How Does Fitzgerald Present The Alienation In The Great Gatsby

“The most iconic characters in literature are alienated by the changing world around them.” Discuss these ideas in relation to The Great Gatsby and Nineteen Eighty-Four.
In ‘The Great Gatsby,’ Fitzgerald frequently demonstrates how isolated his strongest characters are by the world around them through a variety of techniques. Both Nick and Gatsby are presented as being alienated from the world in some way and, as suggested by William Troy, both characters represent two forces in Fitzgerald’s own life – “’intelligent and responsible’ vs. ‘dream ridden romantic.’” He uses symbolism frequently throughout the novel to suggest that this split autobiographical portrayal of his characters is representative of the limbo between “‘power’ and ‘dream’”
One way Fitzgerald portrays his characters as confined by the world around them is through his use of pathetic fallacy. The phrase ‘weather-beaten’ is used to describe Nick’s bungalow on the West Egg and this implied that it wasn’t just the people in ‘The Great Gatsby’ that the weather and change bore down on, but the buildings too. When Nick first visits Tom Buchanan at his home, Fitzgerald says the two men talk on ‘the sunny porch’ with the sunshine here being presented as a sense of optimism that Nick can find companionship with a man he knew at ‘Yale’. When Nick talks to Daisy during that first visit, he tells her there’s a ‘persistent wail all night’ along the shore of where they’ve left; Nick is bowing to Daisy’s desire to be missed by personifying nature to allow it to chase after her, much like Gatsby. Sunshine again is used by Fitzgerald to present those who are indulgently wealthy when Nick visits Tom and Myrtle’s apartment which was ‘full of cheerful sun’ until night time and alcohol were brought into the story. Alcohol is usually accompanied with darkness within the novel, to reflect
Colours are something the author uses in various ways. The colour yellow, which we have already seen mirrored in Fitzgerald’s use of pathetic fallacy with the large amounts of yellow sunshine symbolises decay and corruptness. The reader is told Gatsby’s car is a ‘rich cream’ colour. Not only is the mustard colour of the car symbolism, it is a representation of Gatsby himself – ostentatious and over-the-top in displaying his wealth. Later in the novel, Fitzgerald writes that the car ‘mirrored a dozen suns’ with its large amount of windshields. This give the interpretation that the car is glowing, further drawing on the yellow symbolism of decay for the personal representation of corruption. Perhaps intentionally, it is also this car that leads to Gatsby’s own destruction by being so conspicuous. Gatsby’s demise by his own car leads to the idea presented by Fitzgerald that one cannot escape decay. The Valley of Ashes is riddled with symbolism, from the ‘ash grey’ men that inhabit the ‘grey land’ to the looming billboard eyes of T.J. Eckleburg. The colour grey here symbolises dreariness and monotony, and with the character of Wilson, Fitzgerald ties this to a lack of wealth. The lack of light implies claustrophobia within its inhabitants – Tom says it’s good for Myrtle to ‘get out.’ The ‘dimmed’ eyes of Eckleburg ‘look out’ over the characters in the novel