Introduction This report provides an analysis of multi-meaningful symbols in the novel The Great Gatsby as well as the meanings behind them. The symbols used in the novel will be highlighted and described through this reports entirety. These symbols are The eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg, which is a billboard that stands in the valley of ashes, the Green Light, which is a light that beams from the end of Daisy Buchanans dock, The Valley of Ashes, and the multiple colors used through out the novel. These symbols were found using various sites on the world wide web, such as Father Ryan, Google Books, Jstor and a few others. Featured in this report are examples of meanings interpreted by others for the symbols, such as professors, scholars and incorporations. This report also features the relations between characters that fall behind the meaning of a symbol. This report will state the meanings of each symbol presented, and the importance of this symbol throughout the novel itself. This report will relate the symbols to key points in the story to back up the meaning and analysis provided. The Eyes of Doctor TJ Eckleburg God Looking Down Upon American Society The eyes of Doctor TJ Eckleburg see everything. They lie right in the middle of the Valley of Ashes, which is a fictional location in the novel, that lies between New York, and the East and West Egg. The eyes are a witness of all the corruption in the morals of others. For example, in the novel, Tom Buchanan is having an affair with a woman from the Valley of Ashes, and as they meet up to go to their apartment in New York, the pass this billboard. The eyes see Tom and Myrtle, his mistress, flee together, as Tom leaves his wife at home. The billboard, seei... ... middle of paper ... ...p://www.fatherryan.org/uploaded/faculty/nebeld/Trask-A_Note_on_Fitzgerald's_The_Great_Gatsby.pdf http://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&lr=&id=JL1Z38jBGVAC&oi=fnd&pg=PA67&dq=The+great+gatsby&ots=cLRBKMkAFE&sig=9xylSNK2AikvN3qPGxfor_Mqm7M#v=onepage&q=The%20great%20gatsby&f=false http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/27538346?uid=3739448&uid=2&uid=3737720&uid=4&sid=21103206119897 http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/371821?uid=3739448&uid=2&uid=3737720&uid=4&sid=21103273530617 http://thegreatgatsbysandm.blogspot.ca/2011/05/green-light.html http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-few-major-examples-symbolism-great-gatspy-259120 http://www.lesekost.de/amlit/hhl252c.htm Schneider, Daniel J. "Color-Symbolism in The Great Gatsby." Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby: The Novel, the Critics, the Background. Ed. Henry Dan Piper. New York: Scribner's (1970): 145-50.
The Great Gatsby is one of the most renowned books known to mankind. A story about a man’s quest to fit into a society built for the rich whilst wooing a childhood crush may seem extremely simple and straightforward, however, the mystery is not behind the plot, but rather, it is in the writing itself. The words F. Scott Fitzgerald used were chosen with such delicacy, one cannot even hope to assume that anything was a mere coincidence. The book is laced with intricate strands of symbolism bound together by a single plot. One of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s more major themes is the use of locations. The importance of location as symbols are further expressed through the green light at the end of the dock as well as the fresh, green breast of the new world.
In literature, symbols are objects, characters, figures, and colors are used to make a plot or meaning deeper in a story or novel. They are used to hint at an emotion towards something without directly stating it. Symbols are an author’s way of enhancing the story whether the symbols are hidden or obvious they all are all carried with an important meaning behind them. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald uses symbolism to create a more realistic story for the reader. Many symbols are presented throughout the story but Gatsby’s house, the green light, and the East and West egg have a stronger meaning than the reader might think.
The Great Gatsby is enhanced by the great number of symbols in the story. The story is revolved around symbols which represent different things. There are three types of symbols color, object, name symbols. Each symbol represents a different kind of situation in the story. The color represents all colors that are involved in the story, each color has its own meaning in the story. Object symbols explain the person himself and his situation in the story. Name symbols give the inner meaning of the person and how the name is related to the character.
In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, uses colors to symbolize a character’s inner thoughts and feelings or an objects deeper meaning. He uses colors to symbolize the many different ideas in the book. The colors are used very often as symbols, and the hues create atmosphere in different scenes of the book. Color symbolism is used to convey a deeper message to the readers and help them understand the characters. The novel shows the major themes through the use and explanation of many different colors.
In life, we ask ourselves the question what we are? In addition, we also ask ourselves how our perspectives allow us to see this world? These questions are an opening idea’s, which requires the person answering it, to be fully aware of his or her life, and then have the ability to judge it without any personal bias. This is why, in the book that was and is in a sense is still talked about in class, The Great Gatsby, which is a book that follows a plethora of charters all being narrated by, Nick Caraway, a character of the book The Great Gatsby. Nick Caraway is the character in the book which judges and describes his and other character’s actions and virtues. Now we speak of a character whose name is Jay Gatsby or other whys known as James Gatz, which is one of the characters that Mr. Caraway, seems to be infatuated with from the start of the book. This character Jay Gatsby develops a perspective, which in his view seems to justify his actions by the way that he saw the world that he was living in. In this essay, I will explain why the ambitions of a person, can lead them to do things that are beyond there normal character.
Symbolism can mean and represent a wide variety of ideas, moments and memories in everyone's lives. In the novel The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, colors, names and objects symbolize different personalities, and ideas of the characters. Some of the symbols are more obvious and easier to pick up on than others.
In the novel The Great Gatsby, by Francis Scott Fitzgerald, various uses of symbolism and motifs appear throughout the story and provide insight into the deeper ideas of the book. The homes of the title character Jay Gatsby and major character Tom Buchanan are examples of this. The previous owner of Gatsby’s home was a brewery magnate, and the man who owned Tom’s house was an oil baron. The effects of wealth on the current owners of these two houses have characteristics similar to the fluids that the previous owners worked with. The way that Gatsby’s money affects him shares some qualities with alcohol, whereas the effects that Tom’s money has on him have several traits similar to those of oil. How Tom and Gatsby act due to their wealthy status assist in presenting one of the overarching themes of the work; despite how captivating it appears have wealth from a distance, and no matter what method is used to gain it, wealth has harmful effects on both the wealthy themselves and the people that they come in contact with.
Early events from Fitzgerald’s life appear in The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald resembles Jay Gatsby, a caring man who obsesses over wealth and luxury and falls in love with a beautiful young woman while stationed at a military camp in the South. Nick Carraway, also similar to Fitzgerald, is described as a young man from Minnesota, educated at an Ivy League school (in Nick’s case, Yale), who moves to New York after the war. After the publication of his books, Fitzgerald fell into a life-style of parties, while writing to earn more money to please Zelda by. Gatsby obtains a lot of wealth at a young age, and dedicates his life to earning possessions and throwing parties that he believes will allow Daisy to love him. Fitzgerald, similar to Nick in The Great Gatsby found this new lifestyle thrilling and dramatic, and, like Gatsby, always admired the very rich. In many ways, The Great Gatsby represents Fitzgerald’s explanation of his feelings about the Jazz Age. Fitzgerald was motivated by his love for a woman who symbolized everything he always wanted, even though she led him toward everything he loathed just like Gatsby.
Symbolism is a key aspect to the novel. It helps the understanding of the relationship between Gatsby and Daisy by subtly reinforcing the message that F. Scott Fitzgerald is trying to get across. We see this through the use of colors, locations, and the ever present eyes of T.J. Eckleburg. These small details allows readers to live vicariously through the characters and makes your emotions fluctuate. Symbols are what made this book sensational.
In the book The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald demonstrates how people who seem to have wonderful lives because they are wealthy, can be selfish and poor in character. Those people lead to the decline of the American Dream for Gatsby. The 1920's was the age of prosperity on Long Island and that is why most people assumed that if you were rich and wealthy you had a good life. They also assumed that they had positive personalities. Fitzgerald proved them wrong. " One of the novel's dominant themes involves the decay of traditional American values in a suddenly prosperous society" (Howes). In fact, most of the characters in the novel were major factors to the fall of the American Dream. He exposes the greedy, conceited, and low people who live in it.
this flashback, Jordan explains to Nick how she first met Gatsby. She explains to Nick
Symbols and Symbolism in The Great Gatsby - Symbolism and the Truth That Lies Between
For most people, a certain colour may represent something meaningful to them. While in the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, many of the colours used in the novel are meant to represent something. The novel’s setting is in East and West Egg, two places in New York. Our narrator, Nick Carraway, lives in the West Egg. Along with living in West Egg is a friend of Nick’s, Jay Gatsby; a character that is in love with Daisy Buchanan. Unfortunately, Daisy is married to Tom. As the plot unravels, the reader notices the connection between certain colours and their importance to the novel. The use of colours within The Great Gatsby symbolizes actual themes, as grey symbolizes corruption, blue symbolizes reality, and green symbolizes jealousy and envy.
Scott Fitzgerald was a writer who desired his readers to be able to hear, feel, and see his work. He made it his goal to be able to make readers think and keep asking questions using imagery and symbolism. The Great Gatsby was not just about the changes that occurred during the Jazz Age, but it was also about America’s corrupted society which was full of betrayal and money-hungry citizens. It was the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg that overlooked all the corruption that occurred throughout the Valley of Ashes. It was the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg that serves as a symbol of higher power who witnesses everything from betrayal to chaos in Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby.
F. Scott Fitzgerald is the master of symbolism. Symbolism plays a vital part in two of his most famous novels, The Great Gatsby and Tender is the Night. From the valley of ashes to “Daddy’s Girl”, Fitzgerald weaves symbols throughout his novels that help the plot to thicken and progress. They also allow readers to look at the novels in a more analytical point of view, which makes the novels more interesting to read. Fitzgerald’s symbols truly make his works a pleasure to read.