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The Great Gatsby Mansion Analysis

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Michael Valderrama Hodgins AM Studies Block A 12/5/16 Gatsby’s Mansion Symbolism is the use of symbols to supply things with a representative meaning or to represent something abstract by using an existing object. Gatsby’s mansion is a symbol of himself, his love for Daisy, and a representation of the 1920s. James Gatz, the small town boy from North Dakota, dreamed of obtaining his American Dream. He perceived the American Dream as a way to obtain wealth and status in order to win the hand of the love of his life Daisy. This led him to create a platonic version of himself, idealizing Daisy, and his future. In order to create this version of himself he created Gatsby, the suave playboy, millionaire, and gentlemen. He lets his wealth be his image. On the outside he was a grand ostentatious figure with copious amounts of wealth and alcohol. But on the inside he was an insecure man with an unrealistic perception of the world around him. This can also be said for Gatsby’s Mansion. The house, like Gatsby changes. At different points it is described as "blazing with light...lit from tower to cellar" (p. 81) to being totally dark at the beginning of chapter seven. The house doesn't represent Gatsby's personality, it is the idea of getting Daisy to come back to him and to fit in with the times and the crowd on Long …show more content…

T.J. Eckleburg illustrates the 1920’s and Gatsby’s mansion beautifully as he compares Gatsby’s mansion to a house of cards, one blow from caving in. He stated “that if one brick was removed the whole library was liable to collapse.” (50). Ultimately, the inevitable collapse occurs, as Gatsby loses Daisy and dies. The culture of the wealthy Americans represented in The Great Gatsby (and 1920’s) was defined mainly by consumerism and excessive material wealth. With this unhealthy life style and foundation, the society just like a house of cards caved in by 1929 with the Great

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The Moral Decay of the Materialistic Although F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby debuted in 1925– before the Great Depression– it serves as a prophetic exemplification of the the material excess of the 1920s that drowned out signs of the coming Great Depression. The book’s plot follows the bootlegger Jay Gatsby as he pursues his old love Daisy Buchanan through flaunting his new extravagant lifestyle, mainly by throwing ostentatious parties. Yet, in the end, Daisy chooses her unfaithful husband Tom over Gatsby. Through Fitzgerald’s use of wealthy, materialistic characters, he comments on the effect of the material excess of the roaring twenties: moral corruption.

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Gatsby continuously hosts large gatherings to stock his house with “interesting people, night and day” so there is never a lack of vibrancy (90). However, as soon as they leave, Gatsby returns to the loneliness of his home. As the guests drive away, “a sudden emptiness seemed to flow [now] from the windows and the great doors” while Gatsby stands alone watching (55). Gatsby’s watches sorrowfully as his the energy drains out from his house. Later, when Gatsby loses his dream of attaining Daisy’s love

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F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby and "The Roaring '20s" by Kenn Allan both utilize imagery, symbolism, and foreshadowing to depict what living in 1920's America was like. All of these devices are used to set mood, tone, pace, and setting within their stories. The Roaring '20s is always less wordy than the Great Gatsby, but gets the point across just as well. Imagery is a literary device that is used in both the Great Gatsby and the Roaring '20s to portray mood and setting, as well as create an idea of what living in the '20s was like. In The Great Gatsby's case, the imagery creates an elaborate description of the scene, so the reader knows exactly what they are to be imagining.

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On one hand, Gatsby gains enormous wealth through his own effort from the bottom of the society, which could be regarded as “the great” from a practical perspective in his guests’ eyes. However, in the end, his success becomes just an illusion. His ultimate dream—Daisy’s love –cannot be gained even if he is that wealthy, and his tragic death indicates that “the greatness” of his striving is easy to be destroyed. On the other hand, “the great” also reveals that Gatsby used to be a great figure in his numerous guests’ eyes, when he is able to hold glamorous parties every week. However, ironically, eventually he is just a nobody that none of his friends except Nick care after his death.

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Gatsby’s life was never simple, he came from a poor farm family and had to work his way in the shadows of the rich, and failed many times before becoming the person he is. Sadly his goal of wealth is all he will ever be remembered for, even in death his father, like others, only recognizes Gastby’s hard work after seeing the house as proof of his son’s accomplishments. “...he looked around him now for the first time and saw the height and splendor of the hall and the great rooms opening out from it into other rooms, his grief began to be mixed with an awed pride” (Fitzgerald 168). The book parallels how American society may offer more opportunities for upward mobility, gaining wealth through hard work, and also the unrealistic parts that come with such dreams. Gatsby is a prime example of how he is only as great as his possession and grand lifestyle, and the parties he hosted.

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Gatsby is essentially heartbroken. The house that once symbolized so much opulence is now symbolic of the wealth Gatsby cannot obtain. The matter betrays him that Daisy chose her rich expenditures over Gatsby and his desires for the same wealth. Fitzgerald exercises symbolism to show the shift in Gatsby’s feelings from love to betrayal. Subsequently, the author uses vigorous metaphors to explain his eagerness to attain

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Throughout the novel, Gatsby displays his riches through his mansion, expensive car, and many other things. Nick even describes how extravagant Gatsby’s house is, saying, “The one on my right was a colossal affair by any standard—it was a factual imitation of some Hôtel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool, and more than forty acres of lawn and garden” (Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby 5). As Nick describes, Gatsby’s house is very large and modern, which shows his affluence. Before he became rich and privileged, Gatsby was James Gatz, a poor Midwestern boy who dreamed of becoming wealthy. This dream led Gatsby to do crazy things in order to make money, but it worked out for him in the end.

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The eponymous character was born the day he met Dan Cody and invented himself a new life. Ultimately, Gatsby created and fabricated his own ideal ‘identity’ to meet his expectations: “The truth was that Jay Gatsby of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his platonic conception of himself […] so he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen-year- old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end.” Two identities therefore arise: Jay Gatsby and James Gatz. Yet one can almost see the threads of James Gatz behind the Gatsby facade. With Daisy, Gatsby loses the carefully constructed identity: he reverts to the young soul seeking for his place in the world, with “a touch of panic” in his voice when he realises that Daisy has “slipped away [and become something] no longer tangible”.

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