonistic, pleasure-seeking, and irresponsible.

Pammy’s rare mention in the novel is best remembered from a single, infamous line: “I hope she’ll be a fool, that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool” (The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald, p. 17). 

The readers are not aware of what will become of Pammy as she grows up, but we can imagine that she must face similar issues to her mother: loneliness, sexism, the weight of perfection and beauty, and the inability to voice her own thoughts. Fitzgerald uses the Buchanan women in his novel to highlight sexism’s rippling effects on generations of women.

Bibliography: The great gatsbybyf. Scott Fitzgerald. The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Great Gatsby. (n.d.). https://www.gutenberg.org/files/64317/64317-h/64317-h.htm