Significance Of The Broken Clock In The Great Gatsby

In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald tells the story of Jay Gatsby through Nick Carraway, Gatsby's neighbors, point of view. Nick retells the story of Gatsby and the events that partook after Nick was drawn into the lives of the rich. Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald uses many symbols to help reveal insights about the characters and further develop the theme and overall meaning of the novel. Fitzgerald introduces one of the main symbols of the novel, the broken clock, partway through the novel. The symbol of the clock allows the reader to more clearly see Jay Gatsby’s character and wishes, as well as help to add a deeper meaning to the themes of the work and the work as a whole. The symbol of the clock is introduced …show more content…
As Gatsby rests his head on the clock, knocks it down, and catches it before it drops, the broken mantelpiece clock becomes a symbol of all of Gatsby’s interactions and beliefs about time. Therefore, the clock functions to show Gatsby’s dysfunctional relationship with time and his distorted perceptions of it. This is shown by the fact that the clock is so old that it no longer works, therefore the clock is stuck telling a past time. When Gatsby rests his head against the broken clock, symbolically, he is showing how he is also stuck in the past, and how he is using it to support himself; however, the past eventually fails him, just as the clock falls off of the mantle. This event helps to characterize Gatsby by revealing the depth in which Gatsby is stuck in the past, and how it has sub-sequentially affected every aspect of his life. As Gatsby was stuck in the past, wishing for the love of Daisy, he created a life that revolved solely around the events that happened before he went away to war. This shows just how obsessive Gatsby is about the past, and reveals the extent to which Gatsby would go to try to relive the past. In addition, when Gatsby catches the clock instead of letting it fall to the floor, he is representing his desire to reclaim the past, more than just repeat it. This wish that is revealed through the clock is an integral hope for Gatsby's character. Gatsby’s whole life …show more content…
The broken clock helps to depict the theme of the passing of time and the future. The clock helps to do this by symbolizing Gatsby's struggle with the passage of time and how he is trying to regain the events that happened in the past and make them his future as well. By presenting this view of Gatsby's hopes, the clock deepens the is theme as it helps to show Gatsby's main feelings about the passage of time, which therefore is parallel to the points that Fitzgerald is trying to make about the past and the overall meaning of the work. The symbolism behind the broken clock helps to contribute to the overall theme of the novel, as it shows that Gatsby's goal of achieving the American Dream is pointless, and will never be able to be completed. The symbolism allows Fitzgerald to present his views that the American Dream is a fraud, just like Gatsby, as it is unattainable and will lead to eventual despair. This contributes to the overall meaning of the story by injecting Fitzgerald’s view on the American Dream directly into Gatsby's character, to allow assumptions to be made about the American Dream as a whole. These assumptions made about the American Dream made based off of Gatsby's character are deepened by the symbolism behind the clock. As Gatsby spends all of his time and effort into trying to regain the past, as shown by his exclamation of “ ‘Can’t repeat the