Fitzgerald uses many symbolic devices to convey the thoughts and motifs
of the 1920s. This symbolism is seen in the green light on Daisy's dock,
the billboard on the side of the highway, the cars, the library in
Gatsby's house, and Daisy's appearance.
From a distance, Gatsby sees a green light on Daisy's dock. This light
represents the pursuit of the American Dream as well as a symbol of new
wealth and life. His dream ends tragically, however, after being exposed
to the corruption and violence that were a result of prohibition. His
dream is simply an illusion.
Plastered to a billboard, the eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg tower above
the side of the highway in the valley of the ashes. His large blue eyes
are symbolic of God's watching over them, who has been reduced to an
abandoned billboard. Corruption of spirit in the wasteland is also
symbolized by the color blue, which represents the destruction of
reality.
Fitzgerald uses a gradual change in color to show the symbolism of the
car used by Gatsby. At first, Gatsby's car is a cream color, but it soon
evolves into a yellow instrument of death. Yellow symbolizes money and
materialism that eventually leads to the destruction of the American
Dream.
Gatsby's library displays the materialism present in the 1920s. When
Nick looks at the books on the wall, he notices that the edges of the
books have not been cut yet and therefore have not been read. The
library is a symbol of Gatsby's status, showing that he is able to
afford and own a large collection of books.
The color white is used by Fitzgerald to describe Daisy's
superficiality. White is a symbol of purity and innocence, and Daisy
first appears to be pure. Her actions soon explain, however, that her
innocence is only a facade. To make herself appear "white," she drives a
white car and even dresses in white. A similarity is seen in an
ordinary egg. The outside shell is white, but the inside of the egg is
yellow; these characteristics represent Daisy's sin.
also
As well as shedding light on Gatsby’s past, Chapter IV illuminates a
matter of great personal meaning for Gatsby: the object of his hope, the
green light toward which he reaches. Gatsby’s love for Daisy is the
source of his romantic hopefulness and the meaning of his yearning for
the green light in Chapter I. That light, so mysterious in the first
chapter, becomes the symbol of Gatsby’s dream, his love for Daisy, and
his attempt to make that love real. The green light is one of the most
important symbols in The Great Gatsby. Like the eyes of Doctor T. J.
Eckleburg, the green light can be interpreted in many ways, and
Fitzgerald leaves the precise meaning of the symbol to the reader’s
interpretation. Many critics have suggested that, in addition to
representing Gatsby’s love for Daisy, the green light represents the
American dream itself. Gatsby’s irresistible longing to achieve his
dream, the connection of his dream to the pursuit of money and material
success, the boundless optimism with which he goes about achieving his
dream, and the sense of his having created a new identity in a new place
all reflect the coarse combination of pioneer individualism and
uninhibited materialism that Fitzgerald perceived as dominating 1920s
American life.
one more..
The green light is of great significance in the novel,
Great Gatsby. This symbol is depicted throughout the novel. It is first mentioned in the first chapter of the novel. At
first, it was no more than a green light. When it is
further examined in chapters four and five it becomes more
evident that this green light is not Daisy, but a symbol
representing Gatsby's dream of having Daisy. The fact that
Daisy falls short of Gatsby's expectations is obvious.
Knowing this, one can see that no matter how hard Gatsby
tries to live his fantasy, he will never be able to achieve
it. Through close examination of the green light, one may
learn that the force that empowers Gatsby to follow his
lifelong aspiration is that of the "American Dream."
Nick realized what Gatsby did not. Right after he spoke of
Gatsby seeing the light on the dock, he said:
"...He did not know that it was already behind him,
somewhere back in that vast obscurity beyond the city,
where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the
night."
Fitzgerald uses the green light as a symbol of hope, money,
and jealousy. Hope signifies the center of the dream, but jealousy and the lure of money pollute it. Gatsby is a
noble man whose vision is fouled by his dream because he
remains in a "wonder" at Daisy's presence throughout the
novel.
The Green Light
Situated at the end of Daisy’s East Egg dock and barely visible from
Gatsby’s West Egg lawn, the green light represents Gatsby’s hopes and
dreams for the future. Gatsby associates it with Daisy, and in Chapter I
he reaches toward it in the darkness as a guiding light to lead him to
his goal. Because Gatsby’s quest for Daisy is broadly associated with
the American dream, the green light also symbolizes that more
generalized ideal. In Chapter IX, Nick compares the green light to how
America, rising out of the ocean, must have looked to early settlers of
the new nation.
The Valley of Ashes
First introduced in Chapter II, the valley of ashes between West Egg and
New York City consists of a long stretch of desolate land created by
the dumping of industrial ashes. It represents the moral and social
decay that results from the uninhibited pursuit of wealth, as the rich
indulge themselves with regard for nothing but their own pleasure. The
valley of ashes also symbolizes the plight of the poor, like George
Wilson, who live among the dirty ashes and lose their vitality as a
result.
The Eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg
The eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg are a pair of fading, bespectacled
eyes painted on an old advertising billboard over the valley of ashes.
They may represent God staring down upon and judging American society as
a moral wasteland, though the novel never makes this point explicitly.
Instead, throughout the novel, Fitzgerald suggests that symbols only
have meaning because characters instill them with meaning. The
connection between the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg and God exists
only in George Wilson’s grief-stricken mind. This lack of concrete
significance contributes to the unsettling nature of the image. Thus,
the eyes also come to represent the essential meaninglessness of the
world and the arbitrariness of the mental process by which people invest
objects with meaning. Nick explores these ideas in Chapter VIII, when
he imagines Gatsby’s final thoughts as a depressed consideration of the
emptiness of symbols and dreams.
