As readers, we encounter many different books with many different storylines, but do we always grasp the allegories, or symbols, that the author uses throughout his text? Granted, some are more obvious than others, but we all can agree that just about every single book we’ve picked up, or will pick up in the future, will have some sort of symbol. In The Great Gatsby, there are a few symbols that F. Scott Fitzgerald uses to underline the main ideas throughout his text, but one in particular stuck out to me, the weather. Not only does Fitzgerald use the rain and the sunshine, but he also uses the seasons, summer and fall, to give his scenes deeper meanings. The weather provides meaning by representing Gatsby’s feelings, the heat between the characters,
A story can have unique ways to show how and what the characters are thinking and feeling. The Great Gatsby, the author, Fitzgerald, uses the weather and seasons to describe the mood throughout the story. Some examples are the rain in chapter five and heat in chapter seven. Fitzgerald does a good job of describing the emotions through the weather.
A motif in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby would be weather which reflects the moods of encounters between characters of this great American novel. In the fifth chapter, Gatsby meets his old flame Daisy while it is raining heavily which demonstrates the extent to which their reunion is awkward and melancholy. However, as the rain ceases and the sun appears, their love reemerges as the pair start to behave as though nothing had changed in regards to their relationship status. Another example of this would be the heated confrontation between Gatsby and Daisy’s husband Tom in the seventh chapter which occurs on the hottest day of the summer like the deadly brawl between Tybalt and Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare.
In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses weather to comment on the relationships of characters and cities. The Valley of Ashes is a valley of hopelessness everyone who lives there is poor and the sky is alway grey and filled with ashes. For example when the valley of Ashes is described in the beginning of the book (Fitzgerald 23) “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 houses and chimneys and rising smoke and finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air.” This examples gives the city a gloomy mood.
In a book about a tragic love story, one would not expect to find a deeper meaning behind the dangers of jealousy or peril of lust. However, in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, there is a deeper meaning beyond jealousy and love. In The Great Gatsby, the author uses an empathetic storyline as a symbol to unwittingly give a complex depiction of the nuisance that people create that not only destroy our world but our society and gives warning to what will occur if we continue the path of destruction. With this intention, the brilliant opinionated writer, expressed his opinion through symbols such as the characters he uses, the setting the story takes place in, and the objects he uses in the book.
Jay Gatsby, the title character of the novel “The Great Gatsby” is a man that can not seem to live without the love of his life. Trying to win Daisy over consumes Gatsby’s life as he tries to become the person he thinks she would approve of. What most readers do not realize is that Jay Gatsby’s character mirrors many personality traits and concerns that the author of novel, F. Scott Fitzgerald, had. In fact, Gatsby and Fitzgerald are similar in that they both had a girl they wanted to win over, took a strong stance on alcohol, and ironically both had similar funerals, also, both people also symbolize the American dream.
Weather Representing Emotions Normally weather and emotions are not associated, but throughout the novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald makes multiple references comparing the feelings of Jay Gatsby to the weather outside. He uses rain to represent the times of sadness or awkward situations. When those moods uplifted the clouds would break, and the sun would shine. Other times he would use heat to represent times of anger, or tension.
Furthermore, through the use of visual imagery, Fitzgerald sets a depressing mood that reveals that Gatsby and Daisy cannot begin a romantic relationship again because Gatsby’s hope is not in sync with nature. The rain illuminates
Gatsby’s dreams and aspirations in life are rather interesting and amazing as he goes about his life in the book. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald helps highlight the social, moral, and political issue that were very present during the 1920’s and today. Gatsby is the focus of the book as before the book began, he was an ex-soldier who came to wealth by some rather illegal ways. Daisy a married woman is his person of interest, who was his ex-lover 5 years before the book started. Gatsby’s actions, and words demonstrate a clear obsession with Daisy that seems to have no end.
The seasons mentioned in The Great Gatsby are symbolic of the progressionof time and emotion in the novel. According to Thomas Foster, author of How toRead Literature Like a Professor, seasons and weather is a way to show readers adiscrete way of what’s happening. On page 132 “From the ballroom beneath,muffled and suffocating chords were drifting up on hot waves of air”. This showsthat things are about to get heated in a few due to the heat explained in the book asdrifting up from bellow. The book is full of romance between people and the love ofone lady that’s causing most of the “heat” this summer.
From day one of Nick Carraway’s arrival, to the tragic ending of the Gatsby story, the weather continues to play a big part in predicting what’s to come. While reading, the weather might seem to be of little importance, but looking back, it’s hard to miss its meaning. The weather in The Great Gatsby, foreshadows character behaviors and gives insight on certain events and people in the novel. Fitzgerald uses the theme of weather through a combination of temperature and wind, rain storms, and hot summer days all while intertwining it into the character’s lives.
Weather and heat are frequently used to represent the setting of internal emotions within the characters. Therefore, Fitzgerald uses weather to symbolize Gatsby’s inner emotions and heat to symbolize the climax of the story and the anger
In the “The Great Gatsby”, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the novel contains several noticeable, but hidden, themes throughout the chapters that is difficult to comprehend or even often overlooked. The few noticeable themes that was brought to attention, is the inevitable dangers of obsession with another said character, commonly hinted at Gatsby, and the ill-known dishonesty amongst each character's. During the beginning arc of the novel, Chapter 3 first notes the entrance of Gatsby’s overall presence. However, when Nick finally bumps into a mysterious man after hours of wondering around passed, it's revealed that the man is none other than Gatsby himself - to which soon follows a conversation between the two gentleman's.
In the text, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses a wide range of literary techniques to convey a lack of spirituality, and immorality. Techniques such as characterisation, symbolism, and metaphors help to cement the ideas Fitzgerald explores. However, there are some features to this world that redeem it. Which are displayed through expert execution of techniques like characterisation, contrast, and repetition. The world of The Great Gatsby is home to many morally corrupt and spiritually empty characters however, the world itself is not a spiritual and moral wasteland.
Throughout many brilliant works of literature, a common item is placed amongst them: symbols. Symbols are often a key to further understanding a point the author is trying to convey to their readers. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel, The Great Gatsby, he utilizes the literary tool of symbols to illustrate a larger picture for his themes and characters within the novel. For example, the color green plays a prominent role in The Great Gatsby throughout the duration of the novel. However, the color has can have various interpretations.
