Symbols and Symbolism in The Great Gatsby - Symbolism and the Truth

     Symbolism plays an important role in any novel of literary merit. In his novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald displays a superior use of symbols such as color, light, and heat. Fitzgerald’s superior use of heat as a symbol is the focus of this essay.

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

The first symbol we see appears at the end of Chapter one. It is a

People in America love to have a great deal of money. In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gatsby always wants to have money, and he finally gets it. Gatsby has parties to try to get Daisy to come to his house. Gatsby tell Nick to tell Daisy to come to Nick’s house without her husband. Gatsby finallys shows his big house off to Daisy and thinks he will win her love back again just because he has money. Gatsby’s plan do not work out. Fitzgerald uses symbols in The Great Gatsby to show how things are going wrong in America.

The Great Gatsby is a symbol itself. The Great Gatsby was written to represent the rise and fall of the American Dream. The author places the rich and wealthy lifestyle on a high pedestal while he shows the dramatic consequences of moral and social decay amongst the characters. As each turning point is revealed, the American Dream slowly crumbles in the selfish hands of those who remain ignorant to anything else in the world. The significance of the many symbolic elements in The Great Gatsby plays a role in revealing the underlying themes of the American Dream, the ongoing clash between love and wealth and social and moral destruction.

Symbolism is the use of symbols to represent an abstract idea or object of quality, is used in literature in order to communicate a deeper meaning of the plot. In the highly praised novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, symbols are mentioned frequently to provide insight, such as the glowing green light Gatsby finds himself mesmerized with. The green light Gatsby reaches out to catch at the end of Daisy’s dock represents he hopes and dreams he has for himself, and it is symbolic of Daisy as his ultimate goal, not only romantically, but her money and social standing. Fitzgerald use the greenlight as a symbol of Gatsby goal because what Gatsby wants was on the other side of the dock and how the greenlight is Gatsby’s hope.

F. Scott Fitzgerald is an author who is highly recognized for his use of symbolism in his works of literature. The use of symbolism in any work of literature is very important because it is used to represent something through something else. It is also used to help create emotion and enhance the story. Fitzgerald portrays symbolism in The Great Gatsby through the green light, T.J. Eckleburg, and the colors used for description.

Symbolism provides an effective writing style to some of the great American novels. No one uses symbolism as effectively F. Scott Fitzgerald in his work, The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald uses symbolism to not only enhance his story, but also to tell the story itself. Fitzgerald filled The Great Gatsby with a multitude of examples of symbolism such as through objects, ideas, or even people. Simple items such as water and money are symbolic in the book. He uses these items to further explain the already complex lives of his story’s characters.

"Never has symbolism played such a crucial part in the very foundation of a novel as it does in Scott Fitzgerald's masterpiece, The Great Gatsby." Harold Bloom has written about this book. The author used several types of symbolism in The Great Gatsby. The colours are probably the easiest to be recognized and guessed what they symbolized. According to the definition “symbolism” is "the practice of representing things by means of symbols or of attributing symbolic meanings or significance to objects, events, or relationships."

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.

In the book “The Great Gatsby” many important and obvious topics are spoken on such as wealth and neglect. Though there are many worthwhile topics in the novel the symbols in this novel will be spoken on. This is because F. Scott Fitzgerald uses many different and profound symbols in his books but this is especially true in his novel, “The Great Gatsby” with such symbols as the valley of ashes, The green light, Doctor T. J. Eckleburg’s eyes, Colors as whole, Cars, and Gatsby’s name change.

Symbolism brings depth and meaning to ordinary objects and people. One of the themes of the novel “The Great Gatsby” written by Scott Fitzgerald is the American dream. The American dream connects to all of the symbolism that Fitzgerald uses in one way or another. The symbolism helps to express meaning and emotion, bringing more depth to the characters. The most prominent symbols are the green light, Gatsby’s books, and T.J Eckleburg. The Green light is a symbol for hope in what is to come.

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.

The Great Gatsby is one of the most read pieces of literature throughout the current modern Western world. High school kids all across the globe must learn and read it as part of their curriculum. One of the aspects that makes this novel so notable is that Fitzgerald, at no point in the story, needs to convey to his audience the theme of his novel directly. The main points of his novel are brought out by the powerful symbols he infuses in the book. Not only does he use them to convey his theme, but also ties them in to the rest of the story. Every aspect of this book is affected by the presence of one of his symbols. Through the use of the green light, the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg, and the Valley of the Ashes as symbols,

The Great Gatsby is filled with symbols and symbolism, which try to convey Fitzgerald's ideas to the reader. The symbols are uniquely involved in the plot of the story, which makes their implications more real. There are three major symbols that serve very important significance in the symbolism of the novel. They are "the valley of the ashes," the reality that represents the corruption in the world, the green light of Daisy's lap that Gatsby sees across the bay and lastly, the symbolism of the East Egg and West Egg or more important the east and the west of the country.