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What Does The Medal Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

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In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald there are many important lines and images. Although there are many important sections, the most important image for gaining an understanding on the novel is the image of Gatsby’s war medal. This scene comes early in the book during Gatsby and Nick’s car ride to the city for lunch. The medal is the epitome of Jay Gatsby. A symbol of skepticism. When Gatsby pulls it out and hands it to Nick, Nick can only look at it in “astonishment”. He is surprised and shocked. He says that the medal has an “authentic look” (Fitzgerald 66). These two descriptions, the first of Nick’s reaction and the second of the medal are important to understanding the book and Gatsby. First of all, Nick does not give …show more content…

Scott Fitzgerald put a lot of time into the placement of this scene. He strategically put in the place he did to clarify something from earlier and set us up for something later. Earlier in the chapter, Nick is at Sunday morning party at Gatsby’s and Gatsby’s past is brought up by two woman. They are saying that “‘He’s a bootlegger’” and that he is a nephew of the notorious former leader of Germany, “Von Hindenburg” (Fitzgerald 61). There is a lot of uncertainty about Gatsby’s past and rumors start popping up because nobody knows the whole truth. Then the medal scene happens and the reader is given hope that Gatsby might not actually have this dark past, that he might actually be a war hero, but we are quickly let down. Gatsby introduces Nick to Meyer Wolfshiem “a gambler...who fixed the World Series back in 1919” (Fitzgerald, 73). Wolfsheim is an old friend of Gatsby’s and it drains any hope that Gatsby is a promising figure who used only legal tactics to make his money. Wolfsheim met Gatsby after the war and Wolfsheim asks Nick if he is looking for a “business gonnegtion” (Fitzgerald 70). One can only assume that this connection is for some type of illegal business and it puts the nail in the coffin. Gatsby 's reputation has been quickly ruined in the span of one

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As the novel is called “The Great Gatsby”, I think the crucial point to the plot in chapter 1 deals with the mysteriousness of Gatsby himself. We are introduced to Nick’s cousin, college acquaintance, and of course the intriguing Ms. Baker. However, the relevance that Jordan Baker mentioned Gatsby over dinner adds to the suspense of revealing who Gatsby is! 2. How does Nick describe himself at the beginning of the novel?

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This convinces Nick that Gatsby truthfully was in the war, since he’s holding undeniable proof of it in his own hands. Fitzgerald was successful in using logos to show that Gatsby had persuaded Nick. The second technique that Fitzgerald utilizes is pathos. As Gatsby was explaining his past, he mentioned his family and how he came to be so

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Despite the stories that went around about Gatsby, Nick looked past them to learn who he truly was. “He smiled understandingly… it was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced… the whole external world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself… I'd got a strong impression that he was picking his words with care” (Fitzgerald, 49).

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In Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, the author tells an intriguing tale about the hollowness of the upper class, thwarted love between a man and a woman and the rapid decline of the American dream. Although all of the chapter’s work hand in hand to explore these themes, three of the nine chapters hold the most significant turning points in the novel. One of them which includes chapter three. In this chapter, Nick attends Gatsby’s party.

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Nick’s impression of Gatsby is ironic for it is not Gatsby’s wealth and social status that fascinates him but instead his foolish emotion of love. Through his secret, most likely illegal scandals, he pretends to belong to the same social class as Tom Buchanan and his wife Daisy, Gatsby’s one love. If he wants a girl like Daisy Buchanan, he knows he could not be the broke farmer from Minnesota he once was. His poverty stricken prior life holds no value for him and his dream. His penniless past fueled his entry into the army.

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Wolfsheim, a man known for unlawful activities. Furthermore Gatsby lied by saying his success came from an inheritance after his family had died when actually all of it came from working with Mr. Wolfsheim as a business partner in his drugstores used to move and sell alcohol. Gatsby hinted towards his illicit works by offering Nick a confidential side job to make extra money, and revealing his partner Mr. Wolfsheim rigged the 1919 World Series, although Jay was shy to admit anything about his actual work. Gatsby also used his only true friend, Nick Carraway, to get to the love of his life. Although Gatsby threw parties in hopes Daisy would attend one day, his plans didn't come to life until he met Nick, who kept Gatsby and Daisy's affair secret.

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When Gatsby’s full character is brought into the novel he is said to have “‘killed a man’” and been “‘a German spy during the war’” to show other supporting characters ambiguity toward the rumors surrounding his luxurious parties (Fitzgerald 44). Thus, already

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Fitzgerald uses Tom’s and Daisy’s character to demonstrate the foolishness of relationships during this time. 1920’s were seen as a time of economic growth a flourishing wealth; however, there was also ludicrous and scandalous crimes in relationships and within business. By showing their distorted relationship through affairs, the audience gains the sense of hypocrisy and wavering trust that was prominent during this era. Gatsby is depicted as a character that has hidden business propaganda with suspicious partners. While going out to lunch with Gatsby, Nick meets a mysterious business man named Meyer Wolfsheim who as Gatsby stated, “‘He’s the man who fixed the World’s Series back in 1919”’

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In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, there is no question that Jay Gatsby, West-Egg nouveau riche and mysterious host of frequent, extravagant parties, is wealthy; nevertheless, few of his guests understand how he became so. Preoccupied with the festivities, other newly-rich party-goers neither know much about their host nor appear interested in finding out. Nick’s sincere request to meet the man who sent him the invitation is met by amused replies that Gatsby does not exist. In large part, this statement is true; for Gatsby hardly exists beyond his guest’s fantasized perceptions of him. Because of Jay Gatsby’s ambiguous past, Rumors prevail as a common theme of conversation among Gatsby’s guests, as they speculate how he acquired such material wealth.

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Many different colors are found throughout F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby”. These colors each have a symbolic meaning of their own: yellow is corruption, green is hope, blue is illusion, gray is lack of life/spirit, and white is false purity. These colors affect the overall mood of the book, and the ironic demise of Jay Gatsby himself. The colors presented in this article, however, are only the blue, the green, and the white. The color blue plays a major part in the affairs and life of Gatsby.

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At the first party Nick goes to, one of the girls he meets says a rumor about Gatsby: “Somebody told me they thought he killed a man once” (48). This immediately brings into question the kind of man Gatsby is. Even though this is a rumor, the fact that it has been spread around shows how these people, most of whom don’t know Gatsby personally, don’t view him as the perfect man that Nick does. Rather, they view him as a mysterious enigma of a man with a cloudy past with potentially morally wrong actions. These judgemental guests even go as far as to question his loyalty to America by claiming he was a German spy during the war.

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Gatsby’s troubled past contradicts with his present personality. After Gatsby dies, Nick is torn between believing that Gatsby is a great friend and that Gatsby is a corrupt bootlegger. In order to believe that Gatsby is a good friend, Nick must forget about Gatsby’s criminal past. By erasing the obscene word on Gatsby’s steps, Nick is choosing to erase Gatsby’s corrupt past and remember Gatsby as a good friend. Barbara also mentions how frequently Fitzgerald mentions eyesight and Gatsby’s vanishings.

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When speaking to Nick, Gatsby mentions one of his rather big “connections”, Mr. Wolfsheim. Gatsby explains “He is the man who fixed the world series back in 1919”(Fitzgerald,73). As told by Nick he now knows who Mr Wolfshiem was and what kind of business he was a part of and gave him an idea on the corruption happening. This knowledge can lead to disillusionment in Nick, who up until this point had seen Gatsby as a mysterious and enigmatic figure with a glamorous lifestyle. Taking a white card from his wallet, he waved it before the man’s eyes.

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Gatsby is a wealthy man who lives in West Egg. He tells Nick that he is “the son of some wealthy people in the Middle West” (Fitzgerald, 65). He later states, “I was brought up in America but educated at Oxford, because all my ancestors have been educated there for many years. It is a family tradition” (Fitzgerald, 65). This is what Gatsby wants Nick to believe but, in reality, Nick tells the reader that Gatsby was a man by the name of James Gatz and he was the son of unsuccessful farmers.

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