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What Does The Nigger Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

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To follow, symbols are used to convey the importance and meaning of objects throughout each novel. The symbols that the authors use are hints for the readers to see how important certain objects are to the characters and how they affect them. Fitzgerald uses alcohol as a symbol of negativity that has a strong impact on the book. “‘One of your own sojers got shoved out of the back window an’ killed hisself!’” (Fitzgerald, 101). Alcohol leads to nothing but bad actions throughout the entire novel. A man drunkenly killed himself, proving that alcohol is a symbol of negativity and death. This is satirical because the prohibition law was in place and shows how nobody obeyed the law. The entire story involved everybody drinking and partying …show more content…

Connotations are included to make words more symbolic than its literal meaning. Twain uses the word “nigger” many times throughout his book not only because it was frequently used in that period, but to add meaning to the word. “”Sends the key to the punkin-headed nigger, and don't send nobody to watch the nigger.’” (Twain, 240). Twain repeatedly uses this word to satirize and stereotype the social norms in the age of slavery, making them seem as ridiculous as they were. Furthermore, the title of Fitzgerald’s book, May Day, is a connotation itself. “This was the morning after May Day, and celebration was still in the air” (Fitzgerald, 259). The term “May Day” represents more than just a holiday in the novel. It represents the maritime distress call which is used to signal an emergency, a spring rite which is a ceremony set in the spring, and the socialist labor holiday which honors workers. Fitzgerald uses this word to make readers conscious of the importance the words have, considering the setting of the book, which is after the first World War. This word is used to display satire because May Day is a holiday that celebrates workers, but ironically, street riots occurred during the novel when the distress signal mayday was applicable in the course of that situation. The work of the soldiers winning the first World War was not celebrated by the soldiers because they lived in poverty and were not respected. Continuously, the word “witches” is a connotation that is used by Twain to show how stories have a huge impact on the lives of slaves. “Jim said the witches bewitched him and put him in a trance (...) Niggers would come miles to hear Jim tell about it, and he was more looked up to than any nigger in that country” (Twain, 6). Jim’s story entertained all of the slaves, and they viewed him as a hero. This shows how the slaves did not have very exciting lives

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Before the Civil War, slavery was a very popular practice in the southern United States. Though not many people actually had slaves, most southerners defended it because one day owning a slave was the “American Dream.” In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain uses satire to reveal the greed, religious hypocrisy, and gullibility among the pre-Civil War south. Twain uses satire to demonstrate how greed can leave a person with less than what they began with.

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To begin, he uses emotional appeal to create powerful imagery to persuade the reader that celebrating freedom is wrong when slavery still exists. He announces, “fellow citizens, above your national, tumultuous joy, I hear the mournful wail of millions, whose chains, heavy and grievous yesterday, are today rendered more intolerable by the jubilant shouts that reach them” (para. 4). By creating a picture in the audience’s mind of other people’s cries of freedom deriding slaves, they begin to feel ashamed for being so cheerful while African Americans have no liberty. The readers have recognized that they are being hypocrites by supporting slavery while boasting about their freedom as a country, which leads them to begin wanting to

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He questions his audience of the significance of Independence Day to slaves, and he answers it in an extremely contrasting way: “your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; … your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery,” that the celebration is “a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages.” Douglass dismisses the national pride, characterizing it as a mere expression of people’s ignorance. The antithesis, with “greatness” being “vanity,” “sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless,” and “shouts of liberty and equality” being “hollow mockery,” provokes shock and anger from the audience, who have just been part of it and are now degraded as “savages.” However, Douglass was not trying to be inflammatory but provocative, witnessing the pathetic enthusiasm in the anniversary, that people feel exuberant about themselves while ignoring the saddening

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The black man on the back porch is afraid of the rattle snake because it is bad luck, or the innocent little slave is quick to believe everything one tells them at the drop of the hat. These are just some of the many racist stereotypes of the 1840s. A character named Jim is the star African American whom Twain bestoys the mission of being the stereotypical black man to prove a point. He along with his much more pallor companion Huck go on exciting adventures that unfold the events which expose the racist conduct of the time. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain saturates his novel with potent images of acute racism severe enough as to create a satirical mien that exposes the absurdity of prejudice.

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The American Dream suggests that every American citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work. One of the major ways that Fitzgerald portrays this is by alluding to outside events or works of literature specifically from that time period. Another major relationship that develops in The Great Gatsby is between Tom and Daisy. F. Scott Fitzgerald alludes to things such as the World’s Fair and “The Love Nest” to display the eventual dismantling of Tom and Daisy’s relationship. Both of these separate plots consolidate under the idea of Gatsby trying to become the epitome of the American Dream, as seen through his strive for a “perfect life.”

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The symbolism of the color white appear several times in the book. But, there was one scene that stood out. The author F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote about the color of white in the scene where Nick is visiting Tom and Daisy Buchanan. Fitzgerald described what happens when Nick was going on a trip with Gatsby in his car, “-only half, for as we twisted among the pillars of the elevated I heard the familiar “jug-jug-spat!” of a motor cycle, and a frantic policeman rode alongside. “All right, old sport,” called Gatsby.

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This shows the audience that they cannot be obdurate by eschewing the truth of slavery and that they should not be celebrating. They feel driven to want to correct themselves -- stop celebrating -- by

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Conceivably, this hypocritical relationship between Tom and Nick may be used by Fitzgerald to generate criticism to the contemporary lack of social values and this idea of social decay that prevailed in the 1920s. Furthermore, the readers – as mentioned before – feel disgust and antipathy for Buchanan due to his racist and male chauvinist sayings and behavior.

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The Great Gatsby is hailed as a great piece of 1920 's fiction due to its detailing of a new, fast paced America, and the way that America affected the population. These affects manifested as traits in people, and further developed into stereotypes. In the post World War 1 America this novel is set in, industry and technology were becoming readily available to the public, cementing these stereotypes into our population as we quickly moved along at a new pace. In The Great Gatsby, these people, actions, and relationships, are represented by the four main characters: Nick, Daisy, Tom, and Jay. F. Scott Fitzgerald uses these characters to symbolize the stereotypical people of a modern America.

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Imagine a time when there was no dehumanization occurring in the world. It is difficult to think of one because all throughout history there have been multiple cases of dehumanization. A few examples of texts that contain the topic of dehumanization as one of the main themes are The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The Grapes of Wrath is the story about a poor farming family, the Joads, that got kicked off their land during the time of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. They move to California because their belief in the American Dream; they have high hopes that they will find work and have a better life.

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He wants the people to realize just how hypocritical they are in what they proclaim compared to what they actually do. He does this when he says, “The existence of slavery in this country brands your republicanism as a sham, your humanity as a base pretence, and your Christianity as a lie.” Frederick Douglass exposes the evils of slavery by giving the people a slave’s perspective of their Fourth of July. He explains that Fourth of July is just another day to a slave, where he is reminded that he is a victim of abuse and inequality. He also discusses how slavery even damages society by saying it is the enemy of improvement/progress.

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In this novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, feminists question the treatment the women in book receive by the men. An example of this is when the author writes, “Benny McClenahan arrived always with four girls. They were never quite the same in physical personal, but they were so identical one with another that it inevitably seemed they had been there before” (p.63). This quotes shows the way women were treated in the society of the 1920’s, this was the time in which women started changing their behaviour

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After the devastation of World War I, the American people had a revolution in the social standards from traditional views to more modern. The moral compass of people was no longer based on basic religious rules but instead regarded ethics as a relative concept. This venturing out from traditional ways gave the people a door to start the extreme materialism and partying as a way of life. Along with the “roarin” side of the 20s, there also came a group of writers known as the Lost Generation. One of these writers that arose with the Lost Generation was F. Scott Fitzgerald.

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“Social oppression is a concept that describes a relationship of dominance and subordination between categories of people in which one benefits from the systematic abuse, exploitation, and injustice directed toward the other.” This quote, stated by Ashley Crossman on Thoughtco, perfectly describes what oppression is especially from a feminist point of view. As Britannica stated, Feminism is “the belief in the social, economic, and political equality of the sexes.” In The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, there are many relationships. However, none of them are based on love and in most of the relationship, the women are also being oppressed.

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