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Symbols In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

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The Significance of Symbols in The Great Gatsby Young children often dream of the most extraordinary things. They are so passionate about their ideas, it seems as if nothing can pull them away from it. Their little hearts are set on their dreams, set in their ways. As children grow and come to understand the world around them, society often diminishes those dreams; however, those who do not let their dreams slip through the cracks, and hold onto their ideas from the past, can lose sight of what is right. Oftentimes, people will compromise their morals in order to fulfill their deepest hopes and desires. In the author F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses multiple symbols to reveal the true corruptions of dreams and …show more content…

He only has eyes for Daisy. Every action in his life has been for her. Gatsby buys his mansion directly across from her home. Each night he stares at the green light and reaches for it, always striving to get a little closer: “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” (Fitzgerald 18). Gatsby and Daisy have a past relationship that ended when he went off to war; however, he never loses hope that things can go back to the way they were before. He will do whatever it takes to get it back, even if it means abandoning everything he has ever thought to be true and falling victim to societal views. The distance of the light symbolizes the hopes and dreams Gatsby is forever striving for, all surrounding Daisy. It shows how far and unattainable dreams can go. The colour green represents wealth and desire. He did whatever he had to do to acquire his fortune. He was able to justify the illegal business he takes part in because he believes it will translate into his dream of getting Daisy back. As Gatsby tries to reach his dream, he can lose sight of what is just and become filled with the overwhelming desire to sacrifice anything he

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F. Scott Fitzgerald is an author who is acclaimed for using a great deal of symbolism in his literature to illustrate and help readers understand the meanings of his work. Fitzgerald used many symbols in his novel The Great Gatsby which gave the story a whole new meaning in the sense that it has many underlying interpretations of the symbols. The story follows Jay Gatsby, a man who has one desire in life: to be reunited with his “golden girl” Daisy Buchanan, the love that he had lost five years earlier. Gatsby’s journey takes him from aridity to prosperity, into the arms of his treasured Daisy, and eventually his death. Fitzgerald’s use of the similarity in the colors gold and yellow in The Great Gatsby emphasize how wealth, social class, and the people in them are not as different as they may seem.

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Throughout many brilliant works of literature, a common item is placed amongst them: symbols. Symbols are often a key to further understanding a point the author is trying to convey to their readers. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel, The Great Gatsby, he utilizes the literary tool of symbols to illustrate a larger picture for his themes and characters within the novel. For example, the color green plays a prominent role in The Great Gatsby throughout the duration of the novel. However, the color has can have various interpretations.

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To the Buchanan’s, the only meaning of this light is to allow boats to see at night, but to Gatsby, the green light is there to symbolize his distance from Daisy and his jealousy of her husband and their old money (Fitzgerald 93). Gatsby is the only person who perceives the light in this way, and because of this it is clear that “his dream of Daisy and the life she represents...is an absurd and vulgar illusion” (Way). The delusions, however, go even further than that; Gatsby convinces himself for certain that Daisy will end her marriage with Tom Buchanan to be with him, and even persuades himself into believing that she never loved her husband, but has always loved only him

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In the story by F. Scott Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby symbolism is shown all throughout the story with Gatsby as he was in the war shows how he goes insane at times with other people. Another symbol used in the book is how the author uses “east and west eggs” to show two different villages where gatsby and daisy live. The most important symbol of the story was the green light at the end of daisy’s dock not only can symbolize the money that gatsby gained for Daisy but also shows Gatsby’s dream to change what happened, it gives Gatsby something to hope for. All in all Symbolism is shown all throughout the story with all the main characters but Gatsby stood out the most in the story; even being insane.

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He is greedy because he uses his wealth to try to win over Daisy. Gatsby buys a house across the bay from Daisy, and he can always see the green light shining toward him at the end of her dock, as Fitzgerald writes: “…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. Involuntarily I glanced seaward – and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away…”(Fitzgerald 19). The symbol of Gatsby reaching toward the light represents his longing for Daisy, but just like the light, she is far away. Gatsby has worked so hard to try to win her back.

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