“You never really know what’s coming; a small wave, or maybe a big one. All you can really do is hope that when it comes, you can surf over it, instead of drown in its monstrosity.” F. Scott Fitzgerald illustrates this in his novel The Great Gatsby. Told from the perspective of Nick Carraway, the novel is centered on the life of Jay Gatsby, a poor-made-wealthy man who strives to win back his long-lost lover Daisy Buchanan. Daisy is married to another, haughty man who is wealthier than Gatsby. Throughout the novel, water plays an immense role in the story. Fitzgerald successfully uses water as a symbol to portray Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship and the unachievable American dream. Water is successfully used as a barrier to portray Gatsby and
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When the rain is pouring down during Gatsby and Daisy’s reunion, the mood created is tense and sorrowful. “For half a minute there wasn’t a sound… Gatsby, his hands still in his pockets, was reclining against the mantelpiece in a strained counterfeit of a perfect ease, even of boredom” (86). Gatsby and Daisy are very coarse when they are first reunited. Neither of them is extremely happy to see each other, and there is a very earnest mood between them both. Once the rain stopped, Gatsby and Daisy are less stiff, and there is more of a convivial mood between the two of them. “After half an hour, the sun shone again… there was a change in Gatsby that was simply confounding. He literally glowed” (88-89). When the rain stopped, Gatsby is relieved as he could finally enjoy his time with Daisy and show her how hard he worked the past five years. The scene uses rain to reinforce the varying tone of the interaction between Daisy and Gatsby. The rain at Gatsby’s funeral gives a depressing tone. “Blessed are the dead that the rain falls on” (174-175). The rain at his funeral gives a sense of purification for Gatsby. By calling him blessed, Fitzgerald is saying that the rain is purifying him, just like a baptism. This gives the reader a strange sense of hope while keeping the tone depressing. Gatsby’s funeral scene in the novel is overall very vehement due to the use of rain. Rain is used to illustrate the varying …show more content…
Gatsby’s pool is really only for show, and a way for him to act superciliously towards Tom, Daisy’s husband. In the 1920s only extremely wealthy people had pools in their backyards. By dying in a pool, Fitzgerald shows that the wealth and extravagance the first class craves lead to Gatsby’s downfall. “’I’m going to drain the pool today, Mr. Gatsby. Leaves’ll start falling pretty soon, and then there’s always trouble with the pipes.’ ‘Don’t do it to-day,’ Gatsby answered. He turned to me apologetically. ‘You know, old sport, I’ve never used that pool all summer?’” (153). By not using the pool all summer, this suggests that Gatsby does not really want to live a life where appearances are the most important aspect. Gatsby’s death in a pool also resembles a baptism, along with his funeral. The idea of cleansing and purifying reveals that when Gatsby dies, he is getting rid of everything he did his whole life to be reunited with Daisy. This gives the reader yet another sense of hope that relieved Gatsby of all his mistakes and that it would grant him peace in the
When the rain is pouring down during Gatsby and Daisy’s reunion, the mood created is tense and sorrowful. “For half a minute there wasn’t a sound… Gatsby, his hands still in his pockets, was reclining against the mantelpiece in a strained counterfeit of a perfect ease, even of boredom” (86). Gatsby and Daisy are very coarse when they are first reunited. Neither of them is extremely happy to see each other, and there is a very earnest mood between them both. Once the rain stopped, Gatsby and Daisy are less stiff, and there is more of a convivial mood between the two of them. “After half an hour, the sun shone again… there was a change in Gatsby that was simply confounding. He literally glowed” (88-89). When the rain stopped, Gatsby is relieved as he could finally enjoy his time with Daisy and show her how hard he worked the past five years. The scene uses rain to reinforce the varying tone of the interaction between Daisy and Gatsby. The rain at Gatsby’s funeral gives a depressing tone. “Blessed are the dead that the rain falls on” (174-175). The rain at his funeral gives a sense of purification for Gatsby. By calling him blessed, Fitzgerald is saying that the rain is purifying him, just like a baptism. This gives the reader a strange sense of hope while keeping the tone depressing. Gatsby’s funeral scene in the novel is overall very vehement due to the use of rain. Rain is used to illustrate the varying …show more content…
Gatsby’s pool is really only for show, and a way for him to act superciliously towards Tom, Daisy’s husband. In the 1920s only extremely wealthy people had pools in their backyards. By dying in a pool, Fitzgerald shows that the wealth and extravagance the first class craves lead to Gatsby’s downfall. “’I’m going to drain the pool today, Mr. Gatsby. Leaves’ll start falling pretty soon, and then there’s always trouble with the pipes.’ ‘Don’t do it to-day,’ Gatsby answered. He turned to me apologetically. ‘You know, old sport, I’ve never used that pool all summer?’” (153). By not using the pool all summer, this suggests that Gatsby does not really want to live a life where appearances are the most important aspect. Gatsby’s death in a pool also resembles a baptism, along with his funeral. The idea of cleansing and purifying reveals that when Gatsby dies, he is getting rid of everything he did his whole life to be reunited with Daisy. This gives the reader yet another sense of hope that relieved Gatsby of all his mistakes and that it would grant him peace in the