Great Gatsby Book Cover Analysis

Despite the common idiom “don’t judge a book by it’s cover,” book covers play an essential role in grabbing attention from potential readers. Book covers leave lasting impressions on people in a bookstore or in the appstore, and are more influential and eye-catching than a summary. With this knowledge in mind, most publishers choose flashy and memorable covers as a means of luring in an eager audience. However, for world renowned author F. Scott Fitzgerald, book covers serve a much more important purpose. Instead of choosing or designing a cover that draws attention, Fitzgerald and his publishers sought covers that contain references to the plot of his novels: specifically, those of The Great Gatsby. The novel follows the story an infinitely rich yet secluded man named Gatsby in pursuit to win the heart of his past lover; however, upon successfully obtaining her affection, his dreams start crumbling and turn to dust. The covers for The Great Gatsby reflect the content and context of this brilliant story via the use of cleverly subverted foreshadowing and references. When designing book covers, publishers all too often design plain covers with no illustrations or color pallet as a means of appealing to more mature audiences. Even when using this minimalistic approach to a cover, publishers still allude to the story in creative and interesting ways. One of these minimalistic covers features a plain black background …show more content…
The novel is less of a story and more of a cautionary tale about the dangers of obsession and classism, which gives more than enough material for symbols and symbolism. In the end, Jay Gatsby’s high hopes and high social standing lead him to all the greater a downfall as foretold by countless symbols, which now lay on the front cover of his story like a warning to people who seek knowledge on the man known as