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Similarities Between The Great Gatsby And Their Eyes Were Watching God

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Someone once said,”there is only one happiness in this life, to love and be loved.” Love can lead people to fulfill their desires but love can also hurt. The idea of love gives an image of happiness and one yearning for what they do not have. In the novels “The Great Gatsby” by F.Scott Fitzgerald and “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston, written during the 1920’s, introduces key characters striving to obtain their goals in life of love. Fitzgerald illustrates love towards the main character, Jay Gatsby, seeking the love of Daisy Buchanan who struggles to recreate the past love with her. However, Hurston introduces Janie Crawford who wants to fulfill her dream of finding the pure love that she has always wanted. But along the …show more content…

For instance, Fitzgerald uses the green light to represent Gatsby’s aspiration of gaining Daisy’s love. At first Nick saw Gatsby reaching out his arm towards the green light “trembling”(Fitzgerald 12). This emphasizes that Gatsby is being illuminated by the green light of his hopes for love that he could not have. The author uses the green light throughout the novel as the situation between Gatsby and Daisy alternation to compare it with Gatsby’s feelings being close to …show more content…

Janie Crawford has been seeking for true love that resembles the pear tree of the youthful pure love. To illustrate, “Janie had spent most of the day under a blossoming pear tree in the backyard”(Hurston 10). This shows her envisioning her expectations of happiness through the blooming of the tree “creaming and frothering with delight”(11). She believes that the love life she must have has to be similar to how the tree is given off of that shows the love and sexual awakening of the main character. In addition, it said,”here Nanny had taken the biggest thing God ever made, the horizon-for no matter how far a person can go the horizon is still beyond you”(89). Janie has been living Nanny’s life since she married Logan and the horizon symbolizes unreachable dreams that every person might want but could not have. Later on, she meets two characters name Joe Starks who gave her love and affection but did not let Janie have a free life until she met Tea Cake that gave her everything she wanted such as happiness, love, and laughter. Janie’s dream were always far to accomplish but when she reaches them, it didn’t last long because she faced obstacles that blocked her way from achieving happiness in

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The novels The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Their Eyes Were Watching God follow the lives of Jay Gatsby and Janie Crawford, respectively, exploring the depths of their love life and personal values. Wealth plays a big part of each story, however, with differing importance to the main characters. Janie is not materialistic, and cares not how much money she has, but whether she is happy or not. Gatsby, on the other hand, cares only about wealth and convinces himself he is in love with Daisy, equating financial success with love and happiness. Their class, the themes and materialism that is shown in the novels reveal the place of wealth in their lives, showing how commodification is either negative or positive.

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Love, life, and death. All of these things is what really gave these characters ambition. The main ambition of each character was different but over all the same. In the novel The Great Gatsby, Gatsby just wanted to live a happy life with Daisy and make her happy. And in the other novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, Tea Cake he wanted to be with Janie and make enough money for both of them.

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F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote a novel, known as The Great Gatsby. The setting took place in the summer of 1922, in Long Island. In the novel, Fitzgerald uses motifs and symbols throughout the work. Some of the significant motifs are gold, time, pink suits and green light. All of the motifs seems to point toward ‘dreams and illusions versus reality’ and the ‘class statuses differences’ as a themes of the novel.

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The Wrong Road to the Right Place Satisfaction is unreachable. There will always be a desire for more. For something that seems impossible. Yet one still strive towards it.

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Janie is the symbol of feminism and independence for women in the novel and shows her heroism in many instances. Some of her heroic qualities include determination, empathy, and

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The symbol of the green light in the book Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald shows the character Gatsby's dream and his hopeful ambitions. Throughout the book, the author uses many uses of symbolism in order to persuade the audience to empathise with gatsby. He then uses this point and paint a bigger picture of the American dream. Nick, the narrator of the novel, first sees the intent of the green light when he sees Gatsby reaching hopefully at a green light across the bay. The color green represents life, hope, and youth which is presented through Gatsby's ambitions.

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As Nick observes, the green light represents Gatsby’s unattainable dream, shedding light on the impossibility of Gatsby's quest for Daisy's love and the elusive nature of the dream itself. Through its presence, the green light serves as a reminder of Gatsby's humanity and the limitations he faces in his pursuit for Daisy. Furthermore, as the novel progresses, the green light takes on a deeper meaning. It reflects the shifting perceptions of the characters and the overarching themes of the narrative. In chapter 9, for instance, Nick ponders Gatsby's life and focuses on the green light that still looms over him.

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In the beginning of chapter two, Nick is describing the Valley of Ashes to the reader and introduces one of the key images which is the billboard with Doctor T.J. Eckleburg’s eyes. The Valley of Ashes represents the lack of morals and the social decay that is taking place in the upper during the “Gilded Age.” It also represents the struggles of the poor, specifically George and Myrtle Wilson, and the cycle that they are trapped in. The image of Eckleburg’s eyes is a reminder throughout the story that someone is always watching. They are first mentioned when Nick and Tom are on their way to see Tom’s mistress, Myrtle Wilson.

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Symbolism of The Green Light In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, ‘’The Great Gatsby’’, the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock serves as a symbol that brings together the themes of hope, Gatsby’s longing, and the nature of his dreams. Positioned just right across from Gatsby’s mansion, that green light calls for Gatsby and beckons him to come forward, just like it’s a beacon that gives him hope, representing his pursuit of love and the American Dream. The green light at the end of Daisy’s dock serves as a potent symbol of huge significance throughout the novel, becoming a recurring motif that represents all of Gatsby’s dreams. Fitzgerald introduces the green light into the novel early, describing how Gatsby ‘’stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way’’ (Fitzgerald 25) as he looks onto the beacon shining toward him.

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The green light is used to represent multiple things. The first thing it represents is Gatsby’s desire, his dream which is Daisy. To win Daisy would help Gatsby accomplish his American dream. The first time the green light is seen in the novel is when Nick sees Gatsby for the first time, Fitzgerald describes it as, "he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling.

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The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald contains multiple symbols that are significant throughout the story. The green light, the eyes of Dr. TJ Eckleburg, the Valley of Ashes, and East and West Egg are all symbols that teach us about the society and the characters in the novel. One significance that surrounds the overall basis of the story is the biblical references of the symbols. The eyes being the eyes of god, the valley of ashes referring to “the valley of death” in the bible, and East and West Egg representing the difference in old money versus new money.

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A. In many famous novels taking place in the past, you can see how much society has changed, but even with all of the change women are still expected to conform to society's views. Even though the expectations have changed it is still a constant throughout history and can be seen in many novels. Some of these novels are The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Their Eyes were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston.

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Justin Andrews Mrs. Barnes English 11 10 May 2018 Symbols in "The Great Gatsby" There are many themes in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott. Fitzgerald, but the American Dream is one of the central themes that is present throughout the whole book. West Egg represents people with new money, much like the American expansion West. The Green light appears in the beginning and end of the book and symbolizes Gatsby's hopes, dreams, and the money of West Egg. Gatsby’s mansion is a symbol for what the American dream can and cannot get you.

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764 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald continuously references a green light that Gatsby keeps on reaching for. The green light was significant by representing the theme of greed, being a symbol of Gatsby’s desire for Daisy, and serves as a motif for the American Dream. The color green in itself already illustrates the idea of greed and money. Gatsby already has everything anyone could dream for counting a house in West Egg, fame, and fortune, but still he is chasing after this light or in other words, chasing after the love of his life, Daisy. The light is a literary metaphor for Daisy since during the novel, once Gatsby reunites with Daisy the light begins to fade and reframes from reaching out for it.

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Throughout a lifetime, people endure the values of finding love and experience the hardships of the incluence of society. In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, the main character Janie Starks undergoes the search for love by being in a relationship with many men throughout her life. In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby a wealthy man is continously trying to get the attention of his long lost love, Daisy Buchanan. In both novels, the characters experience the journey of finding love and also experience the hardship of the influence of society. Even if it ends badly, love is worth it.

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