Symbolism In The Great Gatsby

The novel, The Great Gatsby, is a romantic drama telling the story of a man named Nick Carraway in 1920s New York City, and his peculiar position in between the so called “love” of two friends. Nick witnesses the sin and debauchery of the Eastern life, including: lies, adultery, and murder, which forever alters his life. F. Scott Fitzgerald is considered a master of symbolism, which plays a major role in his novels. Three of the most important symbols in, The Great Gatsby, that have the most profound impact being the books in Gatsby’s library, Gatsby’s medal from Montenegro, and the dog collar found in Wilson’s home. To the detailed oriented reader; the books that are fawned over by the character Owl Eyes are more than a mere transition from the party scene. These books are the key that finally opens the door to the ambiguous Gatsby. Particularly,

Gatsby explains, “. . . I was promoted to be a major, and every Allied government gave me a decoration-even Montenegro, little Montenegro down on the Adriatic Sea!”(Fitzgerald 66). While the majority of stories that Gatsby tells Nick during the car ride are found false later in the novel, this is one of the few stories that turns out to be true. Given Gatsby’s compulsive lying habit, it is interesting to note that of the two stories that are found to be true, the medal and going to Oxford, he carries both the medal and the picture of him at Oxford at all times. Gatsby acknowledges this, “Here’s another thing that I always carry. A souvenir of Oxford days. . .”(Fitzgerald 67). This habit of carrying personal items that are truthful to his actual life and not the life he tells everyone, is an implication that Gatsby has strong need of social and personal