Symbolism In The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a classic novel which portrays the different social classes and dreams. The central character Jay Gatsby dreams of winning back Daisy Buchanan and being part of the aristocracy. He does everything he possibly can to win her back and his blind ignorance of reality stops him from seeing the obvious fact that he can’t repeat the past.

Gatsby is a dreamer and is described as having an “extraordinary gift for hope,” which marks him out as unique and is the reason for his ignorance to reality. When Gatsby dreams he believes that he can make it happen, even though “foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams.” His dreams leave a path of death and destruction but this doesn’t stop Gatsby from going after

Throughout the novel Fitzgerald uses the colour “green” to symbolise dreams. The first time we are introduced to Gatsby he is reaching out towards the “green light” across the darker waters of West Egg where he lives. Green can be seen as greed or jealousy. It goes back to Shakespearian times when he called it “the green eyed monster.” The green light which Gatsby is reaching for seems to be on East Egg which is where Daisy lives. It is flashing which seems to hypnotise Gatsby but just as you can’t physically touch light then Gatsby will never be able to achieve his dream. Gatsby does not want Daisy for herself but because marrying her would be “like marrying the King’s daughter.” If he marries Daisy then he has a way into the aristocracy which is his ultimate dream. The other characters, Daisy and Tom (her husband, are seen to be

It is a glamorous city where people are socially mobile; cars allow people to travel to different communities and to mingle with people from different social classes. Tom attacks Gatsby by calling him a “Mr Nobody from Nowhere.” Tom is basically tearing and mocking Gatsby's "fake" identity and attacking his nouveau riche class whilst showing his condescending attitude towards him. Tom knows that Gatsby made his money through questionable means, not much is known about him and add to this the fact that he's not from an affluent family and therefore according to Tom, Gatsby is not good enough for the likes of Daisy, from the upper class. This insult seems to destroy Gatsby in Daisy's eyes and she drifts further and further away from him. Which links to the glass ceiling portrayed between Gatsby and the aristocracy, it is a concept which means that you can see your dreams and it feels like you can reach out and touch them but they are not tangible. Gatsby was so close to achieving his dream but it was not to be. In addition to this Gatsby asks too much OF Daisy. He asks her to “say you never loved him!” Daisy can’t say this as she did love Tom at one point and proof of that is her and Tom’s daughter. Daisy says to Gatsby; “you ask too much. I love you now, isn’t that enough?” He’s pushing her and