A Flaw in an Armored Shield 


“In the evening he went out as usual, saying nothing of what had occurred; he was cordial, humorous, unabstracted. But one thing he could not help—for three days, in any place, in any company, he would suddenly bend his head into his hands and cry like a child."


This is the only point in the story where the nakedness of Anson Hunter's vulnerability and weakness is shown in its entirety to the readers.  In a place and time where gender roles are strictly delineated, to cry like a child, in that moment of occurrence, is to forgo one's strength and masculinity.  Hunter spent much of his time in the story manipulating women and thinking them highly simple and exasperating creatures.  Despite this, however, a major low in his life, and one may argue the start of his downfall, was in fact caused by a woman.  His presumed superiority, a characteristic well tailored since a rather young age, and swelling ego is immediately shattered by his sudden outburst of emotion in front of the many members of his social group.  Though it lasted for only three days, this particular moment allows the author to show that despite having wealth and the luxuries that come of it, it does not make one invincible.  Fitzgerald does well in demonstrating that even the rich are not exempt from the rawest of human emotion-- heartbreak and ultimately, loneliness.


The wealth possessed by Fitzgerald's characters propels them to the top ranks of social class creating a world apart from those below them.  At what other points in the story does Fitzgerald shatter the illusion of a perfect world?