Symbolism In The Great Gatsby

Stephen King, a famous author, once said, "symbolism exists to adorn and enrich, not to create an artificial sense of profundity". Numerous works of art and literature use symbolism to evoke abstract impressions and connections. This is especially evident in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, where a minor but significant character, Owl Eyes, is symbolic because of his ability to differentiate appearance from reality. In the beginning, he is shown to be negligent and ignorant like any other character in the novel. However in contrast to the other figures, Owl Eyes is able to see the veracity behind the superficiality of Gatsby and thus is able to resolve at the end of the prose. Fitzgerald further emphasizes this specifically character

In life everyone strives to get rich, but is having an abundance of money always good? Sometimes people use money for personal benefits, sometimes it's for the benefit of others, but at times people with money use it to create their social status. In The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the idea of wealth is seen throughout. Jay Gatsby, who lives next door to Nick Carraway; the Narrator of the story, wants to be with his dream girl Daisy. Gatsby is wealthy and throws parties to impress Daisy. Daisy however, is married to another man Tom Buchanan. Throughout the story the people with money use it to create their social status. In The Great Gatsby F.Scott Fitzgerald uses symbolism to convey, wealth causes people to assert

Gatsby is not misleading, and cares and hopes for the best to every one of the characters he meets. Gatsby progressed in a multitude of ways, such as how he talked and thought of certain people such as Daisy. The way F. Scott Fitzgerald described Gatsby as a character and how he progressed Gatsby couldn't be more fitting as a caring and more respectful kind of guy. How Gatsby relates to society is that he threw parties and how a lot of rich people went to his parties. He may even be able to challenge societal norms because of how he brought himself up to be a kind of character who looks like a rich guy who is just like everyone else, normal, but really he had so much inside of him that Nick Carraway(friend and Narrator) can for some reason only see. Through this journey, some may feel that Fitzgerald wanted to that there is always some sort of light around, maybe you will have to look hard for it but there will always be light, in Gatsby’s case, there was a green light, and how he looked at the light made it seem as it was his hope, but not for loss. As Gatsby says "single green light" and how it was "unattainable dream," the "dream [that] must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it”. This is one of Gatsby’s quotes that he used with a reference to the green light.

F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote The Gatsby with a great deal of symbolism and for good reason. Symbolism in writing adds more meaning and depth to a story and helps the reader think about underlying themes. It can show what is really going on under the surface of the plot. Several issues exemplified through The Great Gatsby were that wealth and power corrupt, people aren’t what they seem, you can’t go back to the past, actions have consequences, and that the idealistic American dream has been replaced by materialism and greed.

The Great Gatsby is full of symbolism.The green light, the Valley of Ashes, and the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg are just a few examples. In Thomas C. Foster’s book, How to Read Literature Like a Professor, he writes about symbols and what they mean. The Rockpile in the literature book is another story that uses symbolism.

A symbol can be anything that represents something else in a story or something that has a deep effect on the story. Symbols can be an object, a character, an animal, a color, etc. Being a great writer, Fitzgerald has used symbols in a very effective manner. In Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby has been in love with Daisy for a quite long time. While he was at the war, she marries a rude yet a rich guy named Tom Buchanan. Desiring to win her back, Gatsby transmutes himself into a wealthy person. He conducts parties every weekend hoping to see her there. Finally, when she meets him, everything turns out badly. Fitzgerald, in this novel uses various symbols to make it more fascinating and these symbols mainly represents the life in America in the 1920’s and the American dream.

Thesis: Throughout the book The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald uses symbols to describe influential items such as, The Green Light, The Eyes of T. J Eckleburg, and The Valley of Ashes.

ideas or concepts. For example, a dove is usually used to represent peace. In the novel The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald uses a lot of symbolism to connect the characters with each other or to other objects. Fitzgerald’s use of symbolism helps advance his thematic interest in his novel of The Great Gatsby. In the Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses various colors, objects, and gestures as symbols to portray the lack of moral and spiritual values of people and the different aspects of society in the 1920's.

Writer and novelist Diana Wynne Jones once said, ”If you take myth and folklore, and these things that speak in symbols, they can be interpreted in so many ways that although the actual image is clear enough, the interpretation is infinitely blurred, a sort of enormous rainbow of every possible colour you could imagine”. A symbol is an object, person, place or an idea that has a real meaning in itself and also a deeper and profound meaning .In other words a symbol is something that stops being simply an everyday object, and instead represents thoughts and ideas that are bigger than itself. Many examples of symbols can be found in the novel “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The story of the book takes place during the roaring 20’s mostly in New York, East and West egg, and within the story Fitzgerald uses lots of physical locations such as the valley of ashes,Gatsby’s mansion , symbols.

Symbolism provides an imagery that helps facilitate a deeper understanding. Taking place in the 1920’s, The Great Gatsby, is set during a time when society both put up facades while also striving to achieve wealth and high social status. The classic novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald cleverly uses multiple symbols throughout the novel to expose the issues with society at that time. The ultimate goal of this novel is to elaborate the class struggles and illustrate the goal to achieve of American dream. The Great Gatsby, The author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, uses the infamous green light, the metaphor of an egg, and pearls to show and support the overall theme of the American Dream.

“Symbolism exists to adorn and enrich, not to create an artificial sense of profundity.” -Stephen King. In F.Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, symbolism is used to give the reader a better understanding of the characters and their motivations. Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald hints at the peculiarity of the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg that are seen on the billboard outside George Wilson’s auto shop, demonstrates the importance of the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock, and captures the significance of Gatsby’s mansion.

The classic novel, The Great Gatsby, portrayed the story of Jimmy Gatz, who was an ambitious dreamer. Though he had been a man of humble means, he fell in love with a beautiful debutante named Daisy, who was outside his league. As a result of her rejection, he developed an obsession with becoming a man worthy of her affection. The author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, uses color, imagery, and symbolism throughout the pages to foreshadow coming events. While the title implies that Gatsby is great, which is only true to a small degree, there are some questionable characteristics he developed in obtaining his goal.

The first way that Fitzgerald shows Gatsby as a sinister gangster is by making him similar to the gangsters of that era. Instead of grimy thugs the wealthy criminals of Gatsby time were just like him: rich, powerful, and affluent. (1) We see this when Gatsby goes to meet Meyer Wolfshiem. Wolfshiem is described as a “gambler” and “The man who fixed the 1919 World Series” but he has still managed to evade incarceration. Nick was surprised that just one man could “play with the faith of fifty million people—with the single-mindedness of a burglar blowing a safe” not even considering the fact that he never went to jail for it. Another example stems from Tom’s investigation of Gatsby. Tom finds out that Gatsby was affiliated with Wolfshiem’s scheme

The Great Gatsby criticises capitalism by suggesting that its main drive, the American Dream, is nothing but an illusion. Throughout the text, we learn that Gatsby relates the “Green Light” to the American Dream. In one particular instance, we can criticise the green light as an illusion from its positioning to Gatsby. When we first read about the green light it is described as “minute and far away” across “the dark water.” But Gatsby neither appears content nor excited with the prospect of being so close to the green light. He rather seems frustrated with it being just out of reach, which suggests to the audience that he could never fully achieve it. As highlighted by Fox, M. (2014). Americans are living the American dream, but not loving

This poster appeared six times in the novel which Wilson regarded it as the eye of God. The doctor Eckleburg’s eyes’ debut was “they look out of no face, but, instead, from a pair of enormous yellow spectacles pass over a nonexistent nose.” In the beginning, the eyes of God was no longer clear and bright but contaminated by the yellow money and became muddy which can't save the people To live a Befuddled life anymore. It was these eyes witnessed the dusty life the valley, the coming and going luxury cars which symbolized the upper class, the show about Tom and Mrs. Wilson’s adultery. However, the only thing it can do was watching coldly which was helpless to the darkness. Finally, before Wilson killed Gatsby, he stared at Eckleburg’s giant eyes while he said to his neighbor: “God saw everything.” But like the neighbor told him immediately, it was just an ad. Eyes of God abandoned the fallen man, and when God has abandoned mankind, what people