In “The Great Gatsby” there are many symbolic locations and objects, but the deepest ones are the ideas behind the Valley of Ashes, Eckleburg's Eyes and the Green Light at the end of Daisy's dock. This essay will analyse these locations and objects, and various possibilities for ideas will be presented.
Firstly, our focus will be directed towards the Green Light, located at the end of Daisy's dock, a little light warning boats of a present structure during inclement weather, by constantly shining and emitting a faint green glow. Right across Gatsby’s dock, it becomes his symbol of Daisy. “...he stretched out his arms toward the dark [...] I glanced and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have …show more content…
Green means rebirth, here it's their rebirth together. Daisy is a beacon, pulling Gatsby out of the darkness.
Nick here describes the light as hope - everyone will “stretch out their arms” in attempt to reach it- we all generally , “stretch out our arms” hoping to reach our own light. In this case the green light symbolises something different to each individual, but it all comes back to the same idea: it's the image of our hopes that we will all attempt to grasp. Gatsby's hopes were so unlikely that he surpassed them and almost won Daisy, had Tom not mocked him...
Second symbol is the Valley of Ashes, which in the novel is about the difference between the wealthy and penniless. The Valley is home for the poor factory employees who provide for the wealthy lifestyle of the residents of West Egg. This area of industry is engulfing the workers in the dirt of its industries. This burial has a meaning: those who fail to climb to the top, are forgotten and left to feed the victorious. The valley is a place of despair,. Proof of this is how Myrtle Wilson is the is the only clean, neat resident- she hopes that Tom will be her ticket …show more content…
The billboard is neglected :“But his eyes, dimmed a little by many paintless days, under sun and rain, brood on over the solemn dumping ground”. The ancient values of America, which Nick goes back to resume with in the midWest, are non-existent from the East. God seems to ignore America, leaving the billboard to gaze upon people who abandoned their moral values for wealth. Moreover, the eyes show the vast exploitations . The eyes stare on the characters as they pass underneath it, the novel equates them to God. He describes to Michaelis, what he yelled at her now life-less wife upon discovering her affair, “‘and I said “God knows what you’ve been doing, everything you’ve been doing. You may fool me, but you can’t fool God”!
The eyes could also suggest how the American Dream works and its hollowness. Proof of this are the three characters: Tom, Gatsby and Myrtle where they smuggle and have afairs. However, the eyes look as if to say it’s one big lie – The thought of everyone living the dream is utopian. However, the American dream also contains double standards and manipulation, such as Tom and Daisy using people and not treating them equal to themselves; or how, everyone believes that Gatsby is responsible for the car accident, so no one shows up to his funeral, whereas when he had a party half the city
Firstly, our focus will be directed towards the Green Light, located at the end of Daisy's dock, a little light warning boats of a present structure during inclement weather, by constantly shining and emitting a faint green glow. Right across Gatsby’s dock, it becomes his symbol of Daisy. “...he stretched out his arms toward the dark [...] I glanced and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have …show more content…
Green means rebirth, here it's their rebirth together. Daisy is a beacon, pulling Gatsby out of the darkness.
Nick here describes the light as hope - everyone will “stretch out their arms” in attempt to reach it- we all generally , “stretch out our arms” hoping to reach our own light. In this case the green light symbolises something different to each individual, but it all comes back to the same idea: it's the image of our hopes that we will all attempt to grasp. Gatsby's hopes were so unlikely that he surpassed them and almost won Daisy, had Tom not mocked him...
Second symbol is the Valley of Ashes, which in the novel is about the difference between the wealthy and penniless. The Valley is home for the poor factory employees who provide for the wealthy lifestyle of the residents of West Egg. This area of industry is engulfing the workers in the dirt of its industries. This burial has a meaning: those who fail to climb to the top, are forgotten and left to feed the victorious. The valley is a place of despair,. Proof of this is how Myrtle Wilson is the is the only clean, neat resident- she hopes that Tom will be her ticket …show more content…
The billboard is neglected :“But his eyes, dimmed a little by many paintless days, under sun and rain, brood on over the solemn dumping ground”. The ancient values of America, which Nick goes back to resume with in the midWest, are non-existent from the East. God seems to ignore America, leaving the billboard to gaze upon people who abandoned their moral values for wealth. Moreover, the eyes show the vast exploitations . The eyes stare on the characters as they pass underneath it, the novel equates them to God. He describes to Michaelis, what he yelled at her now life-less wife upon discovering her affair, “‘and I said “God knows what you’ve been doing, everything you’ve been doing. You may fool me, but you can’t fool God”!
The eyes could also suggest how the American Dream works and its hollowness. Proof of this are the three characters: Tom, Gatsby and Myrtle where they smuggle and have afairs. However, the eyes look as if to say it’s one big lie – The thought of everyone living the dream is utopian. However, the American dream also contains double standards and manipulation, such as Tom and Daisy using people and not treating them equal to themselves; or how, everyone believes that Gatsby is responsible for the car accident, so no one shows up to his funeral, whereas when he had a party half the city