What Does The Pool Represent In The Great Gatsby

307 Words2 Pages
In the novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald shows readers examples of how destructive dreams can be, using object symbolism of the pool and the characterization of Gatsby’s funeral. From the season changing from summer to autumn, one of Gatsby's servants is about to drain his pool, Gatsby says: “Don’t do it to-day, Gatsby answered. He turned to [Nick] apologetically “You know old sport, I’ve never used that pool all summer?” (Fitzgerald 153). The symbolic representation of the pool represents Gatsby’s wealth and luxury coming from the success of the American Dream. By demonstrating Gatsby’s wealth status, Fitzgerald exposes how Gatsby deciding to not use the pool shows the false reality of unfulfillment from the American dream, in spite