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F scott fitzgerald use of symbolism
Fitzgeralds use of symbolism
F scott fitzgerald use of symbolism
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F scott fitzgerald use of symbolism
Fitzgeralds use of symbolism
F scott fitzgerald use of symbolism
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Green is archetypally associated with wealth, envy, and life. One example of green being used in the novel is that it is the color used for furnishing Gatsby’s car. Although the outside of his car is yellow to certify that everyone is aware of his wealth, the area that he inhabits while driving is green to remind him of the wealth he had built himself. When Nick is in the car, he describes it as a, “green leather conservatory” (47). The use of the word conservatory reveals to the reader that Nick feels like it is something of a spectacle seeing how a conservatory holds things that should be looked at.
Color is an essential part of everyday life and the world around us. Colors convey meaning when words cannot. In The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald uses color as a literary device to progress the story, create setting, mood, and develop and develop characters. Fitzgerald’s use of color shows the differences in class by describing the character, their surroundings, and their possessions with color.
The 1920s was a time of flamboyance and wealth in the upper class. Jay Gatsby, a man of old money, threw over the top parties, in which he would spend his money very nonchalantly. The ambiance of his parties greatly illustrated the upper class of the time. The author uses symbolism and characterization to support the central idea that the upper class was very careless, wealthy, and extravagant. Gatsby’s parties are luxurious, glamorous, and over the top.
In the novel “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author uses many differnt retorical devices to add a personal flare to his work. He uses diction, symbolism, and irony to adress many different themes. These themes include Materialism, The American Dream, and includes a sharp and biting ridicule on American society in the 1920’s. The main point of Fitzgerald, arguement is one where he sharply criticizes the Society of the time.
Wanting to gain status, Gatsby shows his wealth by throwing extravagant parties and purchasing expensive items to display. To announce himself as a man of wealth to the New York upper class, he purchases a “factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool, and more than forty acres of lawn and garden” (5), his mansion in West Egg. It is here that he chooses to throw parties every weekend, where everyone shows up, though rarely people are actually invited. It is here that he is able to show off the true extent of his wealth to other rich folk. For example, in his library, he has a collection of “absolutely real” books, rather than “durable cardboard” (45), expected by Owl Eye, and attendant of one of Gatsby’s parties.
Color Symbolism in The Great Gatsby The ‘roaring twenties’ were a period of great social change. This time period was an easy time for the upper class, characterized by mass spending, boisterous parties, and carefree actions. The affluent lived seemingly perfect lives, however, much of this was just a façade. In reality, the lives of the rich were ‘gilded’, alluring on the outside, but tarnished on the inside.
In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald exhausts numerous colors throughout the novel to demonstrate different aspects of the changing times. He associates colors like yellow, white, blue and gray with certain characters as well as specific topics in the novel. The color gray is associated with the character Jordan Baker as well as with the topics of moral and sexual ambiguity. Fitzgerald also demonstrates the use of color psychology in The Great Gatsby, thus causing the audience to acknowledge perceptions of those colors.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby describes the life of Jay Gatsby in the 1920’s. The novel shares his love story and his loneliness. A major question the author raises is how does wealth impact class structure and society? Fitzgerald answers this question through the distinction between “New rich” and “Old rich” and the significance of East and West Egg.
Gold symbolizes richness, wealthiest, happiness, success, promise. The author uses the color gold to indicate and imply the unwritten descriptions. At Gatsby’s parties even the turkeys turn to gold “...turkeys bewitched to a dark gold” (p. 41). This example is showing the amount of wealth and the atmosphere of Gatsby’s party. Jordan Baker’s character is affected by the color gold.
Society is constantly under the criticism of authors. Many writers seek to expose certain aspects of American society and their scorn of it. Edith Wharton and F. Scott Fitzgerald are renowned for their work on this subject. In The Great Gatsby and The Age of Innocence, Fitzgerald and Wharton reveal their cynicism of the societal elite; they find the elite as a severe detriment to American society. Through symbolism and the characterization of their main characters, Wharton and Fitzgerald similarly depict the societal elite as depriving American society from a promising future by refusing to let go of the past.
In many literary works, the wealthy are generally depicted as pretentious or cruel and authors tend to portray their personalities through various methods. In his work The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses literary techniques to distinctly characterize the wealthy. Doing so helps him communicate the work’s theme on the soulless nature of the affluent. Fitzgerald conveys his message by incorporating juxtaposition, effective diction, and suiting moods with his characters.
Gatsby’s life is filled with various colors which signify the messages Fitzgerald is trying to convey. Color symbolism plays an important role through the novel, The Great Gatsby. In the novel, the color green detonates Gatsby’s hopes and dreams, but in other characters it represents envy, jealously, and money. When Nick returns home from his cousins house, he spotted Gatsby outside on his dock: “—he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way…I glanced seaward—and distinguished nothing but a green light, that might have been at the end of a dock” (Fitzgerald 21).
The color grey often symbolizes dull and lifeless characteristics or a state of depression. During the 1920s people in the working class were described as “grey” as they chased their goals they could never achieve. The Great Gatsby is a story of people who try to gain and reach success in a world where social classes vary significantly. In his novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses the color grey in both characters and settings to portray the disillusionment of the American Dream through his characters' corrupt ambitions and amoral behavior.
In the Great Gatsby, the character Jay Gatsby shows off his abundant wealth through parties that he throws periodically, these are a result of excess consumerism. Through the character of Jay Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald shows how an excess consumerist approach to life can drive a person to rely on their material wealth to bring them happiness, this is done by showing off their affluence in often extreme ways to increase their name and status. The parties that Gatsby throws aren't meant to simply be a fun evening with friends, but have a deeper symbolic meaning. Due to his excess consumerist mindset, Gatsby’s parties are a statement of his wealth. They are a way in which he can show the life he has made for himself and get attention for it.
“And on Mondays eight servants, including an extra gardener, toiled all day with mops and scrubbing-brushes and hammers and garden-shears, repairing the ravages of the night before” (Fitzgerald.39). The novel The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald captures and reflects the lavishness wealthy people had and boasted of during the Roaring Twenties. The one character that is composed of all qualities seen in the era, is Jay Gatsby. Gatsby lives in West Egg, and is known for the magnificent parties thrown at his mansion,for his wealth, and for his status. Under his expensive, silky suits and bright, eye-catching smile, hides a manipulative, liar of a man.