The Great Gatsby Imagery Assignment Essay Example

1." The shadow of a tree fell abruptly across the dew and ghostly birds began to sing among the blue leaves." (Page 159)

This sentence takes place after Nick and Gatsby have opened all the windows because the house, inside, was grey and dusty from not being accommodated for a while. The sentence starts with the central image of a shadow. Shadows when thought about in a symbolic sense could be comprehended to show that there is a darker side of things. Abruptly could be thought to be purposely placed to maybe be foreshadowing that something abrupt and uncalled for could always happen. Seeing as the placement of this sentence in the book is the same exact day that Gatsby is killed. Using the word ghostly to describe the birds that are surrounding gives a haunting and uneasy feeling to the sentence. Lastly it ends by using the color blue to describe the leaves. The color blue was used throughout The Great Gatsby to inform how his marvelous garden looked. Adding the description of blue again adds to the unsettling feeling and mood of the sentence.

2. "At the grey tea hour there were always rooms that throbbed incessantly with this low sweet fever, while fresh faces drifted here and there like rose petals blown by the sad horns around the floor." (Page 158)

This sentence is taken place in the part of the book when Gatsby and Daisy grew apart. The color that is used to describe is grey, signifying a colorless and melancholy mood. This mood could be partially because they are both missing and wishing they were with each other. The “low sweet fever” described showed an always and never ceasing air of Daisy's youth and need for love. Even though Daisy and Gatsby said that they would wait for each other it is apparent that Daisy is not exactly doing that. Fresh faces could be perceived as all the new people that Daisy was meeting each night at these "incessant" parties. Lastly the most pictorial image that comes from the sentence is the rose petals