StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Symbolism in The Great Gatsby - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
F. Scott Fitzgerald has discussed about class, wealth and social standing in his novel, “The great Gatsby”. The character of Nick Carraway is displayed as being an educated young man, who grew up in Midwestern United States, while receiving education from Yale University…
Download free paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER92.3% of users find it useful
Symbolism in The Great Gatsby
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Symbolism in The Great Gatsby"

? Running Head: Symbolism in “The Great Gatsby” Symbolism in “The Great Gatsby” of Symbolism in “The Great Gatsby” essays Introduction F. Scott Fitzgerald has discussed about class, wealth and social standing in his novel, “The great Gatsby”. The character of Nick Carraway is displayed as being an educated young man, who grew up in Midwestern United States, while receiving education from Yale University. Later Nick joins army and is posted in France during World War I. Returning home; he takes up the Bond business and settles in New York City, where Jay Gatsby lives as his next door neighbour. Jay is a wealthy, man fond of throwing extravagant week-end parties at his huge mansion. The use of wealth as an instrument for shaping the lives of people is amply provided by the author, while describing the obsession of a lady, named Daisy, by Jay. She had rejected marriage proposal of Gatsby, five years back, as he did not possess much wealth then. Daisy, in-turn married a wealthy business man, Tom. However, Gatsby accumulated wealth, all these years, while hoping that daisy would leave Tom and marry him, as many of his shoddy dealings did bring him wealth and fame. Daisy being related to Nick, he arranges a reunion for her with Gatsby, at a time when she is upset by Tom’s affair with a gas station owner’s wife, Myrtle Wilson. This is yet another depiction of social standing, in the form of infidelity, as given by the author in this novel. The plot thickens with the confrontation of the two couples, in presence of Nick, in a New York Hotel room. As Daisy leaves Tom, going with Gatsby, driving Jay’s car she accidentally knocks down Tom’s mistress. As the theme of this novel is about wealth, social class and infidelity, which leads to various crimes; Jay Gatsby is shot to death, in his own swimming pool by the gas station owner. (The Plot summary) Symbolism in “The Great Gatsby” The novel is full of symbolism, as author uses many symbols to get across his message to the readers. However, three most important symbols are briefly described below. Valley of ashes The author wants to highlight the difference between the patterns of life, prevailing in East Egg and West Egg. Located midway between west Egg and New York City, the valley of ashes is symbolized by the ash growing farms, as ashes take form of buildings and other structures, which reflect only the darkness. The author has used this symbol to highlight the moral decay, as well as, the underlying poverty. On the other hand he has tried to compare the darkness present in this valley to the hope and beauty prevalent in the West or East Egg. As residents of this valley do not find any future for themselves, they realize that the valley does not hold any thing for them, either for the present or for the future. This situation is rightly emphasized in the following quotes from the novel: (Harsha, 2008)  “a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air” (Chapter 2, page 23 to 26 --The valley of ashes) Further the author has symbolized the valley of ashes with the horrifying pain experienced by the residents, in the death of Myrtle Wilson, which occurred here only. The valley of ashes comprises of vast waste land, which the author has compared with the absence of moral values of the people belonging to high class society, as they show-off their ill-gotten wealth. The barren land is also indicative of no sense of ethics and consciousness in their personal lives, as they do not bother about any inhibition, when same hinders their personal pleasures. (Symbolism) The Eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg This is another depiction of shallow feeling in the valley of ashes, as the pair of Doctor’s eyes, seem to be looking at nowhere and appear to have a fading look. These eyes are painted at the top of an advertisement hording of an eye-surgeon. The eyes give a message that they are the divine eyes of god that look upon, sadly, the actions and misdeeds of the people down below; who have lost all virtues related to moral values and ethics. The paint of the hoarding is faded which hints towards the decaying relationship between god and human beings, as the author tries to bring in the similarities between wasteland - valley of ashes and the American society. The following quote from the novel symbolizes such feeling. “The eyes of Doctor T J. Eckleburg are blue and gigantic...they look out of no face, but instead, from a pair of enormous yellow spectacles” (Chapter 2, pg 26).  Another interpretation to this symbol could be that these are the eyes of Nick, who has the knowledge of truth and happenings, as revealed in the complete novel. (Symbolism) Appearance of Green Light Green being the colour of hope, the author has associated this colour with the eyes of Jay Gatsby, which Nick has witnessed, as he meets Jay for the first time. The following quote, which is the reflection of Jay’s gazing at the green light, mentioned in his own words, summarizes the hope that Gatsby nourishes, in his endeavour to win over Daisy, one day. “a single green light, minute and faraway, that might have been the end of a dock." Chapter 1, pg. 22 The author has again drawn similarities in this dream of Jay Gatsby for accomplishing his material desire to the great American dream.(quotes) Conclusion However, this dream perishes with the fatal death of Jay Gatsby, which in a way is symbolised for being the end of American dream, as well. The green light at end of the dock did inspire the feelings of hope for Jay to attract Daisy. However, the turn of events resulted in the tragic end of this dream, as Gatsby paid the price of pursuing such immoral desire with his own life. The Almighty’s destiny has its own ways of judging the deeds of earthly humans. WORKS-CITED Harsha Sri, 2008, “The Most Important Symbols in the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald”, Retrieved on 3rd Feb 2011 from: http://bookstove.com/classics/the-most-important-symbols-in-the-great-gatsby-by-f-scott-fitzgerald/ Plot summary, “Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald” (Novel), Retrieved on 3rd Feb 2011 from: http://www.bookrags.com/notes/gat/SUM.htm Quotes from The Great Gatsby, Retrieved on 3rd Feb 2011 from: http://www.bookrags.com/notes/gat/QUO.htm Symbolism in The Great Gatsby, Retrieved on 3rd Feb 2011 from: http://www.scribd.com/doc/3357567/Symbols-in-The-Great-Gatsby Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Symbolism in The Great Gatsby Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/literature/1407082-symbolism-in-the-great-gatsby
(Symbolism in The Great Gatsby Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 Words)
https://studentshare.org/literature/1407082-symbolism-in-the-great-gatsby.
“Symbolism in The Great Gatsby Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/literature/1407082-symbolism-in-the-great-gatsby.
  • Cited: 1 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Symbolism in The Great Gatsby

Compare and contrast The Great Gatsby to Bartleby the Scrivener

The same incidence happens in the great gatsby when Gatsby was talking about dissimilar characters with their roles.... This paper will compare two American stories, these are the great gatsby to Bartleby the Scrivener.... Similar to the great gatsby whereby Fitzgerald uses themes such as class, wealth, social standing among others to bring out dissimilar situations (Fitzgerald 17).... Similar to the great gatsby whereby Fitzgerald uses themes such as class, wealth, social standing among others to bring out dissimilar situations....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay

Mysterious Great Gatsby

In the paper “Mysterious Great Gatsby” the author analyzes each chapter of the great gatsby.... hellip; The paper tells that when Nick goes home, gatsby's mansion is all lit up but there is no party.... Nick agrees to help gatsby meet with Daisy, but gatsby offers to pay him which makes Nick uncomfortable.... nbsp; gatsby and Daisy are reunited but Nick thinks gatsby has too high of an opinion of her but he leaves them alone with each other....
3 Pages (750 words) Assignment

Symbol as a Literary Element

Fitzgerald's the great gatsby and John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men.... The writer of the essay "Symbol as a Literary Element" will be analyzing symbols in two short stories and two novels: N.... Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown, Shirley Jackson's The Lottery, F.... S.... hellip; In the most general sense, the symbol is a notion that allows material objects and events to reflect in a particular context certain ideas that are different from their immediate meaning....
17 Pages (4250 words) Research Paper

The Great Gatsby: A dream undefined

This paper “the great gatsby: A dream undefined” seeks to evaluate one of the main themes that Fitzgerald often used –  “the green light.... rdquo; The green light had a profound meaning as it signifies gatsby's hopes and dreams for the future.... gatsby represents his quest to get Daisy.... hellip; The author states that gatsby had a strong attachment to this mysterious light as the author states, “gatsby believed in the green light”....
6 Pages (1500 words) Research Paper

The Great Gatsby: Symbols of the Jazz Age

Materialism in the great gatsby is shown by the popularity that Gatsby amasses by virtue of his extravagant parties that he throws every weekend.... Hence, this research explores the different symbols of the jazz age in Fitzgerald's novel the great gatsby.... In the novel, the life of the main character gatsby is a depiction of the lifestyle of the larger population during the Jazz Age (Moran 176).... These characteristics are depicted throughout the novel using the different characters including Daisy, Tom, gatsby and Nick Carraway (Bloom 18)....
4 Pages (1000 words) Research Paper

The real meaning and its impact of characters' symbols in the Great Gatsby

gatsby originally had a humble background to his record and he overtook the rich life style to cover it up.... Scott Fitzgerald (Fitzgerald) has its importance and significance for several reasons.... It is not just a master piece on account of the script and the intensity in the overall story; also it has an important social and cultural message and element… The cultural element makes it ever so attractive with regard to the readers' desire towards reading it....
5 Pages (1250 words) Research Paper

Summary of The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald

The paper "Summary of the great gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald" highlights that Fitzgerald describes the developments by creating realistic conflicts among the various characters.... Nick rents a flat in a wealthy neighborhood in West egg and lives next to Jay gatsby.... gatsby, a young wealthy man throws lavish parties every so often.... As the relationship between Nick and Baker thrives so does a number of other romantic relationships and affairs that are the core conflicts in the plot (Batchelor, 2013) Nick gets closer to gatsby and he learns of his life and motives for throwing the party....
6 Pages (1500 words) Book Report/Review

Symbolic Meaning of Colors in the Great Gatsby

This is the "Symbolic Meaning of Colors in the great gatsby" essay.... hellip; We look at the symbolic meaning of colors in the great gatsby.... When reading the great gatsby, you will often run into the use of different colors such as yellow, green, and white that bear significant meaning in the story.... gatsby believes in getting Daisy back; there is a mission he must embark on becoming wealthy, famous, and successful.... gatsby chooses the yellow color that symbolizes the high social class and applies it everywhere from his attire to home decor....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us