Response to Dinner with Trimalchio

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Essay Response to Dinner with Trimalchio When reading over the tale of Trimalchio’s grand dinner I was amazed by the comparisons that could be made to the current United States. In class we talked of likening Trimalchio to The Great Gatsby and the 1920s. While the roaring 20’s is a good comparison, the account of this lavish dinner can also be paralleled to modern times. The frivolous attitude of American culture shares many similarities with the story of Trimalchio. We are truly sightless to the luxury we live in. Too often we lose sight of how blessed we are. We instead become busy comparing ourselves to the next door neighbor and forget the people living in cardboard boxes in other countries. The self-centeredness Trimalchio possesses also leads to an ignorance of the world around him. Although in our culture we have an extensive amount of knowledge, we tend to be oblivious to important issues in our own nation and the countries around us. We like to think that there are not thousands of people starving in Africa, and millions being trafficked globally. Some of this ignorance is legitimate, but a lot of it is purposefully turning away from topics that stir our consciences. Trimalchio’s rich and excessive lifestyle led to his folly, and sadly America does the same in many ways. The blindness Trimalchio has to his own extravagance and self-centeredness is very similar to the culture of our own nation. The luxuriousness of his life is clouded by his need to impress his peers, in this case his guests. The entrance to his party is described in detail: “Trimalchio himself was carried in to the sound of music and set down on a pile of tightly stuffed cushions” (811). His entrance alone shows this need to amaze his guests, and as the story continues this need to impress becomes more and more evident. Because of his desire to show off, he is blind to what he is

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