F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby is the story of one man searching for a long-lost love and the struggles he goes through to get her back. It is the story of Jay Gatsby, his wealth, and most importantly, his awe-inspiring love for Daisy Buchanan, his first and only true love. Gatsby spends all of his time trying to build up a life to impress Daisy and win her back from her rich, jealous, and aggressive husband, Tom Buchanan.
Symbolism is strong throughout the novel; from the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock symbolizing how close Gatsby is to Daisy (yet still so far away), to the valley of ashes representing the lost hopes and dreams of the people in the city. There is also the mantle clock, a symbol of lost time between Gatsby and Daisy, the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg, representing God watching over everything, and Daisy’s voice being full of money, representing the life that Daisy led. These are the most powerful symbols in the novel.
Nick Carraway, the narrator of the novel, first sees Gatsby standing outside of his mansion, “standing with his hands in his pockets regarding the silver pepper of the stars” (20). He is standing with his arms outstretched towards a green light. Nick says “he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling” (20). Gatsby is staring at the light on the end of Daisy’s dock as it is later revealed. Gatsby is standing there, with his arms stretched out, to welcome the love of Daisy and to give his love to her. He is reaching toward her, trembling because of the power of his love and the pain from their years of separation. The light represents how close Daisy is to him, but still so far away, in separa...
... middle of paper ...
...m truly carefree again, although she never does.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is full of symbolism. It goes on throughout the novel and is truly a very important part of it. From the light at the end of Daisy’s dock to Daisy’s voice, the symbols hold the book together and help the plot thicken throughout the book. The symbols support the story of the life of Jay Gatsby, a man searching for his long-lost love. That is why symbolism is so vital to this novel.
Work Cited Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 2013. Print.
Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby tells the story of wealthy Jay Gatsby and the love of his life Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby dream was to secure Daisy just as things were before he left to the war. His impression was that Daisy will come to him if he appears to be rich and famous. Gatsby quest was to have fortune just so he could appeal more to Daisy and her social class.But Gatsby's character isn't true to the wealth it is a front because the money isn't real. F. Scott Fitzgerald uses the rumors surrounding Jay Gatsby to develop the real character he is. Jay Gatsby was a poor child in his youth but he soon became extremely wealthy after he dropped out of college and became a successful man and create a new life for himself through the organized crime of Meyer
Symbolism plays an important role in any novel of literary merit. From objects, to traits, to the way something is portrayed, it can have a whole different meaning. Like death and taxes, there is no escaping color. It is ubiquitous. In the novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald displays a superior use of symbols such as color, light, and heat. Fitzgerald’s superior use of color as a symbol is the focus of this essay.
The green light which is situated at the end of Daisy’s dock symbolizes Gatsby’s hope to be together with Daisy. Nick noticed how Gatsby often stared at "a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock” (Fitzgerald 25).
Almost every character in The Great Gatsby claimed to be in love with someone. While reading the novel, one may begin to question the authenticity of any of the characters feelings. Each character seems to interpret love in a completely different way. It makes one wonder if any of the characters have any idea of what love really is.
In novels, the use of symbols makes the story interesting and essential to the readers. Symbols are messages that the author uses to communicate with the reader for a deeper understanding, although sometimes it can only be discovered if analyzed. Fitzgerald connects the different symbols throughout the novel to pinpoint an elaborate meaning towards the story yet it does indicate a pleasant meaning. A symbol such as “color” or “money” can be less complex than it seems. Whereas a symbol as complicated as the “eye” can mean more than it’s suggested for. Throughout The Great Gatsby symbolism represent color, the existence of eyes and money.
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.
Symbolism is the use of giving objects a representative meaning or to represent something other than what it truly is. In F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby we meet Nick Carroway, the novel's narrator. The novel describes the life of Jay Gatsby when Nick meets him. Daisy, Nick's cousin, is married to Tom Buchanan but is the love interest of Gatsby. Tom, though he claims to love his wife, has a mistress Myrtle. Myrtle and her Husband George Wilson live in the valley of ashes. The novel analyzes the life of Americans, Jay Gatsby in particular, in the 1920's. Many of the items in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby represent something other than what it is.
The Great Gatsby is a story involving Jay Gatsby, a wealthy young man who strives for a beautiful socialite named Daisy Buchanan. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald is known for his eloquent use of language to add meaning beyond the novel’s surface by using imagery to figuratively appeal to his readers’ physical senses. Fitzgerald employs imagery in the form of colors, flowers, and seasons to symbolize the harsh realities of the corrupt unobtainable American dream.
F. Scott Fitzgerald brilliantly wrote many novels as well as short stories. One of his best known works is The Great Gatsby. In the novel, the main character Jay Gatsby tries to obtain his lifetime dreams: wealth and Daisy Buchanan. Throughout the story, he works at achieving his goals while overcoming many obstacles. Fitzgerald’s plot line relies heavily on accidents, carelessness, and misconceptions, which ultimately reveal the basic themes in the story.
Francis Scott Fitzgerald's novel, The Great Gatsby, is full of symbolism, which is portrayed by the houses and cars in an array of ways. One of the more important qualities of symbolism within The Great Gatsby is the way in which it is so completely incorporated into the plot and structure. Symbols, such as Gatsby's house and car, symbolize material wealth.
“Possibly it had occurred to him that the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever.” (93). Jay Gatsby spent his time at night looking at green light that glimmered across the bay on East Egg. Gatsby seemed to cherish this light, almost as if it was his enchanted object that he relished everyday. The green light had meant jealously to Gatsby, but now that Daisy was at his side he saw the green light as if it was telling him to go. Gatsby had never felt so close to Daisy, even though the distance between them wasn’t so far at all. But now the green light was just another light at the end of the bay. His count of cherished items had diminished by one.
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.
Not only are those shown but Gatsby also shows he wants Daisy to fill a spot in his dream. He has all the items he could ever possibly want in his life but he’s missing just one thing, the girl of his dreams. He goes out every night to stretch his arms towards the symbolic green light. The green light shows that the girl of his dreams is a stretch of the arm away, but still so far away. “Compared to the great distance that had separated him from Daisy it had seemed very near to her, almost touching her.” (pg 93) Gatsby wants Daisy to save she loves him and will come back into his life and fill that hole.
Gatsby’s dream of winning Daisy has been deferred for long enough, that it seems impossible to everyone else around him. He pursues the past while he is in the future. He pines for Daisy after losing her to another man. Gatsby’s elaborate parties were all thrown in hopes that someday Daisy would wander inside. Nick finds out Gatsby’s intentions when he says, “Then it had not been merely the stars to which he has aspired on that June night. He became alive to me, delivered suddenly from the womb of his purposeless splendor” (Fitzgerald 83). All the extravagant spending, the house, the new identity, the illegal activities, were all for Daisy. He throws everything he has into this charade as he tries to adapt to Daisy’s world of high society. The problem is that Gatsby is so close, but yet so far away, “he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way... I glanced seaward- and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock” (Fitzgerald 25). Gatsby tries to embrace the light that emits from the end of Daisy’s dock. The light is something that he cannot hold, just like he cannot hold Daisy Buchanan in his arms. He attempts to pursue his dream that is nothing more than an illusion. Despite being blinded with his infatuation with her, “He hadn’t once ceased looking at
Nick Carraway, the narrator of the novel, first sees Gatsby standing outside of his mansion, “standing with his hands in his pockets regarding the silver pepper of the stars” (20). He is standing with his arms outstretched towards a green light. Nick says “he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling” (20). Gatsby is staring at the light on the end of Daisy’s dock as it is later revealed. Gatsby is standing there, with his arms stretched out, to welcome the love of Daisy and to give his love to her. He is reaching toward her, trembling because of the power of his love and the pain from their years of separation. The light represents how close Daisy is to him, but still so far away, in separate worlds. It could also be thought of in the sense that his love is still burning bright for Daisy. “Green is the color of hope” (Einem), and can represent “Gatsby’s hope to meet Daisy again and a chance to win her back” (Einem). Gatsby has been separated from Daisy for many years, but he still loves her deeply. When Daisy and Gatsby later reunite, they are standing in Gatsby’s bedroom, looking out across the bay. Gatsby points out the green light and says “If it wasn’t for the mist w...