Archetypal Analysis Of The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

Archetypal Analysis of The Great Gatsby The Great Gatsby is a novel published in 1925 written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Nick Carraway is the narrator and also Daisy Buchanan’s cousin. Daisy is wed to the strong, rich, Tom. However, Daisy begins to question her marriage after her re-encounter with the famous and charming Mr. Gatsby. The Great Gatsby is known for its controversy for all of the symbols and meanings throughout the novel. Many symbols are explicit, while others remain hidden. The main symbols of the book are colors, Dr. T. J. Eckleburg’s sign, money, and the green light. The colors yellow and gold are mentioned numerous times throughout the novel. The yellow cocktail music, the two girls in twin yellow dresses, and Gatsby’s car

Phaethon tried to drive the sun chariot for a day and fails miserably (“The Great Gatsby”). Gatsby does not drive a sun chariot, but instead a bright yellow car. He tries to capture Daisy’s heart with his car but also ends up

T. J. Eckleburg’s sign has a lot of meaning as well. The sign is for an eye doctor’s business which never opened (“The Great Gatsby”). It symbolizes blindness. Gatsby is too in love with the idea of Daisy that he does not see her for who she is. She is nothing but money. Tom is blind to see his hypocrisy (“The Great Gatsby”). To Tom it is okay to have a mistress. His mistress is Myrtle Wilson. Once Tom starts to see his wife having feelings for another man, it is completely different and unacceptable. Before Myrtle dies, she blindly rushes to the car with Daisy and Gatsby inside, and gets killed. More examples of blindness in the novel are: “The little dog was sitting on the table looking with blind eyes through the smoke” (Fitzgerald 37), “Blinded by the glare of the headlights…” (Fitzgerald 55), “The east was haunted for me… distorted beyond my eyes’ power of correction” (Fitzgerald 178).
Money represents control (Lockridge 12-13). Money gives Gatsby control over all of the elements except one. His car can control earth. His hydroplane can control water and air. He cannot control fire. In science, heat corresponds with the greek letter delta. Delta is most commonly used for a “change” in something. Gatsby cannot control change. This is why he and Daisy do not end up together. It just so happens that the day Gatsby died was “Certainly the warmest” day of the summer with “broiling” heat (Fitzgerald 114). After Daisy kills Myrtle in Gatsby’s car, Nick describes it as a