Automobile Symbolism In The Great Gatsby

Automobiles in The Great Gatsby; a multipurpose symbol

In2006, the Victorinox company, famous for it’s “Swiss Army Knives” created the Wenger Giant; a knife with eighty seven tools and one hundred forty one different uses. It holds the Guiness record for “ Most Multifunctional Pen Knife”. Although this knife is a bit extreme, it represents the usefulness of a multipurpose tool. In the case of an emergency, or even just to open a can of soup, a swiss army knife is up to the task. Interestingly, multipurpose tools are not exclusively useful for everyday objects; they may also be used in literature. A single object or motif can serve to function as multiple symbols at the same time. This is the case in The Great Gatsby, where the automobile represents

This idea of materialism can be found throughout the novel, and one of the best examples of this is Gatsby’s car. Nick describes his experiences driving in Gatsby’s car and the reactions of the people in a funeral procession that they passed. “The friends looked out at us with the tragic eyes and short upper lips of south-eastern Europe, and I was glad that the sight of Gatsby’s splendid car was included in their sombre holiday.”(67) Nick seems to believe that the pain caused by the death of a friend is somehow eased by seeing a fancy car. This shows Nick’s materialism which is ingrained in him. He believes that admiring a car is more important than paying last respects to someone held dear. Again nick shows his love for possessions when he is describing Gatsby’s car for the first time. “‘It’s pretty isn’t it old sport?’ He jumped off to give me a better view. ‘Haven't you seen it before?’ I’d seen it. Everybody had seen it.”(63) Not only had Nick admired the car but everyone had admired Gatsby’s car. At the same time as people were coming to his parties and never even laying eyes on the host, they noticed car. This shows how materialistic the characters really are, that they care more about Gatsby’s possessions than Gatsby himself. But it is not only his car that is used to show materialism. It is Tom’s comments about car which proves his materialistic nature when he sees the car crash.

In The Great Gatsby however it serves a purpose that is far more complex. It is used to show, in a rather cynical way, the major ideas of the novel which are corruption, materialism and carelessness. These three things are very obvious in The Great Gatsby but are not always as clear in our day to day lives. It can lead one to wonder about the role cars play in our lives. Is it a positive one or is it more closely related to that in the novel? Whichever the case one can only hope that the future of cars is more promising than what it was in the