Trees In The Great Gatsby

The “Roaring 20’s” as they were so called, was, and still is made out to be a time period bursting with exuberance and liveliness. We only heard about those who had achieved their impeccable pipe dream, yet never those - the overwhelming majority of the working class - who tried and tried again to achieve their aspirations, but typically hit rock bottom as a result. A certain renowned author, F. Scott Fitzgerald was one of the few of his time to realize this, with his publication of the American Classic, The Great Gatsby. The deuteragonist, Jay Gatsby, is an incredibly affluent man that is known in his vicinity for hosting superlative house parties. Everyone believes that he has truly achieved the American Dream, even Gatsby himself. However,

Putting the two together -- a black tree -- it is quite obvious that this tree is an implication of the death of Gatsby’s happiness. Daisy Buchanan is a wealthy married woman living in the same general area as Gatsby, and dated him nine years before the current setting, after which she lost contact with him and proceeded to marry another man, Tom Buchanan. Though Gatsby knows full well that Daisy is married, he still has his head in the clouds and envisions him and Daisy as destined to be. However, unbeknownst to him, Daisy has changed quite a bit after marrying her husband - becoming extremely money-hungry and shallow. So, as Daisy represents Gatsby’s “family” and happiness, the black tree in his yard is evidently symbolic of the corrupt nature of his future. On another note, the glasses and eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg also bring to light the true nature of the decadent American Dream. When Nick Carraway, our main character and narrator first encounters the billboard in Chapter Two, he describes the image in front of him as: “The eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg are blue and gigantic [..] [has a pair] of enormous yellow spectacles” (12). The yellow glasses are quite obviously covering the blue eyes. Yellow is symbolic for joy and happiness, while blue is symbolic of melancholy and depression. So, we have an outer layer of happiness, with a depressed core. This perfectly represents the corrupt American Dream.

However, as Nick grabs a book off of the shelf, “[Owl Eyes] snatched the book from [Nick] and replaced it hastily on its shelf, muttering that if one brick was removed the whole library was able to collapse” (47). Essentially, the apparent fragility of Gatsby’s house directly parallels with his Dream: to become extremely successful and marry Daisy. As it turns out, the whole reason Gatsby wanted to become as rich as he is was to impress Daisy. Yet, as Daisy is already married and never ended up with him, Gatsby’s American Dream shattered, just as his library could have. He had so little foundation for his dream; his reason for obtaining all of this money and property was almost childish. The moment the book used dramatic irony to let the audience know that Gatsby was not going to win Daisy over was the same moment that his dream, without him knowing, was