What Does The Flower Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

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Annie Harter Mrs. Gibson Honors English II 10 April 2024 Gardens, Plants, and Flowers In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald refers to gardens, plants, and flowers. Narrated by Nick Carraway and set in the “Roaring Twenties” where extravagance meets corruption, these greeneries contrast and symbolize the harsh and hidden themes of the novel’s era. The reference to gardens, plants, and flowers communicates the theme of the American Dream and the corruption hiding beneath the Jazz Age. Jay Gatsby, in his large mansion in West Egg Long Island, NY, throws decadent parties with large feasts, orchestras, and glamorous decor. He watches his parties for the season from his overlooking window in hopes that one day his true love and happiness, golden girl Daisy …show more content…

At his lips’ touch she blossomed for him like a flower, and the incarnation was complete.”(111). Gatsbys gardens and plants serve as a reminder that Gatsby and Daisy are unable to manipulate their surroundings (nature) and conform them to their desires and ambitions to be together shown through the gardens and plants continuing to grow and thrive throughout the novel, communicating that the characters are not able to control their own fates (Bruccoli xi-xiii). Gatsby, an ideal figure of the American dream, could buy anything to try and impress his American Dream Daisy Buchanan, but was unsuccessful in buying her and conforming nature to align with his ideal fate of them being together. The names Daisy Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson hold significance in that they are both flowers with contrasting characteristics. Daisy, the charming and sophisticated aristocrat of the novel, is also associated with innocence and purity. The name “Daisy” like the delicate flower emphasizes the social status of Daisy Buchanan being portrayed as someone part of the upper class and an unattainable figure to both Gatsby and

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