The Great Gatsby Number 5 Analysis

Eleven, two, one, four, twelve, one half… as the numbers consecutively appear throughout pages 83-87 they add to a sum of 1050. Whether this is intended by Fitzgerald or a mere coincidence, 1050 describes Gatsby’s memories in numbers. “ Five years next November,” (Fitzgerald 87). By breaking down the number 1050 the reader is able to create the numerical number order associated with Gatsby’s quote. November numerically is 11 however, Gatsby states that it is not yet November which would mean it is October or 10. The number 5 is the amount of time Gatsby and Daisy have spent apart. And the number 0 represents the amount of time that is left to waste in both Gatsby and Daisy’s life. By describing this scene in both numbers and words Fitzgerald creates greater meaning and depth to the plot in the Great Gatsby. “ I had the familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer,” (Fitzgerald 4). This statement is ironic because Nick is stating that summer is the new beginning when in actuality, with relation to the seasons, fall restarts the year. Similarly, the reader begins to realise that time does not stop. Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship is too much in the past. And time is the thing most prominent thing that makes it hard for them to maintain a relationship. Nick tells Gatsby he cannot repeat the past and Gatsby’s

Fitzgerald brings forth the idea, through time, that many of the characters in the Great Gatsby try to pursue their futures with too large of an influence from their past. He illustrates this by ending the novel as so: “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past” (Fitzgerald 180). However, one thing to keep in mind, if you don’t get to shore soon enough those boats are bound to