Dallas Myers
Period 3
Colwell/Thomas
The Great Gatsby
In The Great Gatsby, written by F.Scott Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald embeds many essential symbols in this novel. The three most important symbols that are continuously repeated in this novel are Gatsby’s car, the green light, the color white, and T.J Eckleburg’s eyes that haunt over the valley of ashes. These three things will be dissected and interpreted for the reader to help further tie themselves to Fitzgerald's novel. In the American dream that was so desperately strived for, the car is always a symbol of the characters status. Gatsby’s car may be a symbol for the american dream, but it is also a symbol for a few other things. Gatsby’s car, as described by Nick, is that “It was a rich …show more content…
This is the more prominent symbol that is seen repeated over and over. When Nick first sees Gatsby, he is stretching “his arms toward the dark water in a mysterious way...trembling...i glanced seaward- and distinguished nothing except a single green light…”(21). Nick later discovers the green light is situated at the end of Daisy Buchanan’s dock. The color green is tied with life and wealth. Gatsby is reaching out to this because he is reaching for the promise of the future and his one true love, Daisy Buchanan. When Nick spots Gatsby with Daisy in his arms again he observes how, “it had occurred to him(gatsby) that the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever.”(93). Gatsby had tied Daisy to the green light not only because the green light was at the end of her dock, but also because she was also so close yet so far away, almost calling out to him. But he now has her removed from that pedestal and untied her from the green light now that he finally has her. In the infamous ending of the novel, Nick narrates that, “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us.”(180). Gatsby was seen to have one of the poorest upcoming in the characters. He started out as a dirt poor farmer and believed desperately in the American dream. The green light to him was the future and all of its promises, which is why he always reached out to it. All Gatsby ever wanted …show more content…
One of the ways the color white is interpreted is that fact that Daisy is commonly tied to the color white. When Nick first meets Daisy and Jordan he notices “two young women...they were both in white,”(8). The fact that Daisy is in a “fluttering” white dress represents how light and innocent she is interpreted as. Jordan is also in a white dress but throughout the novel she is seen as an instigator and a gossiper, proving the mixed interpretation. When Jordan first remembers Gatsby as well, she remembers him as “the officer in her (Daisy’s) white car.”(77). The car being white represents Daisy’s innocence as a young girl in her hometown of Louisville. The color also ties to Gatsby’s and Daisy’s young love, it was pure and beautiful like the color white. But Fitzgerald leaves a scene between Gatsby and a police officer attempting to pull Gatsby over for reckless driving. All Gatsby had to do is pull “a white card from his wallet, he waved it before the man’s eyes.”(68). This represents the corruption of the police force in the 1920’s. The reader is left to interpret the card for what it is, but it symbolizes just how easily Gatsby is able to corrupt something so pure and innocent as the color
Period 3
Colwell/Thomas
The Great Gatsby
In The Great Gatsby, written by F.Scott Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald embeds many essential symbols in this novel. The three most important symbols that are continuously repeated in this novel are Gatsby’s car, the green light, the color white, and T.J Eckleburg’s eyes that haunt over the valley of ashes. These three things will be dissected and interpreted for the reader to help further tie themselves to Fitzgerald's novel. In the American dream that was so desperately strived for, the car is always a symbol of the characters status. Gatsby’s car may be a symbol for the american dream, but it is also a symbol for a few other things. Gatsby’s car, as described by Nick, is that “It was a rich …show more content…
This is the more prominent symbol that is seen repeated over and over. When Nick first sees Gatsby, he is stretching “his arms toward the dark water in a mysterious way...trembling...i glanced seaward- and distinguished nothing except a single green light…”(21). Nick later discovers the green light is situated at the end of Daisy Buchanan’s dock. The color green is tied with life and wealth. Gatsby is reaching out to this because he is reaching for the promise of the future and his one true love, Daisy Buchanan. When Nick spots Gatsby with Daisy in his arms again he observes how, “it had occurred to him(gatsby) that the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever.”(93). Gatsby had tied Daisy to the green light not only because the green light was at the end of her dock, but also because she was also so close yet so far away, almost calling out to him. But he now has her removed from that pedestal and untied her from the green light now that he finally has her. In the infamous ending of the novel, Nick narrates that, “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us.”(180). Gatsby was seen to have one of the poorest upcoming in the characters. He started out as a dirt poor farmer and believed desperately in the American dream. The green light to him was the future and all of its promises, which is why he always reached out to it. All Gatsby ever wanted …show more content…
One of the ways the color white is interpreted is that fact that Daisy is commonly tied to the color white. When Nick first meets Daisy and Jordan he notices “two young women...they were both in white,”(8). The fact that Daisy is in a “fluttering” white dress represents how light and innocent she is interpreted as. Jordan is also in a white dress but throughout the novel she is seen as an instigator and a gossiper, proving the mixed interpretation. When Jordan first remembers Gatsby as well, she remembers him as “the officer in her (Daisy’s) white car.”(77). The car being white represents Daisy’s innocence as a young girl in her hometown of Louisville. The color also ties to Gatsby’s and Daisy’s young love, it was pure and beautiful like the color white. But Fitzgerald leaves a scene between Gatsby and a police officer attempting to pull Gatsby over for reckless driving. All Gatsby had to do is pull “a white card from his wallet, he waved it before the man’s eyes.”(68). This represents the corruption of the police force in the 1920’s. The reader is left to interpret the card for what it is, but it symbolizes just how easily Gatsby is able to corrupt something so pure and innocent as the color