Symbolism In The Great Gatsby

Do you ever wonder why certain objects have more value than just their literal meaning? This is due to symbolism which gives certain ideas an underlying and more significant interpretation. Symbolism can be conveyed in many forms such as a red rose being associated with love or water being related with sadness. The novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald follows the narrative of Nick Carraway who is intrigued by the lifestyle of Gatsby. Throughout The Great Gatsby, symbolism is portrayed flawlessly and is critical to understanding the hidden messages in the novel. F. Scott Fitzgerald provides examples of symbolism in The Great Gatsby with automobiles, colors, and the green light which all represent a deeper meaning in the text as a whole.

Scott Fitzgerald’s incorporation of automobiles in The Great Gatsby largely contributes to the understanding of the text. For instance, after looking at Gatsby’s car with admiration, Nick describes it as “I’d seen it. Everybody had seen it. It was a rich cream color, bright with nickel, swollen here and there in its monstrous length with triumphant hat-boxes and supper-boxes and tool-boxes, and terraced with a labyrinth of wind-shields that mirrored in dozen suns” (Fitzgerald, 64). Nick’s description of Gatsby’s car vividly reflects the ideas of Gatsby’s status and power towards everyone. This reveals how Gatsby is open to expressing his achievements of wealth by exposing his car. As a result, cars in The Great Gatsby represent the social class and power of people in society. In another situation, Nick explains how Myrtle was hit by Gatsby’s yellow car by stating “The “death car” as the newspapers called it, didn’t stop; it came out of the gathering darkness,” (Fitzgerald, 137). By saying this, Nick is portraying the reckless nature of Gatsby’s car because it didn’t even stop. The crash could have easily been prevented if the people in Gatsby’s car were responsible. Clearly then, cars in the The Great Gatsby also symbolize the careless lifestyles of the characters. Therefore, the use of automobiles by F. Scott Fitzgerald helps to implement symbolism in The Great