How Do The Walls Symbolize In The Great Gatsby
Symbolism and imagery play an enormous role in “The Great Gatsby”. Symbolism can be defined as, the use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities; Imagery can be defined as visually descriptive or figurative language, especially in a literary work. Sometimes it seems that on every page there is at least one example of symbolism or imagery. The symbolism and imagery in this book really represents what it was like to live at that point in time. One example of imagery is Doctor T.J. Eckleburg’s eyes. Doctor T.J. Eckleburg is a man on a billboard that looks out over the valley of ashes. This is eerily similar to the way that God looks upon the world. “But above the grey land and the spasms of bleak dust which drift endlessly over it, you perceive,
…show more content…
Another example of imagery would be the green light across the bay. The green light across the bay can be seen from Gatsby’s house quite clearly and is located right on the dock at Daisy’s house. This is significant only to Gatsby because he has been longing for Daisy for five years and counting. Daisy was originally in love with Gatsby until her parents stopped her from marrying him because he did not meet their financial standards. Gatsby waited a long five years for her only to find out that she had married a very wealthy man Tom Buchanan. "Involuntarily I glanced seaward—and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock." (5). A prime example of symbolism is the owl eyed man. He represents the truth in the world that most wealthy people in that time refused to recognize. Some evidence of this is at one of the first parties mentioned in the book. In this scene the owl eyed man points out that all of the books in Gatsby’s library are all still bound meaning that none of them have been read. Gatsby has done this to put people under the impression that he reads or is fond of reading. “A stout, middle-aged man with enormous owl-eyed spectacles was sitting somewhat drunk on the edge of a great table, staring
Another example of imagery would be the green light across the bay. The green light across the bay can be seen from Gatsby’s house quite clearly and is located right on the dock at Daisy’s house. This is significant only to Gatsby because he has been longing for Daisy for five years and counting. Daisy was originally in love with Gatsby until her parents stopped her from marrying him because he did not meet their financial standards. Gatsby waited a long five years for her only to find out that she had married a very wealthy man Tom Buchanan. "Involuntarily I glanced seaward—and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock." (5). A prime example of symbolism is the owl eyed man. He represents the truth in the world that most wealthy people in that time refused to recognize. Some evidence of this is at one of the first parties mentioned in the book. In this scene the owl eyed man points out that all of the books in Gatsby’s library are all still bound meaning that none of them have been read. Gatsby has done this to put people under the impression that he reads or is fond of reading. “A stout, middle-aged man with enormous owl-eyed spectacles was sitting somewhat drunk on the edge of a great table, staring