Preview

Symbolism In The Great Gatsby

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
985 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Symbolism In The Great Gatsby
It is the widespread smear of blue, the vibrant sprouts of green and the sight of all things on earth.Colors are made up of everything and although what the human eyes claims to see is not certain that every organism sees has played with our imagination through childhood. Each of the infinite colors has it’s own value and personal definition to everyone. It engages the eyes with the mind into imagination and in some ways are deceptive. For example red, was feared in America during 1920’s because it was associated with communism and uncertainty. Red is usually associated in the cinema as the evil force. However, it is also a symbol for good luck in China and India. Colors have their own symbolic definition that are associated with. In a similar …show more content…
Eckleburg and in the middle and low classes. Whatever the eyes sees is what the mind wants to imagine. Myrtle and George both have blue eyes because they are both middle class people who aspire to have wealth. Myrtle has a dark shade of blue which implies that she desperately desires wealths. To further elaborate, her eyes represents her aspirations from what she sees in her relationship with Tom. Tom provides Myrtle hope in which she can use him to receive money. Ironically, Myrtle neglects to see with her blue eyes the true nature of the Tom. While in contrast, George does not have a strong sense of desire in wealth or a passion for the future and instead focuses on what is around him at the moment. He focuses on what he has rather than what he desires to have. Fitzgerald describes Gatsby’s gardens as “Blue gardens men and girls came like moths” as to imply Gatsby’s hopes to attract Daisy the same way that other people run to his parties. Fitzgerald uses small detail such as the description of the characters to convey symbolism and themes for each character. For instance the day when Gatsby’s car crashes into Myrtle is when Fitzgerald describes E.J Eckleburg’s eyes as, “ Dimmed a little by many paintless days under sun and rain, brood on over the solemn dumping ground” (24). This signifies Gatsby’s hopes and dreams is deteriorated and is faded as Gatsby would soon see Daisy’s true

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    The Great Gatsby Metaphors

    • 1557 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Why does Fitzgerald contrast “hard rock” with “wet marshes”? What does he mean? Fitzgerald contrast “hard rock” with “wet marshes”…

    • 1557 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    On the Nick character bag, the back and front, are both full of illustrations that represent who Nick is from an outside point of view. The front consists of illustrations of a handshake, roses, camouflage, Nick's name, a Yale symbol merged with a peace sign, and a pencil writing Nick's name. Many of these items represent what Nick has done or currently does, like the handshake, camouflage, Yale sign, and pencil, which represent the bonds business, the fact he was in World War I, his intelligence, and school he attended. The roses, however, represent Nick because Daisy had called him an absolute rose, the peace sign represents how passive he is, the simple cursive of his name represents his simplicity, and the pencil ties into what is on the…

    • 235 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses the allusion of Midas, JP Morgan, and Maecenas to reveal Nick's attitude towards money; making money is an important part of Nick's life. The allusion is significant because all the men the author uses were wealthy in different time periods. The author does not literally mean that Nick will find the secrets these men knew, but more about how to make money. This gives insight on Nick's character, that he must work hard to become wealthy, unlike the Buchanans, by buying books about banking and…

    • 94 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    F. Scott Fitzgerald uses much symbolism in his literature, here in the novel The Great Gatsby. He uses the image of Doctor T. J. Eckelburg 's eyes to symbolize a godlike being. Fitzgerald uses the symbol of the two women in yellow at Gatsby 's party to represent the values of the 1920 's. The food provided at Gatsby 's party symbolically represents the members of 1920 's society. F. Scott Fitzgerald uses Symbolism in the novel The Great Gatsby as an accurate reflection of life in the American 1920 's. In The Great Gatsby the symbol of T. J. Eckelburg 's eyes represent a godly being watching over society. Fitzgerald incorporates the eyes into his novel to represent a pair of all seeing, all knowing and judging eyes, which are meant to intimidate. The character of George Wilson believes that the eyes are the eyes of God. "I spoke to her," he muttered, after a long silence. "I told her she might fool me but she couldn 't fool God. I took her to the window- " With an effort he got up and walked to the rear window and leaned his face pressed against it, "-and I said 'God knows what you 've been doing, everything you 've been doing. You may fool me but you can 't fool God! ' " Standing behind him Michaelis saw with a shock that he was looking at the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg, which had just emerged pale and enormous from the dissolving night. "God sees everything," repeated Wilson. (p.167)…

    • 1329 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The novel “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a tragedy in which true love does not prosper. Fitzgerald’s pencil coursed with the composure of the arm of a composer as it birthed beautiful images to convey concealed connotations. Perhaps the most significant of all the images is the “pyramid of pulpless halves” that appeared as a waste product of one of Gatsby’s fancy fandangos. The image of Gatsby’s trash is comparable to another image of trash found earlier in the novel. “The valley of ashes” is an area between West Egg and New York where Wilson lives (23).…

    • 612 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    "You must remember, old sport, she was very excited this afternoon. He told her those things in a way that frightened her – that made it look as if I was some kind of cheap sharper. And the result was she hardly knew what she was saying." (Fitzgerald 159) is a quote made by Jay Gatsby, the main character of the novel The Great Gatsby. This character is best described as being infatuated.…

    • 934 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Great Gatsby Symbols

    • 389 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Developing Sentences: The green light symbolizes hope. On the night Nick Caraway came back from Daisy’s house he saw Jay Gatsby watching a green light in yearning, which suggests a desire Jay has. The green light was at the end of the dock in East Egg and Jay lives in the West Egg, which shows the distances between the two Eggs.…

    • 389 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Fitzgerald wrote “The Great Gatsby” to criticise America from straying from the “American Dream”. Typically the American society tries to follow the American Dream, which is a dream of a society that allows everyone, no matter what economic class they were born into, to be able to accomplish whatever they want with hard work. With this principle no matter their social class Americans should be able to accomplish anything. Fitzgerald thought that the American society wasn’t following the American dream; he successfully used symbols to criticize different aspects of American society, showing the weakness of each deviation from the American Dream. Many symbols were used, but the three most significant symbols were: the “green light”, the godliness of the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg and the sadness of the “Valley of Ashes”. Each symbol played a key role in Fitzgerald’s criticism. How did these symbols play a key role in Fitzgerald’s criticism of the American society that doesn’t follow the American Dream?…

    • 1422 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Personification- where inanimate objects or abstract concepts are seemingly endowed with human self-awareness; where human thoughts, actions, perceptions and emotions are directly attributed to inanimate objects or abstract ideas.…

    • 1221 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    People express themselves in many different ways, one way is taking pictures of nature to cope with grief and to express themselves. Like as with “photography is full of symbolism, it’s a symbolic language. You have to be able to materialize all your thoughts in one single image” (Sebastiao Salgado). People use symbolism everyday to help them describe situations. Especially those who are authors, like Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby. An analysis of the novel shows great use of symbolism, in how he describes everything symbolically as he does with different colors and even the weather.…

    • 789 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The three most important examples of characterization in Cast Away are resourceful, determine, and lonely because they help the viewer to better understand Chuck and his personality. The first important example of characterization is resourceful. In the film, he uses ice skates to sharpen a stick. This proves that he is able to adapt and survive while on the island by catching fishes and crabs. The second important example of characterization is determine. This shows us that he evolved while he was on the island by making fire without matches. This proves that he is able to adapt and survive while on the island because he does not give up everything. The final important example of characterization is lonely. This shows us that he evolved while…

    • 191 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In literature, symbols are used to add deeper meaning to the story or hint at an emotion or attitude towards something without directly stating it. Sometimes they are obvious while other times sometimes they are hidden, regardless, they are used to enhance the story. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald uses symbolism to create a more realistic story for the reader. Although, many symbols are present throughout the story, Gatsby's house represents something more than just a luxurious building; his house reveals Gatsby's true character, love for Daisy and his struggle to maintain it.…

    • 961 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    No matter where in the world go you will find people who all lack the magical thing called common sense. There are the adrenaline-junkies, the thrill seekers, and the daredevils; everywhere in society these people exist in today’s society. When F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote the novel The Great Gatsby; he reveals the recurring motifs of rumors and lying which underscores his message to the reader that people are careless.…

    • 283 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Owl Eyes was convinced the books would be fictitious, but to his astonishment, “they [were] real” (Fitzgerald 45). He has always perceived Gatsby as an artificial being, but he was astounded by Gatsby’s realism and thoroughness of his fabricated life. Ironically, Owl Eyes, a character who is portrayed as a man with thick, large glasses and awful eyesight, is able to clearly see the reality of Gatsby. Gatsby didn’t just want wealth and power, but he “wanted to recover something, that had gone into loving Daisy. His life had been confused and disordered” (Fitzgerald 110). Gatsby’s had exorbitant parties only to gain attention of his past lover Daisy. Gatsby’s lifestyle reveals the…

    • 457 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Halfway between West Egg and New York City sprawls a desolate plain, a gray valley where New York’s ashes are dumped. The men who live here work at shoveling up the ashes. Overhead, two huge, blue, spectacle-rimmed eyes—the last vestige of an advertising gimmick by a long-vanished eye doctor—stare down from an enormous sign. These unblinking eyes, the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg, watch over everything that happens in the valley of ashes.…

    • 763 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays