Symbolism In The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is a work of literature synonymous with American culture. The Great Gatsby is a novel that portrays major societal changes, while touching on the human condition of love. Fitzgerald’s characters all go through an apparent metamorphosis and learn more about themselves and the culture that they live in. Fitzgerald has created a work of literature that shall continue to teach readers of the values of Americans during the early 20th century. The Great Gatsby uses symbolism, the absence of values, and a quest for love to create a snapshot of American culture, that continues to reflect positively throughout American literature.
The Great Gatsby is full of symbols that show the society that the characters are living in. The main characters in the novel all live with relative wealth and ease compared to the vast majority of others living around them. The lack of religion and morality is existent throughout these characters lives, which Fitzgerald portrays with the advertisement of Dr. T.J Eckleburg being the eyes of God and morality explained by Mr. Wilson, “he was looking at the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg, which had just emerged, pale and enormous, from the dissolving night. “God sees

Throughout the novel, characters speak of the careless attitude citizens had towards wealth and possessions, “ They Were careless people. Tom and Daisy-- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money” (Fitzgerald 179). These themes appear shallow and irrelevant to modern society to those who don’t believe in The Great Gatsby’s potency. However, the novel’s portrayal of the upper class is extremely important to its message. The problems of wealth and happiness and the wealthy being careless with their money is common in modern society and has not gone away with