Symbolism in The Great Gatsby Essay

Symbolism; The Great Gatsby

The definition of symbolism is the practice of representing things by means of symbols or of attributing symbolic meanings or meaning to objects, events, or relationships. F. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby is known for its uses of symbols and symbolism. Symbolism is a great way to connect a literary work to everyday life. It helps us to learn more about the novel, and connect it to things that have happened or are happening in our lives. F. Scott Fitzgerald uses many symbols and forms of symbolism. Color, characters, actions, and ideas are all elements that are used to symbolize something else in The Great Gatsby.

The main character in the novel Jay Gatsby is one of the most symbolic elements in the novel. Growing up Gatsby was brought up by poor farmers and always had a plan for how his life was going to be. When this didnt work out he ran from his problems and changed his name. This is symbolic to how we as humans react when things dont go our way. We run and want to hide from the world and if it wasnt so expensive Im sure a number of us would change our name to. Gatsby changes his name because he wanted to be renewed kind of like when we get saved from our sins. We are renewed and at times feel like a brand new person when we take that action. In Frederick C. Milletts analysis of The Great Gatsby, he quotes that Gatsby changing his name made him more like God because he made himself anew. In The Great Gatsby, Nick Caraway writes the following on the concerns of why Gatsby changed his name:

He was a son of God- a phrase which, if it means anything, means just that- and he must be about His Fathers business, the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty. So he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen-year-old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end. (Fitzgerald 63, Millett 2)

In The Great Gatsby, there are also a few religious elements used in comparison to some of the actions and characters in the book. In chapter 8 the love of Mr. Gatsbys life, Daisy Buchanan, is compared to the Holy Grail. This symbolizes how Gatsbys dreams or quest to be with her again is like the quest of the knights to find the Holy Grail in the Arthurian Legends. (Millet 2) Another form of religious imagery is when the billboard of Dr. T.J. Eckelburgs eyes is introduced. This billboard sits in the middle of the valley of ashes, which is a town in the novel that is full of ash, hatred and unhappiness. The billboard was advertisement for an optometrist and in the book is described as blue and gigantic...they look out of no face, but instead, from a pair of enormous yellow spectacles" (Fitzgerald 27) George Wilson compares the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckelburgs to those of Gods watching over us. God looks down upon us and sees the hatred and sin that we have in our lives, and sometimes this is the only source of faith that some of us have. In the novel, the eyes are looking down upon them just like Gods eyes do. (Millett 2, Fitzgerald 16)

Color symbolism comes into play in the novel when the green light is introduced. According to art, the color green represents greed, envy, promise, hope, wealth, and renewal. In the novel, there is a green light at the end of Daisy Buchanans dock that Mr. Gatsby is caught several times looking at. He also reaches out to this light at night almost like he is longing for it. The green light represents the dreams that he has to be with Daisy again in the future. (Millett 2) Gray is another color symbolic in the novel. Gray is used to describe the valley of ashes Gray is the color of dullness, dinginess, and sorrow. The valley of ashes is just that, it is filled with unhappiness and immorality. There is ash there due to the factories and pollution in the air and this town also helps to destroy Gatsbys dreams. (Millett 2) The Valley of Ashes was also symbolic to the Corona dump in Queens. This was a swamp that was used as a landfill for ashes, manure, and other materials. (www.fcps.edu) White is also used and it is the color of purity and innocence. In the novel, Jordan and Daisy are always seen in white. This is a representation of false purity. At the end of the novel, Mr. Gatsby goes to meet Daisy again and he wears a white suit to make him seem pure and innocent. The color red is the color of love, death, hate and blood. Myrtle who lives in the valley of ashes is ran over and killed in chapter eight, the color red symbolizes the blood shed in her death. Mr. Gatsby is also murdered in the end by Myrtles husband George Wilson. Red represents the hate that he felt that drove him to murder him. The last use of color symbolism is the color gold. Gold is the color of wealth. Throughout the whole novel Gatsby have these extravagant parties where people come from all over. He had these parties for years just to hope that maybe Daisy would show up and be reunited with him again.

Jay Gatsby had many parties in the novel and at every one stood the little man with the huge spectacles named Owl Eyes. He shows up several times in the novel at his parties, during the accident, and at Gatsbys funeral. His glasses are related in symbolism to the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckelburgs eyes on the billboard. (Shaw 1) Patrick W. Shaw from the University of Texas Tech tell in his lecture that Owl Eyes in the only one who really knew who Gatsby really was and beside all the wealth and outer image he was putting on for everyone else he still liked him. Its almost like he was a representation to God because it tells us in the bible that no matter what God will always love us. No matter if we sin, or how we act God is the only one that knows the real human being that we are and will love us for just that.

East Egg and West Egg are the two locations in which the characters lived in The Great Gatsby. They are two long peninsulas located in New York with water in-between them. There is a lot of conceitedness between the two social classes in the different locations (Fitzgerald 16) East Egg is where all the old money is. These people are upper class and have inherited their money for generations and generations. The middle and lower class people live in West Egg. This is where the new money is and they out filthy rich and live a Hollywood-like lifestyle. These west eggers are young and immature and throw rich parties that everyone comes to. Nick and Mr. Gatsby and Nick live in West Egg, and Daisy and her husband live in East Egg. Continuously in the novel Mr. Gatsby is longing for Daisy and is reaching out for the light at the end of her dock. Daisy hasnt come to any parties that Mr. Gatsby has thrown because she hates being around the West Eggers. In-between these two cities is a barrier of water, they water represents the barriers in life that keep people apart from the ones they love. (www.fcps.edu)

Gatsby also uses the decline of the American dream as a literal element in the book. As Nick explains in chapter nine that the American dream was based upon discovery, individualism, and the pursuit of happiness. The 1920s corrupted this dream after World War I ended and credit was born. People started being able to afford things that they usually couldnt and credit created more debt than wealth because in the 1920s it was easy not to pay for things. The cost of living sky rocketed and people started loosing their homes, cars, and families fell apart due to stress. This chaos killed the American dream and totally struck down the stock markets. The plot of the novel reflects this when Gatsbys dreams of being with Daisy Buchanan are struck down by the difference in their social classes and the characterization that impacts her lifestyles. (www.sparknotes.com) Fitzgerald also symbolizes the downfall of the American dream in the 1920s by the two cities East Egg and West Egg. The parties that Mr. Gatsby threw in the novel were symbolic to the parties that were thrown in the 1920s when the Jazz Age was introduced. According to sparknotes.com his parties helped play a role in corrupting the American dream. Tom and Daisy Buchanan as well as Myrtle Wilson and Jordan Baker are also a symbolic element of the corruption of the American dream because of their ignorance.

The definition of a tragic hero is one that is a person of significance, has a reversal of fortune, contains a tragic flaw, and is responsible for their own fate. In The Great Gatsby, the main character, Mr. Gatsby is a tragic hero. Mr. Gatsby was a rich man, and in the 1920s wealth was very important. Mr. Gatsby knows that there were reasons for the actions that he takes upon. His actions lead him to pain and disaster. (www.fcps.edu) He was brought up in a less fortunate family and became a man of wealth, even though he earned his money through illegal matters. Another characteristic of being a tragic hero is being a noble man. Mr. Gatsby proves he is noble with his undying love for Daisy. He has spent his whole life lingering onto something that is only going to doom him in the end. Not only did he change his misfortune and better himself for Daisy, but also raised his social status. His biggest goal and dream falls apart at the end of the novel when reuniting with Daisy doesnt work and he dies tragically at the end of the novel. At his funeral, all the women and men that came to his parties didnt show up. Not only did he loose the one he loved, but he lost his life and all of the people he thought cared about him didnt This made him as a heartrending hero have a proper ending to life. (www.fcps.edu)

Flowers were another element of symbolism. A flower is a symbol of beauty, grace, and love. (www.fcps.edu) In the novel, Gatsby compares Daisy to a flowers. Fitzgerald says in the book, You remind me of a- of a rose, an absolute rose. (Fitzgerald 19)

In conclusion, The Great Gatsby is a significant novel that has many uses of symbols and symbolism that make the novel even better than it already is. Colors, characters, actions, and ideas are many of the symbolic elements used in F. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby.