Well, I don't know about historical context - it seems to
me that the list of guests who visit Gatsby's party is a comic set piece, a literary
exercise, which includes puns and verbal jokes. It is quite distinct from the lyrical
prose in which much of the novel is written. Fitzgerald had a great respect for
Thackeray's Vanity Fair, which contains similar lists, and so
perhaps this is an act of homage to Thackeray.
Note that
there are plant names here: "Hornbeam", "Endive", "Orchid", "Duckweed"; animal names:
"Civet", "Blackbuck", "Beaver", "Ferret", "Klipspringer"; and names of sea creatures:
"Whitebait", "Hammerhead", "Beluga". Perhaps we can see these names as a satirical
strategy, suggesting certain characteristics associated with these natural phenomena.
This should serve to draw our attention as attentive readers to the way that Fitzgerald
uses names with other characters, such as Gatsby, Carraway and Daisy and
Myrtle.
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