The Great Gatsby Unreachable Analysis
The Unreachable American Dream
Symbols play a huge part in The Great Gatsby. They add to the understanding we have of the novel and reveal the underlying themes of the American Dream. As each symbol is revealed, the American Dream slowly starts to crumble before their eyes. The author of the Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald, uses these symbols throughout the book to highlight key ideas and show the ongoing clash between love, wealth and moral destruction. There is a green light that is placed at the end of the dock where Daisy lives, Gatsby, who lives across the lake, can barely see it from his West Egg mansion. This light is a symbol for the future of Daisy and Gatsby. In chapter 1, he tries to reach towards it during the night as a guide to lead him to his goals. Because his goal of reaching for Daisy is so relevant to the American Dream, it also symbolizes that great idea. “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year …show more content…
Eckleburg, are always looking over the Valley of Ashes. The old, dazing eyes painted on a billboard symbolize God looking over the “solemn dumping ground.” Although the novel doesn't specifically state that God is judging the ever-changing American society, Fitzgerald points out that this symbol only has meaning because the characters ingrain it with meaning. "and I said ‘God knows what you’ve been doing, everything you’ve been doing. You may fool me, but you can’t fool God!’" (Fitzgerald 125) Wilson is the only character that connects the eyes on the billboard with God. The eyes also show how much people in this time didn't care and how certain characters engraved meaning in these objects. These symbols in the Great Gatsby are one of the ways Fitzgerald connects the novel to the theme of the 1920s. While the characters are trying to achieve the American Dream, they are destroying their lives along the way. The ongoing clash between love and wealth is slowly getting the best of all of
Symbols play a huge part in The Great Gatsby. They add to the understanding we have of the novel and reveal the underlying themes of the American Dream. As each symbol is revealed, the American Dream slowly starts to crumble before their eyes. The author of the Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald, uses these symbols throughout the book to highlight key ideas and show the ongoing clash between love, wealth and moral destruction. There is a green light that is placed at the end of the dock where Daisy lives, Gatsby, who lives across the lake, can barely see it from his West Egg mansion. This light is a symbol for the future of Daisy and Gatsby. In chapter 1, he tries to reach towards it during the night as a guide to lead him to his goals. Because his goal of reaching for Daisy is so relevant to the American Dream, it also symbolizes that great idea. “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year …show more content…
Eckleburg, are always looking over the Valley of Ashes. The old, dazing eyes painted on a billboard symbolize God looking over the “solemn dumping ground.” Although the novel doesn't specifically state that God is judging the ever-changing American society, Fitzgerald points out that this symbol only has meaning because the characters ingrain it with meaning. "and I said ‘God knows what you’ve been doing, everything you’ve been doing. You may fool me, but you can’t fool God!’" (Fitzgerald 125) Wilson is the only character that connects the eyes on the billboard with God. The eyes also show how much people in this time didn't care and how certain characters engraved meaning in these objects. These symbols in the Great Gatsby are one of the ways Fitzgerald connects the novel to the theme of the 1920s. While the characters are trying to achieve the American Dream, they are destroying their lives along the way. The ongoing clash between love and wealth is slowly getting the best of all of