What Is The Symbolism In The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald uses symbolism in The Great Gatsby to contrast the difference of being poor and wealthy. Fitzgerald wants to portray the idea that Gatsby is rich to show how he has acquired a fortune to sweep Daisy off of her feet. Fitzgerald uses a plethora of objects in The Great Gatsby to show wealth. Another main point of interest to Fitzgerald is the american dream, so he uses places and things to display what a typical 1920’s American dream would look like. Cars, parties, large houses, and pools are all typical things that explained what a typical American dreamed of having in the early 20th century. Fitzgerald does a fantastic job of portraying these things and then adding a descriptor to them to make them appear as more wealthy

Fitzgerald wanted to express how greatly Gatsby desired to have the heart of Daisy. Gabrielle Southern intends to show how Fitzgerald related his own life to that of Gatsby and Daisy by explaining that “Like Gatsby tried to impress Daisy, Fitzgerald did the same with Zelda. Zelda wanted a rich, successful man. Because of this, Fitzgerald began to write books so that he could be that man for her. Similarly, Gatsby felt as though he needed to impress Daisy, and to do this he faulted the fact that he was rich and successful.” (para. 6) Fitzgerald struggled to earn Zelda and so he wrote a story to relate his own experiences to a fictitious character. When Nick first comes across Daisy, the room is exaggerated in order to make Daisy seem more elegant. Fitzgerald describes the room as having windows open with curtains blowing in the breeze like pale flags. Fitzgerald uses these descriptions to accent the couch being a fixed point in the room drawing your eyes toward her. Fitzgerald then describes Daisy as charming and paralyzing to Nick. Later in the story Fitzgerald uses the color of the light at the end of Daisy’s dock to display their wealth because it is green which is an expensive color because it relates to the color of money. The green light also symbolizes a color of hope and shows the hope that Gatsby has to be able to rekindle his love with Daisy. Nick explains how Daisy’s voice sounds of one that belongs to someone

Scott Fitzgerald based all of his thoughts and feelings into the plot and symbols of The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald related his own life to certain major plot points and characters which creates a sense of realism and presents the time exceptionally well. Fitzgerald also uses symbolism to show how certain objects pertain to certain character’s attitudes or personalities. By coloring certain things in specific colors, Fitzgerald ties them together into a specific group and manages to show a relativity to another theme. Fitzgerald relates the story to thoughts and feelings at the time as well in how he explains that Nick witnesses a car full of African Americans with a white chauffeur meaning that anything could happen in New York. This is significant to the time period because in the 1920s African Americans were still seen as lower class. Fitzgerald vividly uses specific places or things to relate them to the story, such as the green light at the end of the docks, or the billboard watching over The Valley of