Symbolism in The Great Gatsby.

Authors Avatar

Symbolism in The Great Gatsby

By 1925, author F. Scott Fitzgerald was known primarily as the historian of the Jazz Age and chronicler in slick American weeklies of the American flapper. Perhaps this is why critics and reviewers were caught off-guard in that year, at the height of the Roaring Twenties, when Fitzgerald published The Great Gatsby, a story cited today as the Great American Novel. It is true, as Magnum Bryant says, “The simple romance of Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan is merely the foundation for a narrative structure that accommodates Fitzgerald's ideas about irreconcilable contradictions within the American Dream and ultimately about the ideal quest itself”(Byrant n.pg.). The intricate weaving of the various stories within The Great Gatsby is accomplished through a complex symbolic substructure of the narrative. The primary images and symbols that Fitzgerald employs in developing the theme of The Great Gatsby are the green light, the Valley of Ashes, and the overlooking eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg.

The green light at the end of Daisy Buchanan’s dock is the first use of one of the novel’s central symbols. The initial appearance of the green light occurs when the narrator, Nick Caraway, sees Gatsby standing in front of his mansion, stretching out "his arms toward the dark water in a curious way" (Fitzgerald 26; ch. 1). From his own house Nick believes that he can see Gatsby trembling. As Nick looks out at the water, he can see "...nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock” (Fitzgerald 26; ch. 1). The color green traditionally symbolizes hope in this case, Gatsby’s hope to win back his past love, Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby, lured on by Daisy, who is no more than a symbol for him, pursues the green light and the dream of progress and material possessions. As James E. Miller remarks, “What ultimately preys on the vision, the goal, is that in America and by Gatsby it can only be attained through the acquisition of material possessions” (Miller 28). Gatsby is striving to find a better world in the green light and gets unbearably close to his dream, yet in all of his efforts, he comes up short in grasping the better life that he wanted: “The bay separated them (Gatsby and Daisy), yet Gatsby could always see the light. He hoped for the green breast of the new world, the people's idea that tomorrow will bring a better day” (Pearson 639). This idea seems justifiable, yet it is far from coming true.

Join now!

Another symbolic theme is the Valley of Ashes, "…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"(Fitzgerald 27; ch. 2). The Valley of Ashes represents a modern world, a grotesque hell created by modern industry. Factories and trains, produced in the manufacture of wealth, have polluted America with its wastes. It is a physical desert that symbolizes the spiritual desolation created by a money-hungry ...

This is a preview of the whole essay

Here's what a star student thought of this essay

Avatar

The Quality of Written Communication is faultless (QWC). There is no cause for concern with regard to any of the candidate's use of language and/or grammar, spelling and punctuation. With such a complex register, it would be expected for the candidate to make some mistake so either this candidate is truly a fantastically confident and accurate writer or they have laboured over each word choice, each sentences structure, in order to make sure that the answer reads as beautifully as this final version does. Proof-reading your answer before the final hand-in date is an absolutely essential practice, and must be done even if you are confident in your QWC because we, as humans, will always make minor mistakes, and for the majority of the times we make them (especially in writing) we aren't even aware until we re-check.

The Level of Analysis is superb. I couldn't praise it enough. The analytical style shown, and the control over said analytical style is simply unrivalled in my experience of GCSE coursework. Given the excellence of the content shown here, I personally recommend all the cited works this candidate has referred to in order to produce such a brilliantly confident and insightful answer. Everything written here scores marks, and would continue to score marks of the highest mark value available because it is so strong. It's not that this candidate is always illuminating though - they concentrate their answer firmly on some very obvious contextual facts of the time the book was focused on, but more than that, they write with such linguistic flair and a fresh imagination for complex sentences structures and rich vocabularies that even the most bland/commonplace of analysis is a joy to read.

This essay is an exceptional piece of coursework. The candidate's writing style is absolutely outstanding and exceeds all expectation for a GCSE candidate. The mark scheme provided would suggest this candidate has more than earnt a top A* for their efforts here. There is infallible knowledge of both the novel and context in which it was written shown by the candidate, as well as flawless analytical skills demonstrated throughout, the candidate uses quotes from the book and from external sources (all of which are cited appropriately), which indicates to the examiner a fervent desire to prove oneself head and shoulders above the rest by the sheer amount of independent research which has been conducted in order to fortify the answer given. My only quandary - albeit a very small one - is that the candidate's conclusion is largely a repeat of the rest of the essay. This large portion can be cut out and the conclusion would still be greatly effective, so no harm is done here. Overall, this is one of the best pieces of coursework I have ever read on 'The Great Gatsby'.