Symbolism In The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby is a symbol itself. The Great Gatsby was written to represent the rise and fall of the American Dream. The author places the rich and wealthy lifestyle on a high pedestal while he shows the dramatic consequences of moral and social decay amongst the characters. As each turning point is revealed, the American Dream slowly crumbles in the selfish hands of those who remain ignorant to anything else in the world. The significance of the many symbolic elements in The Great Gatsby plays a role in revealing the underlying themes of the American Dream, the ongoing clash between love and wealth and social and moral destruction.

Gatsby is a symbolic figure created by James Gatz; an idea of who he wanted to become to please himself and fill his incompleteness. Freud said the symbolic was an “idea of the self that depends on an idea of the loss of the self because we cannot recognize selfhood unless we compare it to its absence” (Parker. 140). James Gatz’ absences come primarily from his low self-esteem, insecurities, and regression.

People in America love to have a great deal of money. In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gatsby always wants to have money, and he finally gets it. Gatsby has parties to try to get Daisy to come to his house. Gatsby tell Nick to tell Daisy to come to Nick’s house without her husband. Gatsby finallys shows his big house off to Daisy and thinks he will win her love back again just because he has money. Gatsby’s plan do not work out. Fitzgerald uses symbols in The Great Gatsby to show how things are going wrong in America.

In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, symbolism is used frequently. Throughout the entire story, many metaphors and other objects of symbolism are repeated. Symbols appear in the very beginning of the novel and often times are portrayed in the entirety of the book. Some symbols in this novel include the color green, the Valley of Ashes, and the East and West Eggs.

Writer and novelist Diana Wynne Jones once said, ”If you take myth and folklore, and these things that speak in symbols, they can be interpreted in so many ways that although the actual image is clear enough, the interpretation is infinitely blurred, a sort of enormous rainbow of every possible colour you could imagine”. A symbol is an object, person, place or an idea that has a real meaning in itself and also a deeper and profound meaning .In other words a symbol is something that stops being simply an everyday object, and instead represents thoughts and ideas that are bigger than itself. Many examples of symbols can be found in the novel “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The story of the book takes place during the roaring 20’s mostly in New York, East and West egg, and within the story Fitzgerald uses lots of physical locations such as the valley of ashes,Gatsby’s mansion , symbols.

"Never has symbolism played such a crucial part in the very foundation of a novel as it does in Scott Fitzgerald's masterpiece, The Great Gatsby." Harold Bloom has written about this book. The author used several types of symbolism in The Great Gatsby. The colours are probably the easiest to be recognized and guessed what they symbolized. According to the definition “symbolism” is "the practice of representing things by means of symbols or of attributing symbolic meanings or significance to objects, events, or relationships."

It is one thing to read a book and understand what is there and it is another to look deeper into the meaning. If one has the ability to read then they are able to do the former; however, to do the latter, one has to think outside the box. When something or someone in a book has a meaning other than what is stated, it is a symbol. Most books have symbols present usually in the form of an object, character, figure, or colors. Symbols are used to represent abstract ideas or concepts in a story. One such story is The Great Gatsby, in which a variety of symbols are present. The use of symbols in The Great Gatsby gives the reader a deeper understanding of the plot and characters. F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author of the text, does a fantastic job

ideas or concepts. For example, a dove is usually used to represent peace. In the novel The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald uses a lot of symbolism to connect the characters with each other or to other objects. Fitzgerald’s use of symbolism helps advance his thematic interest in his novel of The Great Gatsby. In the Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses various colors, objects, and gestures as symbols to portray the lack of moral and spiritual values of people and the different aspects of society in the 1920's.

Symbolism is often used by authors in many genres to reveal more important themes and meanings. In the novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, symbolism is used to show colors and their different meanings. All of the characters in the book are related to a specific color that shows how they live their lives. Fitzgerald uses colors like gold, green and white. Gold is meant to represent wealth while green is meant to show hope. Also, white is used to portray innocence and purity for the wealthy. Overall, F. Scott Fitzgerald used color symbolism as a tool to show the different social classes and what they were like during the 1930’s

     F. Scott Fitzgerald, author of The Great Gatsby, uses symbolism throughout the novel to create the characters and events of the post World War I period. Colors are one way symbolism was used to develop the characters’ personalities and set up events. This is shown by colors like the green at the end of Daisy Buchannan’s dock, the color of Jay Gatsby’s car and how Myrtle and Jordan surrounded themselves by white. Other symbolisms used to set up events are the difference in the people of the West Egg and East Egg and the sign in the “valley of ashes”.

Symbolism provides an effective writing style to some of the great American novels. No one uses symbolism as effectively F. Scott Fitzgerald in his work, The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald uses symbolism to not only enhance his story, but also to tell the story itself. Fitzgerald filled The Great Gatsby with a multitude of examples of symbolism such as through objects, ideas, or even people. Simple items such as water and money are symbolic in the book. He uses these items to further explain the already complex lives of his story’s characters.

In life everyone strives to get rich, but is having an abundance of money always good? Sometimes people use money for personal benefits, sometimes it's for the benefit of others, but at times people with money use it to create their social status. In The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the idea of wealth is seen throughout. Jay Gatsby, who lives next door to Nick Carraway; the Narrator of the story, wants to be with his dream girl Daisy. Gatsby is wealthy and throws parties to impress Daisy. Daisy however, is married to another man Tom Buchanan. Throughout the story the people with money use it to create their social status. In The Great Gatsby F.Scott Fitzgerald uses symbolism to convey, wealth causes people to assert

Symbolism provides an imagery that helps facilitate a deeper understanding. Taking place in the 1920’s, The Great Gatsby, is set during a time when society both put up facades while also striving to achieve wealth and high social status. The classic novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald cleverly uses multiple symbols throughout the novel to expose the issues with society at that time. The ultimate goal of this novel is to elaborate the class struggles and illustrate the goal to achieve of American dream. The Great Gatsby, The author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, uses the infamous green light, the metaphor of an egg, and pearls to show and support the overall theme of the American Dream.

A symbol is an object or idea which has alternate or metaphorical meaning, it is an something which can be interpreted into themes and messages which the author wants to convey, and with repeated instances of said symbol , its significance becomes more relevant. In the Great Gatsby by Francis Scott Fitzgerald, the use of symbolism reflects the futility of the American Dream. The American Dream is a theme throughout the novel, how the idea of hard work coming to fruition as money is a novel idea that many follow in the book, however according to Fitzgerald it is a fruitless endeavor. In the novel, the author uses the following symbols to convey the message of the futility of the American Dream, these symbols are: the colour green, the Valley of Ashes, and the Eyes of Doctor TJ Eckleburg.

As a result of his actions, the way he lived, and the way he died, the titular character from F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby, can be seen as a symbol with many meanings. One possible meaning: you can gain wealth, but you do not have to change yourself. Two: a desire cannot be made obtainable unless you act on it. Three: the people you surround yourself with will not always be there for you in the end. All of these possible meanings double as themes F. Scott Fitzgerald may have wanted to get across as he was writing The Great Gatsby.