Throughout novels there are recurring elements and literary devices that are known as motifs. Motifs are integral to a novel for they help to develop the novel’s major theme. Weather is a motif that can be frequently and fundamentally used over the course of a novel. In many instances, weather can be a pacesetter for the emotional tone of a certain time, such as on a rainy day the mood may be melancholy. Weather may also be used as a metaphor. Weather is used as a motif in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. Throughout The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses the weather to set the emotional tone of the novel and as a metaphor.
In The Great Gatsby, when the climactic confrontation between Tom and Gatsby occurs on the hottest day …show more content…
One particular scene that illustrates the heat perpetuating the confusion of the time is when Daisy says “‘But it’s so hot,’ …‘And everything’s so confused’”(Fitzgerald 125). Daisy is attributing the heat to her current confusion about whether or not to go to town. On a deeper meaning she was portraying the heat as her current stressful situation with Gatsby and Tom. This illustrates heats integral role in setting the pace of the novel. Also, when Tom, Daisy, Gatsby, Nick, and
Jordan arrive in their suite in New York, the current situation was summed up by the line, “the room was large and stifling…”(Fitzgerald 133).
Nick, through Gatsby’s wish, invites Daisy over to share a cup of tea. On the day of the meeting, a rainstorm drives through. The rain was constantly pounding down on the house and portrayed an annoying drizzle. The rain’s significance relates to how Gatsby was nervous when first reuniting with Daisy, as it has been a very long time since they had talked or seen each other. The encounter between the two was fairly awkward at first, as both of them didn’t know where to begin or what to say. The rain symbolized tension between the two, as well as set