Symbolism In The Great Gatsby

Jasen Hurley

Ms.Battista

Junior English Accelerated

3 February 2023

Money Can’t Buy True Love “Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life” (F. Scott Fitzgerald). The concept of trying to fit in and the stress of being loved is significant enough to take away one's life. F. Scott Fitzgerald knows how so, as in The Great Gatsby where Jay Gatsby finds the true meaning of love. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald develops Gatsby and Daisy’s pursuit of love as complicated through symbolism and conflict to demonstrate how love can be influenced by external factors. Fitzgerald uses symbolism to develop how the pursuit of love is complicated between Gatsby and Daisy to portray the importance of external factors. In

The light serves as a guide for Gatsby, when he glances upon the light, it reminds him to keep pushing forward. In chapter five while with Gatsby, Daisy revealed that the green light has no significance to her. In Gatsby’s eyes this conversation discloses the miserable reality that his dream is far from being fulfilled: “It had seemed as close as a star to the moon. Now it was again a green light on a dock.” (Fitzgerald 100). Daisy’s contrasting view of the green light goes to show how they both view the light in different ways. To Gatsby, the green light is no longer a symbol of hope, instead, the light has lost colossal significance and portrays Gatsby’s hopes and dreams as being out of reach. The contrasting perspectives Gatsby and Daisy have on the meaning of the green light goes to show how people have different views on specific symbols, based on how meaningful they are to them, or what they need them to mean. Additionally, Fitzgerald uses Gatsby’s shirts as a symbol of how Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship is complicated, due to the power of money. Gatsby understands the wealth his English shirts have, therefore, he throws them down the stairs to display the

For this purpose, Tom serves as an external factor and plays a huge role in creating conflict between Gatsby and Daisy. Tom is the catalyst for the downfall of Gatsby and creates conflict between Gatsby and Daisy. Tom’s goal is to serve as an interruption in Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship at any time he can. One way Tom is able to create conflict is by convincing Daisy to leave town with him following the murder of Myrtle Wilson: “But she and Tom had gone away early that afternoon, and taken baggage with them.‘Left no address?’ ‘No.’ ‘Say when they’d be back?’ ‘No.’” (Fitzgerald 175). Tom’s extreme wealth provides him with the ability to convince Daisy to leave town with him, leaving Gatsby behind in disbelief. Gatsby and Daisy’s complicated relationship is defined through Daisy leaving town with Tom. As a result of Tom’s wealth, Daisy realized Tom could provide her with more material comforts than Gatsby, therefore Daisy moved to Chicago with Tom. The significance of Daisy leaving with Tom portrays how external factors such as money create a complicated relationship between Gatsby and Daisy.As well as, Daisy leaving with Tom highlights how her and Gatsby are different, and were never on the same page following the murder of Myrtle Wilson. This being said, Tom serves as a distraction in