Symbolism in The Great Gatsby

A detailed Summary of Symbolism in The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald uses many symbols in order to emphasize its themes. These themes mostly have to do with the American dream and it's corruption. Many of the characters in this novel are striving towards greater wealth and status. They feel that once they get this everything will be prefect. This is in the classic American tradition except that it has been corrupted by the means they are willing to employ to gain their aspirations. Those who are already on the top of the financial and social ladder are a mockery to the American dream as well, they are careless and self-absorbed. They are not hard working in fact they are lazy and only seek to amuse themselves. They do what they want for they have always had their money to get them out of trouble. The dream is shown as much better than the reality turns out to be.

The theme of social status and class is very important in this novel. It gets in the way of almost every character and his or her dreams. East Egg and West Egg acts as a symbol of this theme. Tom and Daisy live in East Egg, which is far more refined and well bred. They have inherited their money and status so it has always been there and thus have no concept of what it is like to work for anything

. Nick and Gatsby live in West Egg which is for people who have the money but don't have status to back it up. The green light shines from the East Egg enticing Gatsby towards his ultimate goal Daisy who he has worked his whole life for and has already risen himself to his wealthy position in order to be closer to. Unfortunately, Daisy lives on East Egg across the bay form Gatsby. The barrier that the water creates between these two different worlds in symbolic of the barrier that keeps these people apart from one another and from much of what they want. Daisy has fun with Gatsby but knows she can never really be with him because he lacks the status that she needs.

Most of the people in the book are careless. There seems to be no fear of consequence or of judgment. That is why the eyes of T.J. Eckleburg are there. These eyes stare out from a billboard that looks over Wilson's garage. The eyes are always mentioned whenever Nick is there. They look over the situation and offer a kind of judgment on the characters and their actions. Wilson calls them the eyes of God, "God knows what you've been doing, everything you've been doing."(167) They are placed near Wilson's because that is where some of the most selfish acts take place:

Some common words found in the essay are:
East Egg, God God, Scott Fitzgerald, TJ Eckleburg, West Egg, green light, east egg, Nick Gatsby, Tom Daisy, american dream, Unfortunately Daisy, status green light, status green, west egg, money trouble, green light people, light people,

Approximate Word count = 833
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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Symbolism in The Great Gatsby

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