Symbolism In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

People hold different things to be symbolic. Dove and peace, a rose and love; they are all simple things but widely symbolic. In the Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, he uses symbolism in the form of his characters and to develop a theme, the declination of the American Dream. Another theme that ties into the American Dream is class structure, which is demonstrated by the geography in the text. All of the characters are symbolic of different classes in American Society, from the richest to the poorest. The Great Gatsby offers a peek to all the hopes and dreams of people living during the Jazz Age. Fitzgerald had cleverly divided the characters into different social classes, but in the end, each class has its own problem to contend
This symbol may only be significant to Jay Gatsby because the light is located at the end of Daisy’s East Egg dock and barely visible from Gatsby's lawn. The green light represents Gatsby’s hopes and dreams for the future, as Gatsby’s American Dream was to win Daisy back. By having Daisy back would complete Gatsby American Dream . The first time the green light was introduced in the novel is also the first time Nick sees Gatsby. Fitzgerald writes,”... he stretched out his arms towards the dark water in a curious way, and far as i was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward - and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away…” In the first part of this quote it shows that the green light is like a guiding light to lead Gatsby to his goal, which is Daisy. The green light is also described as “ minutes and far away” which make it impossible to reach. The green light also represents society’s desire and the impossibility to achieve their dream. Fitzgerald had described Daisy as a traffic light. In order, for Gatsby to reach Daisy, he must first be wealthy as Daisy’s American Dream is just money and wanting attention only to herself. He uses the metaphor of traffic light, if Gatsby wishes to reach Daisy, he needed to be worthy and that keeps Gatsby moving forward. The writer had done this to reveal the real America back then in 1920’s.
Fitzgerald had cleverly used symbols to show us what the American life is like back in the 1920’s. It is easy to dream big, but actually making your dream come true is ten times harder than just thinking about. However this doesn’t mean that dream doesn’t come true, if you do it the right way it will eventually come