Literary Devices Used In The Great Gatsby

Literary devices are tools in which writers use to convey their messages about a story. F. Scott Fitzgerald cleverly uses symbolism throughout the novel. He uses pathetic fallacy to describe the mood of a scene or time in the story. Fitzgerald has an excellent use of foreshadowing throughout the novel. F. Scott Fitzgerald uses the literary devices such as symbolism, pathetic fallacy, and imagery, to create a better meaning and understanding to his novel; The Great Gatsby.

To begin with, symbolism means the use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities, F. Scott Fitzgerald cleverly uses symbolism throughout the novel. The green light is a significant symbol within the book. Stationed on the other side of the lake at the end of Daisy

This passage reveals the importance of the green light and what it represents to Gatsby. The green light represents Gatsby’s dream which is daisy. The green light also represents the hope of attaining daisy to ultimately complete his goal of achieving the “american dream”. Similarly, another important symbol that Fitzgerald uses is Nick’s old broken mantle clock. Gatsby knocks the broken clock off of Nick's mantle, while having a reunion tea with daisy. “ I’m sorry about the clock” Gatsby apologized, “ It’s an old clock” Nick replies (87) The clock is meaningful because it represents Gatsby’s refusal to leave the past. Gatsby wants to abnegate the last 5 years of his past. He cannot move on from his goal; the american dream. By the same token, after the reunion of Daisy and Gatsby, Nick and Daisy are invited to go have a tour of Gatsby’s Mansion. Gatsby throws up an abundance of colorful shirts, at this Daisy cries, “ They are such beautiful

Scott Fitzgerald uses pathetic fallacy to portray the moods or emotions of a specific scene or time in the novel. For example, In chapter 5 when Daisy and Gatsby are going to meet for the first time in 5 years, the weather is dark and it is raining hard. “For half a minute there wasn’t a sound. Then from the living room I heard sort of a choking murmur and part of a laugh, followed by Daisy’s voice on an artificial note”(87) Said Nick. This passage is significant because the rain represents the atmosphere of emotions that Gatsby and Daisy have for eachother. When Daisy and Gatsby first converse, the atmosphere is miserable and awkward. This is accurately depicted by the rain. The second example of pathetic fallacy is in chapter 7; the climax of the novel. “Certainly the warmest , of the summer.” (114) Described Nick. This is the part of the chapter where everything is going really well for gatsby. Daisy and Gatsby are having an affair. This is the peak of their relationship.The weather in this chapter also represents the relationship between Tom and Gatsby. Tom and Gatsby are on edge and are ready for confrontation towards one