How Does Fitzgerald Use Symbols In The Great Gatsby

To begin, The Great Gatsby was written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It was published in 1925. It is a fiction novel that tells the truly tragic story of Jay Gatsby, a hopeful romantic who chased the American Dream, a self made millionaire in love with a wealthy married woman. This story follows Nick as he watches the treacherous tail of Jay Gatsby. Fitzgerald is a brilliant writer who loves the use of symbols. Throughout this intricate novel, Fitzgerald uses symbols to foreshadow, portray, and explain his characters. Through symbols the reader is able to see what lies ahead, understand how the characters feel, and put pieces together that would not be possible without these symbols. In this novel, there are specific symbols that stand out. They

Daisy is the married woman who Gatsby is in love with. Both Daisy and Gatsby are wealthy; they live in beautiful homes that face across from each other. Between them is a river of water, The green light sits across the river. Gatsby sees this light from his house, and he believes in it with his entire heart. For Gatsby the light is his hope, his envy, his love, his desire. He reaches for this light as he reaches for Daisy. He wishes and hopes to have her love. Gatsby himself breathes life into this green light, which is why it represents so much. On page 25 Nick states, “He stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and as I was from him I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock”(Fitzgerald). This Introduces Gatsby’s emotions and how desperate he is for this. Gatsby’s love is real and powerful, but on the other side of the coin he’s reaching for it. He is stretching himself thin to achieve something that boils down to a dream not reality. The light shows that better than anything else. It shows the reader how truly far away Daisy is from him, and how far Gatsby is willing to go to get close to her

It is described as a place where ashes take the form of wheat and grow miraculously throughout the land. It’s a place covered in ash and smoke where houses are built of gray and people are made of smoke. People who crumble as they walk through the smoky air. People who have lost their hope, their dream. A barren land filled with soulless factory buildings which are full of hopeless people. The Valley of Ashes shows the moral and social decay that results from the socioeconomic gap caused by the immoral wealthy. The valley is between the Eggs and the city. It is a place in which the characters travel through, but give nothing except a glance. It is a place that is forgotten about. The wealthy characters fly through the valley on the way to and from the city thinking nothing of it. They drive in their fancy cars in their fancy clothes while impoverished, starving people work themselves to the bone right next to them. On page 27 we see the introduction of this terrible place. Nick states, “About half way between West Egg and New York the motor road hastily joins the railroad and runs beside it for a quarter mile so as to shrink away from a certain desolate area of land. This is a valley of ashes a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens, where ashes take the forms of