Symbolism plays an important role in any novel of literary merit. In his novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses symbols to portray events, feelings, personalities and time periods. Throughout the narrative, Fitzgerald uses strong contrasting symbols such as West Egg and East Egg. His superior use of other predominant symbols such as color and light are also evident throughout the novel.
The story begins as the narrator, Nick Carraway, describes his arrival to West Egg. One can immediately spot "new-money Gatsby and no-money Nick on one side of the bay and old-money Buchanans on the other" (Tanner x). The superiority of East Egg to West Egg is instantly apparent and has much meaning. East Egg represents the high class, the dignified and the elite. The people who live in East Egg come from wealthy family lines. In opposition to this, West Egg represents the newly rich or those with almost no money at all. There is much arrogance and disdain between these two groups as can be noted on page 16 of the novel when Jordan Baker "remarks contemptuously" on the fact that Nick lives in West Egg.
The symbolism of eggs can be further explained. During one of Gatsby's parties, Nick is offered an egg. He cracks it open and finds a beccafico, a delicacy, and a treasure. Tanner remarks on this striking parallel to the "New World". If one looks at America and what it has created, does one see a "disgusting, aborted, stunted and still-born thing, fit only to be thrown away? Or a treasure, something special (...) and marvelous and rare?" (x). The Eggs in the novel represent the two parts of America: one (East Egg), materialistic, superficial and self-indulgent and the other (West Egg), which is always awaiting the coming of someth...
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...ott Fitzgerald's Criticism of America." Modern Critical Interpretations: F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986. 11-27.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. England: Penguin, 1990.
Tanner, Tony. "Introduction." The Great Gatsby. Author F. Scott Fitzgerald. England: Penguin, 1990. vii-lvi.
Way, Brian. "The Great Gatsby." Modern Critical Interpretations: F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986. 87-108.
Hack, Robert and Libby Stockstill. "Colour in The Great Gatsby." http://www.nmusd.k12.ca.us/cdmhs/gatsbycenter/roberthack&libbystockstill. November 29th 1997, 5:16pm.
O'Brien, Meghan et al. "Colour Imagery in The Great Gatsby." http://www.nmusd.k12.ca.us/cdmhs/gatsbycenter/meghanobrien/gg.html. November 29th 1997, 5:23pm.
The heart of the whole notion of wealth lies in the setting of the novel, the east and west eggs of New York City. The west egg was a clustering of the "Nouveau riche" or the newly acquired rich, and the east egg was where the people who inherited their riches resided. The eggs divided the people rich in two with the poor being limited to the middle, the "valley of ashes". Even the way the narrator, Nick Carraway, describes the two communities' gives off a feeling of superiority. Nick describes the east as " the less fashionable of the two, through this is a most superficial tag to express the bizarre and not a little sinister contrast between them" (...
Throughout the novel, East Egg demonstrates time after time the shallow underbelly of New York’s upper side. The inhabitants of this section of the city are what are known as the “old money”, meaning they come from families with money passed down through generation upon generation. Nick Carraway demonstrates unto the reader the grandeur of the area when he says, “Across the courtesy bay the white palaces of fashionable East Egg glittered along the water…” (Fitzgerald 5) referring to the homes opposite the bay of his. The people who occupy these homes, such as Tom and Daisy Buchanan and Jordan Baker, have never had to work a single day in their lives to secure and maintain their lavish and luxurious lifestyles, and will never have to because of the money that their families have procured throughout the generations. People here are reckless, and tend to not want to take responsibility for their actions. Jordan demonstrates...
There are countless types of symbols that represent The Great Gatsby. I have only four of the many symbols located on my book cover.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott, and Matthew J. Bruccoli. The Great Gatsby. New York, NY: Scribner, 1996. Print.
Is female genital mutilation a cultural practice or a delinquency? Female genital mutilation better known as female genital cutting is a operation performed based on religion and cultural causes. However, entirely of the victims gone through this sacrifice explain it as a crime.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 2004. Print. The.
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.
Romanticism was an artistic and philosophical time period that occurred in Europe during the late 18th century. Many forms of art were introduced at this time, as were forms of poetry and unorthodox ideals coming from the creators of these pieces. The poetry of Blake, Wordsworth, and Keats all shared aspects of nature and their personal emotions displayed through literary allusions. They break away from social norms, and even artistic norms, which was the aim of the artists during this part of literary history.
Bewley, Marius. "Scott Fitzgerald's Criticism of America." Twentieth Century Interpretations of The Great Gatsby. Ed. Ernest Lockridge. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1968. 37-53.
Sutton, Brian. "Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby." Explicator 59.1 (Fall 2000): 37-39. Rpt. in Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. Ed. Linda Pavlovski. Vol. 157. Detroit: Gale, 2005. Literature Resource Center. Web. 24 Feb. 2011.
Symbolism is a very important device in Fitzgerald's 1926 masterpiece, The Great Gatsby. Different objects, words or actions symbolize different character traits for each person depicted in his novel. Through symbolism, Fitzgerald manages to describe three completely different aspects of the human life. He conveys the glittery, magnificent life of the rich, the gray, ugly and desperate life of the poor, and the mundane struggles of those in between.
F. Scott Fitzgerald used the imagery of colors in his masterpiece The Great Gatsby. The colors are used very frequently as symbols, and the hues create atmosphere in different scenes of the book. White is a clean and fresh color, but the author shows how it can be tainted as well. Next, yellow illustrates the downfall of moral standards of the people of West Egg. Lastly, green, the most dominant color in the book, symbolizes wealth and Gatsby's unattainable dream.
F. Scott Fitzgerald created the famous, American classic, The Great Gatsby, with thought-provoking detail and color symbolism. Critics have been deeply analyzing it since it was published in 1925. There are a few memorable color symbolisms that are throughout the book. Everyone interprets literature in their own way so there are many different theories; there are even people that do not believe in color symbolism. Certain colors are continually being associated with a specific character/theme, which allows one to conclude that Fitzgerald intended on colors being symbolic.
The witch trials allow characters, other than the girls to gain the power kill people by calling them a witch, therefore allowing himself to win land disputes, much in his favor. For instance, in the ongoing altercation between Mr. Putnam, Proctor and Giles Corey, one of them might benefit from accusing the others of witchcraft to finally settle the land disputes in his favor. The trials lay a perfect backdrop for gaining power to those who have never dealt with it before the trials.
...ow they responded to his kind ways. “I vowed eternal hatred and vengeance to all mankind.” (pg. 74) He is hated and so he will hate also, even children hate him for only the reason their parents have taught them to be prejudice. ” You are an ogre” ”Hideous monster, let me go!” (pg. 75) The monster starts to hate himself for being what he is, an ugly, huge, beastly looking evil. The monster feels more and more like a human, which leads down a terrible road of good and bad in the eyes of a beast. The monster loves nature, but as an anti-romantic, nature cannot love him back. “Nature decayed around me, the sun became heatless; rain and snow poured around me; mighty rivers were frozen; the surface of the earth was hard and chill, and bare, and I found no shelter.” (pg. 73)