Color Symbolism In The Great Gatsby Essay Example For Students

Color Symbolism In The Great Gatsby Essay Cary L. Pannell Eng. 206 Mrs. Sanders 20 May 1997 Symbolism in The Great Gatsby The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a novel about one mans disenchantment with the American dream. In the story we get aglimpse into the life of Jay Gatsby, a man who aspired to achieve a position among the American rich to win theheart of his true love, Daisy Fay. Gatsbys downfall was in the fact that he was unable to determine thatconcealed boundary between reality and illusion in his life. The Great Gatsby is a tightly structured, symbolicallycompressed novel whose predominant images and symbols reinforce the idea that Gatsbys dream exists onborrowed time. Fitzgerald perfectly understood the inadequacy of Gatsbys romantic view of wealth. At a youngage he met and fell in love with Ginevra King, a Chicago girl who enjoyed the wealth and social position to whichFitzgerald was always drawn. After being rejected by Ginevra because of his lower social standing, Fitzgeraldcame away with a sense of social inadequacy, a deep hurt, and a longing for the girl beyond attainment. Thisdisappointment grew into distrust and envy of the American rich and their lifestyle. These personal feelings areexpressed in Gatsby. The rich symbolize the failure of a civilization and the way of life and this flaw becomesapparent in the characters of Tom and Daisy Buchanan. Nick Carraway, the narrator of the story, quicklybecame disillusioned with the upper social class after having dinner at their home on the fashionable East EggIsland. Nick is forced unwillingly to observe the violent contrast between their opportunities- what is implied bythe gracious surface of their existence- and the seamy underside which is its reality (Way 93). In the Buchanans,and in Nicks reaction to them, Fitzgerald shows us how completely the American upper class has failed tobecome an aristocracy. The Buchanans represent cowardice, corruption, and the demise of Gatsbys dreamGatsby, unlike Fitzgerald himself, never discovers how he has been betrayed by the class he has idealized for solong. For Gatsby, the failure of the rich has disastrous consequences. Gatsbys desire to achieve his dream leadshim to West Egg Island. He purchased a mansion across the bay from Daisys home. There is a green light at theend of Daisys dock that is visible at night from the windows and lawn of Gatsbys house. This green light is oneof the central symbols of the novel. In chapter one, Nick observes Gatsby in the dark as he looks longinglyacross the bay with arms stretched outward toward the green light. It becomes apparent, as the story progressesthat the whole being of Gatsby exists only in relation to what the green light symbolizes This first sight, that wehave of Gatsby, is a ritualistic tableau that literally contains the meaning of the completed book (Bewley 41). Abroader definition of the green lights significance is revealed in Chapter 5, as Gatsby and Daisy stand at one ofthe windows in his mansion. If it wasnt for the mist we could see your home across the bay, said Gatsby. Youalways have a green light that burns al l night at the end of your dock. Daisy put her arm through his abruptly, buthe seemed absorbed in what he had just said. Possibly it had occurred to him that the colossal significance of thatlight had vanished forever. Compared to the great distance that had separated him from Daisy it has seemed verynear to her, almost touching her. It had seemed so close as a star to the moon. Now it was again a green light ona dock. His count of enchanted objects has diminished by one (Fitzgerald 94). Gatsby had believed in the greenlight, it made his dream seem attainable. Upon meeting Daisy again, after a five-year separation, Gatsby discoversthat sometimes attaining a desired object can bring a sense of loss rather than fulfillment. It is when Gatsby makesthis discovery that the green light is no longer the central image of a great dream, but only a green light at the endof a dock. The most obvious symbol in The Great Gatsby is a waste land called the Valley of Ashes, a dumpingground that lies between East and West Egg and New York City. Symbolically the green breast of the newworld (Fitzgerald 182) becomes this Valley of Ashes. As the illusions of youth give way to the disillusionment ofthe thirties, so green hopes give way to the dust of disappointment. Certainly Gatsbys dreams turn to ashes; andit is dramatically appropriate that the custodian of the Valley of Ashes, George Wilson, should be Gatsbysmurderer. That Wilson is the demise of Gatsbys dream- and that the dream gives way to ashes- is made clearthrough descriptive detail. Over the desolate area, known as the Valley of Ashes, brood the eyes of Dr. T. J. Facing Death Essay Nick saw that Gatsby may of thrown his money away just to impress someone but he also had to work hard to earn that money, it has not just been handed to him at birth. When Gatsby tells Nick Youve got to get somebody for me old sport. Nick does his best to. The friends he contacted either wanted something they left at Gatsbys house, or were not interested in coming. He tried to be there for Gatsby, unfortunately, only Gatsbys father, Henry, Nick, and the reverend attended the funeral. . . . Only one man who gives his name to this book was exempt from my reaction . . . Gatsby who represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn. Regardless of this scorn, Nick does not hold his past against him. Or at least, of what people assume his past consists. Once Nick fights through the rumors and sees the truth he realizes that Gatsby is not all that different from himself. In conclusion, Nick Carraway presents the facts and looks at all his options before deciding. Nick changed very much over the course of the novel. At first he looked at one viewpoint but towards the end he realizes its more beneficial to look at all sides. We could learn a lot from this man. Word Count: 348