Telephone In The Great Gatsby Essay

The significance of the telephone holds important meaning throughout the novel but it is first introduced in the first chapter as the fifth guest at the dinner table. When the phone rings in the first chapter it best represents the hidden connection between wealthy East and West Egg to the lower class Valley of Ashes. An affair is typically known as a type of secret but with the affair between Tom and Myrtle it is well known across East and West Egg. Although it is well known, nobody dares to question their relationship because the thought of it is pushed aside even though it is clearly ringing in front of their faces. As Jordan sits with Nick at the table listening to Daisy and Tom argue Nick tries to create conversion with Jordan trying to distract them from Daisy and …show more content…
The black in the phone represents the death of morality and the unescapable doom of the majority of the characters. The chapter starts off when Nick says “what prayed on Gatsby”, basically the downfall of his persona, and although it is unclear to the reader, the phrase signifies a foreshadowing that Gatsby will go down one way or another. The rest of the telephone is made up of other symbols that appear throughout the rest of the book. The first symbol used was the changing weather throughout the novel and how they reflect the emotions and actions of the characters. The next symbol was the pearls Tom gave to Daisy that acted as a leech to show she was his property. The next symbol is the green light that represents the hope that Gatsby is reaching for that the reader eventually learns is the heart of Daisy. Lastly the telephone has a pair of cracked eggs on the back; these eggs represent East and West Egg, one gold and shiny and the other white with a small bit of glitter, to show the differentiated wealth of old and new money but the corruption which both