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Symbolism as a literary tool essay
Introducion paragraph on american literature during the great depression
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More handpicked essays just for you.
Symbolism as a literary tool essay
Introducion paragraph on american literature during the great depression
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
"But above the gray land and the spasms of bleak dust which drift endlessly over it, you perceive, after a moment, the eyes of Doctor T.J Eckleburg" (Fitzgerald 23). These eyes are more than what they appear to be. They are mounted on a billboard that watches over the Valley of Ashes, which stands between West Egg and New York City. This location is what makes Dr. T.J Eckleburg's eyes so significant and important to the book because the idea of watching over a grey and decayed society is how it relates to today. F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author of the popular 1920’s novel, The Great Gatsby, only mentions the eyes twice throughout the entire story, which leaves an impression that is key to understanding the novel.
In the novel The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the lack of morality and judgement in the story is pervaded by various symbols throughout the novel, but none are more startling and apparent than the Eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg which convey a message of judgement and instill a sense of unease in the characters who come across them. At the start of the story, Tom Buchanan takes Nick to the Valley of Ashes, where readers make the first connection to Eckleburg's eyes, “we walked back a hundred yards along the road under Dr. Eckleburg’s persistent stare... ‘terrible place, isn’t it,’ said Tom, exchanging a frown with Dr. Eckleburg” (Fitzgerald 20). The disembodied eyes are part of a faded billboard that stares across the barren and wretched terrain of the valley.
F. Scott Fitzgerald, the icon of beautiful lyricism, uses many intriguing patterns within his novel, The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald, in his writing of the 1920s, introduces the reader to the world after the Great War; a world of overindulged wealth, unrealistic dreams, and undeniable poverty. Where there is wealth it is not used in an honorable way; where dreams may form, they are impossible to accomplish due to their exorbitant standards; and where dust accumulates, there poverty gathers as well. Throughout his novel, Fitzgerald uses the pattern of dust and ashes to display his essential themes of immorality, poverty, and death.
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.
In a book about a tragic love story, one would not expect to find a deeper meaning behind the dangers of jealousy or peril of lust. However, in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, there is a deeper meaning beyond jealousy and love. In The Great Gatsby, the author uses an empathetic storyline as a symbol to unwittingly give a complex depiction of the nuisance that people create that not only destroy our world but our society and gives warning to what will occur if we continue the path of destruction. With this intention, the brilliant opinionated writer, expressed his opinion through symbols such as the characters he uses, the setting the story takes place in, and the objects he uses in the book.
In The Great Gatsby, a billboard of Doctor T. J. Eckleberg’s eyes serves as a representation of religion in American culture. After the killing of his wife, George Wilson equates the billboard of Doctor T. J. Eckleberg’s eyes to the all-seeing eyes of God, saying “God sees everything” while staring at the billboard. The placement of the billboard in the Valley of Ashes, a place full of waste and refuse, shows that Americans, especially in this time period, have discarded religion for the pursuit of material and physical satisfaction. Also in this scene, Michaelis asks George Wilson if he has a church he goes to, and says that George “ought to have a church … for times like this.” This futher represents the immorality of the 1920s, as people in America see church as a commodity to be used for formal occasions, rather than a place of worship and spiritual
A symbol in a novel is a concrete object that represents an idea or a set of ideas. Choose 3 symbols in the book and explain what they mean and how they function together to support a central theme. The Great Gatsby novel has various numbers of symbols that are descried and each symbolise very different things. Three symbols that this essay is going to further investigate are the green light, Gatsby’s gold and silver suit and the Valley of Ashes.
Ethos is an appeal to ethics, and means to convince one of the persuader’s credibility. Fitzgerald sets the stage with “the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg above the grey land.” The eyes from the billboard looking over the valley of ashes, the area between New York and West Egg, allude to those of God. All of the lies, dishonesty, and thievery that happened along the way to achieve the status that Gatsby and the Buchanan’s have, are all seen by God. The hard-working, loyal car repair man George Wilson “look[s] at the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg [in] the dissolving night” knowing that “God sees everything.”
Illusion of Gatsby v. Allusion to Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald’s greatest work, The Great Gatsby, is seen as an image representative of opulence, deception, and the period of the Roaring 20’s in America. The common themes allowed the novel to relate to the average reader’s life while also casting shade on the average American’s life. The viewing of Jay Gatsby’s convoluted life, shrouded past, and love affairs through Nicks Carraway’s narration caused The Great Gatsby to become an instant classic in the twenties, and to this day is still viewed in this way, resulting in Fitzgerald’s work to be read by almost every high school student in the United States. Due to The Great Gatsby’s vast array of readers, other sources have been able to utilize
"God sees everything," repeated Wilson. "That's an advertisement," Michaelis assured him” (Fitzgerald 88). This piece of text connects the eyes of Eckleburg to the eyes of God. In a way, that he sees all things and it is a sign of keeping people accountable for their wrong doings. “The eyes also symbolize the corruption of America’s people.
Through expert use of symbolism and metaphors Fitzgerald displays these characters immorality and the hollow, selfishness of their ambitions and their blatant lack of spirituality. However, the descriptions of Gatsby’s “extraordinary gift for hope” and Mr Gatz’ love for his son redeems the world from the
The valley of ashes also symbolizes the difficulties of the poor, like George Wilson, who live among the dirty ashes and lose their vitality as a result. THE EYES OF DOCTOR T. J. ECKLEBURG Another dominant symbol within this novel is the billboard eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg which is in the middle of the valley of ashes, right next to Wilson’s garage staring at the waste that careless capitalism has
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.
This is accomplished through the use of symbols such as the Valley of Ashes, The Eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg, and The Green Light. These 3 symbols play a huge roll in the novel for each of them are massively important in their own ways. Mid-way between New York City and West Egg, lies the Valley of Ashes. The Valley of Ashes is a dreary place symbolizing the moral descent of society. As described in the novel it is, “A fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens, where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air.”
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.