Literary Themes & Symbols
By: Cassey Smith & Emily Wills
"Then wear the gold hat, if that will move her;
If you can bounce high, bounce for her too,
Till she cry "Lover, gold-hatted, high-bouncing lover,
I must have you!"
- -Excerpt by Thomas Parke D'invilliers
If you can bounce high, bounce for her too,
Till she cry "Lover, gold-hatted, high-bouncing lover,
I must have you!"
- -Excerpt by Thomas Parke D'invilliers
Introduction
Written in a time of social upheaval and economic turmoil, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, has remained relevant and poignant for generations. By opening with this passage, the reader has a sense of what the novel involves, such as love and gold, but also an ever-present superficiality of the time and how just the signification of a hat weighs as much as the emotion of love. This, among other small details, envelopes the novel in a time now lost, yet it still remains significant and pertinent to its echoed generations.
The following posts privilege key quotes from the text and their significance to Fitzgerald's aims overall. Because its elements are so vast, only a select few are featured in the discussion available here.
The following posts privilege key quotes from the text and their significance to Fitzgerald's aims overall. Because its elements are so vast, only a select few are featured in the discussion available here.
Themes
Society & Illusion
“[The
nurse] told me it was a girl, and so I turned my head away and wept. 'All
right,' I said, 'I'm glad it's a girl. And I hope she'll be a fool-that's the
best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.'
"You see I think everything's terrible anyhow," she went on in a convinced way. "Everybody thinks so-the most advanced people. And I know” (Daisy—Ch. 1—17).
"You see I think everything's terrible anyhow," she went on in a convinced way. "Everybody thinks so-the most advanced people. And I know” (Daisy—Ch. 1—17).
The Great Gatsby allows for an
in-depth analysis of society and class during the notable 1920’s. Daisy’s and
Tom’s façade of the perfect family serves as an example of what the upper-class
society values above all else: the illusion of perfection. While they hide
their flaws behind their luxurious riches and seemingly perfect marriage, Tom
and Daisy’s relationship is a lie. Their so-called friends know all of their
secrets, including Tom’s affair with Myrtle and Daisy’s knowledge of the
affair. As much as the characters try to conceal their imperfections, the
upper-class society are acutely aware of everyone’s flaws even as they cloud them with the perfume of dishonesty.
“As I went over to say good-bye I saw that the
expression of bewilderment had come back into Gatsby’s face, as though a faint
doubt had occurred to him as to the quality of his present happiness. Almost
five years! There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled
short of his dreams—not through her own fault, but because of the colossal
vitality of his illusion. It had gone beyond her, beyond everything. He had
thrown himself into it with a creative passion, adding to it all the time,
decking it out with every bright feather that drifted his way. No amount of
fire or freshness can challenge what a man will store up in his ghostly heart”
(Nick observing Gatsby—Ch. 5—95-96).
In this passage, Daisy shatters Gatsby’s illusion and ideal image of her because the way she is now is so utterly different from the way she was when they had first known each other. Since “almost five years” have passed, she has loved another man and become a mother. Her situation is completely different from when Gatsby had been a possible suitor, and his financially has changed drastically as well. But because Gatsby has this preconceived notion of how his relationship will be with Daisy, he finds that he’s disappointed when it actually occurs, as if an un-crossable rift has stretched between them. Fitzgerald comments on this illusion by observing Gatsby through Nick and provides social commentary on how the idea and thought of something happening is far better and prettier than if it were to truly occur.
The Damage of Wealth & Frivolity
The Damage of Wealth & Frivolity
“I
couldn't forgive him or like him, but I saw that what he had done was, to him,
entirely justified. It was all very careless and confused. They were careless
people, Tom and Daisy-they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated
back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept
them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made” (Nick on
Tom and Daisy—Ch. 9—179).
Wealth is used as a means of manipulation. Through the use of their wealth, Tom and Daisy believe they can successfully hide their wrongdoings and carelessness. They hide Tom’s adulterous behavior and Daisy’s inherent lack of happiness in the marriage. However, wealth never seems to fully hide their troubles since the whole city knows their secrets. Gatsby also uses wealth to distract society from his less-than-fortunate past. His large parties are attempts to draw Daisy back into his life, attracting her through a large display of his affluence.
“‘You
look at him sometimes when he thinks nobody’s looking at him. I’ll bet he
killed a man.’
She narrowed her eyes and shivered. Lucille shivered. We all turned around and looked around for Gatsby. It was testimony to the romantic speculation he inspired that there were whispers about him from those who had found little that it was necessary to whisper about in this world” (Nick at Gatsby’s party—Ch. 3—44).
She narrowed her eyes and shivered. Lucille shivered. We all turned around and looked around for Gatsby. It was testimony to the romantic speculation he inspired that there were whispers about him from those who had found little that it was necessary to whisper about in this world” (Nick at Gatsby’s party—Ch. 3—44).
Even though the class Nick is submerged in appears to be “privileged,” it doesn’t seem to harbor all that much excitement, so when there is speculation and gossip, it turns the wheels of the idle and allows them to focus on someone else’s life and problems instead of the tumultuous, buried struggles of their own. Because of this, Gatsby’s reputation is uncertain. In certain company, he’s reputable, but in others, people are suspicious of his past and his wealth, while some remain uncertain and hesitant to draw conclusions. Not only do Fitzgerald’s characters have difficult time judging another man’s character, but they remain unsure of their own, as Nick demonstrates in his seemingly contradictory opinions of Gatsby throughout the novel. These speculations and accusations stain Gatsby’s name and the illusion he wishes to cast over his life and his dreams, which inevitably splinter his memory and destroy his tragically short-lived life.
Lies, Secrets, & Honesty |
“‘I
thought you inherited your money."
"I
did, old sport," he said automatically, "but I lost most of it in the
big panic—the panic of the war."
I think he hardly knew what he was saying, for when I asked him what business he was in he answered, "That's my affair," before he realized that it wasn't the appropriate reply.
"Oh, I've been in several things," he corrected himself. "I was in the drug business and then I was in the oil business. But I'm not in either one now."” (Nick and Gatsby on Gatsby’s wealth—Ch. 5—90)
I think he hardly knew what he was saying, for when I asked him what business he was in he answered, "That's my affair," before he realized that it wasn't the appropriate reply.
"Oh, I've been in several things," he corrected himself. "I was in the drug business and then I was in the oil business. But I'm not in either one now."” (Nick and Gatsby on Gatsby’s wealth—Ch. 5—90)
The characters
in The Great Gatsby, especially
Gatsby, are deceitful, using lies as a means to create the façade of perfection
and class. Gatsby’s success and wealth is based upon lies. He accumulated his
wealth through various shady behavior, mostly through bootlegging alcohol,
rather than through inheritance. Gatsby has cultivated his esteemed presence
through lying and deceit, claiming to have gone to Oxford even, but this is a
questionable façade since no one seems to know anything remotely true about
Gatsby.
‘“You see I think everything’s terrible anyhow,” she went on in a convinced
way. “Everybody thinks so—the most advanced people. And I know. I’ve been
everywhere and seen everything and done everything.” Her eyes flashed around
her in a defiant way, rather like Tom’s, and she laughed with thrilling scorn.
“Sophisticated—God, I’m sophisticated!”
The instant her voice broke off ceasing to compel my attention, my belief, I felt the basic insincerity of what she had said” (Daisy speaking to Nick—Ch. 1—17).
The instant her voice broke off ceasing to compel my attention, my belief, I felt the basic insincerity of what she had said” (Daisy speaking to Nick—Ch. 1—17).
In this one moment, as continuously occurs within the novel, Daisy is brutally honest with her cousin who’s practically a complete stranger, but she immediately snaps back from her honesty into her façade of an easy-going, untroubled demeanor, as if nothing is wrong. Yet, in reality, the disquietude of her marriage, her situation, and Nick’s counterparts permeates the air constantly. Because none of the characters are capable of facing their reality for more than moments at a time, they feel as if they cannot stop the game they’ve embarked upon, even though it holds their lives’ fulfillment and happiness in the balance.
Romantic Idealism & Broken Dreams
Romantic Idealism & Broken Dreams
“Gatsby
believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes
before us” (Nick on the American Dream—Ch. 9—180).
The Great Gatsby features the
desolation many people experience when they encounter the reality of the
American dream. From an early age, Gatsby strives for wealth and success. His
rose-colored views of romance and the American dream are violently shattered because
of the upper-class’s pompous attitude and manipulative nature. The only way he
is able to achieve part of his dream is through illegal activity and deceit
which corrupts his dream and causes his eventual death.
“I decided to call to him. . . But I didn’t call to him, for he gave a sudden intimation that he was content to be alone—he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily, I glanced seaward—and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock. When I looked once more for Gatsby he had vanished, and I was alone again in the unquiet darkness” (Nick’s First Experience with Gatsby and the Green Light—Ch. 1—20-21).
“I decided to call to him. . . But I didn’t call to him, for he gave a sudden intimation that he was content to be alone—he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily, I glanced seaward—and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock. When I looked once more for Gatsby he had vanished, and I was alone again in the unquiet darkness” (Nick’s First Experience with Gatsby and the Green Light—Ch. 1—20-21).
Nick senses the turmoil occurring within his counterparts’ lives. So many issues are left unspoken that they leave him with a sense of foreboding and a sense of unrealized dreams. Nick has yet to even meet Gatsby, but he notices the emotion behind the man from a great distance. This “unquiet darkness” is so loud to Nick because he sees everyone around him lying and pretending that they have everything they could possibly want, yet they complain in private and take on new affairs their legally bound families know nothing about—or at least ignore as if nothing in the world is wrong. Gatsby, at least this early in the novel, appears to be the only one not pretending that nothing is wrong just in this distant gesture of reaching for something untouchable. Perhaps it is in this reach that Nick senses the idea that even things unattainable can still always be pursued, even if they’re futile. This tells him that dreams, though unrealized, are sometimes more real to someone than the distance that separates him from them.
Death & Violence
Death & Violence
“[Her] mouth was wide open and ripped at the corners,
as though she had choked a little in giving up the tremendous vitality she had
stored for so long” (Nick describing Myrtle’s body after the car crash—Ch. 7—137).
The Great Gatsby is an aggressive novel
with numerous deaths and acts of violence, most of which are committed by men.
There are varying amounts of emotional abuse as well, exemplified by the
suppressive upper-class and the need for perfection. The first account of
physical violence occurs when Tom hits Myrtle in the face as punishment for
talking about Daisy. The act is almost reflexive. Later, Myrtle is killed in a
violent car crash which is the only major act of violence made by a woman,
Daisy. Myrtle’s death is gruesome and highly detailed. Gatsby’s death and
Wilson’s suicide are equally horrific.
Existentialism & the Forbidden Fruit Effect
Existentialism & the Forbidden Fruit Effect
“I
wanted to get out and walk eastward toward the Park through the soft twilight,
but each time I tried to go I became entangled in some wild, strident argument
which pulled me back, as if with ropes, into my chair. Yet high over the city
our line of yellow windows must have contributed their share of human secrecy
to the casual watcher in the darkening streets, and I was him too, looking up
and wondering. I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled
by the inexhaustible variety of life” (Nick on Myrtle’s party—Ch. 2—35).
Nick, here, notices how his and his counterparts’ lives must look to outsiders,
because their lives, like the issues they hold at arm’s length, are miniscule and yet so colossal. But instead of doing anything that would substantially change their situations, they leave the framework of their lives intact and distract themselves with booze and the ideality of a secret life, pursued mostly because it’s something they could have in reality, but that wouldn’t be as enticing to them if it didn’t maintain that forbidden factor. In the article, “Repetition, Race, and Desire in The Great Gatsby” by Adam Meehan, he discusses the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock and ascertains, “it feels as close as an object across a bay, but from another perspective, the distance is unfathomable. Even as he attempts to relive his past with Daisy, Gatsby realizes that his compulsion to repeat has already taken him beyond the pleasure principle and into the realm of pain and oedipal punishment” (85). This supports the idea of the forbidden fruit effect
in that Gatsby’s illusion of Daisy has already surpassed her actual person and become an ideal form. Yet, his reality and her undeniable love for Tom shatters his illusion of her and his image of what he wanted the American Dream to be for them.
Emptiness
because their lives, like the issues they hold at arm’s length, are miniscule and yet so colossal. But instead of doing anything that would substantially change their situations, they leave the framework of their lives intact and distract themselves with booze and the ideality of a secret life, pursued mostly because it’s something they could have in reality, but that wouldn’t be as enticing to them if it didn’t maintain that forbidden factor. In the article, “Repetition, Race, and Desire in The Great Gatsby” by Adam Meehan, he discusses the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock and ascertains, “it feels as close as an object across a bay, but from another perspective, the distance is unfathomable. Even as he attempts to relive his past with Daisy, Gatsby realizes that his compulsion to repeat has already taken him beyond the pleasure principle and into the realm of pain and oedipal punishment” (85). This supports the idea of the forbidden fruit effect
in that Gatsby’s illusion of Daisy has already surpassed her actual person and become an ideal form. Yet, his reality and her undeniable love for Tom shatters his illusion of her and his image of what he wanted the American Dream to be for them.
Emptiness
“Every
Friday five crates of oranges and lemons arrived from a fruiterer in New
York—every Monday these same oranges and lemons left his back door in a pyramid
of pulp-less halves. There was a machine in the kitchen which could extract the
juice of two hundred oranges in a half an hour if a little button was pressed
two hundred times by a butler’s thumb” (Nick on Gatsby’s party goods—Ch.
3—39-40).
There’s
a certain vitality to citrus that Fitzgerald touches on in the liveliness of
Gatsby’s parties and everyone’s spontaneous excursions. But after every
weekend, every trip, every spree of distraction and relaxation, just like the
“pulp-less” fruits, the people who do these things and attend these outings are
somehow empty. It’s almost as if everything they do has this empty connotation,
just like Gatsby’s audacious attempts to gain Daisy’s attention with his house
just across the Sound from hers with loud jazz music and “interesting people.”
Because servants have to perform these seemingly minute tasks for the wealthy,
there’s also this sense that those with the money, and therefore the power,
have little regard as to the tasks and requests they put to those who spend
their lives serving the rich. This sense of emptiness stretches throughout the
novel in subtle ways like the passage referenced here.
Symbols
Alcohol
“I
picked him for a bootlegger the first time I saw him, and I wasn't far wrong”
(Tom about Gatsby—Ch. 7)
Alcohol represents both Gatsby’s wealth and his reputation. Gatsby is not this
successful, honest businessman surrounded by other hard-working members of the upper-class. Prohibition plagued the 1920s, but it wasn’t effective. Bootleggers, like Gatsby, made and/or distributed alcohol illegally and became rich as a result. However, Gatsby maintains this reputation of the highly successful aristocrat with a thrilling life, but everyone knows he is a bootlegger. The upper-class is willing to overlook this dishonest means of wealth only if they are supplied with the illegal substance.
The Green Light
successful, honest businessman surrounded by other hard-working members of the upper-class. Prohibition plagued the 1920s, but it wasn’t effective. Bootleggers, like Gatsby, made and/or distributed alcohol illegally and became rich as a result. However, Gatsby maintains this reputation of the highly successful aristocrat with a thrilling life, but everyone knows he is a bootlegger. The upper-class is willing to overlook this dishonest means of wealth only if they are supplied with the illegal substance.
The Green Light
“[H]e
stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I
was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced
seaward-and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far
away, that might have been the end of a dock.” (Nick’s First Experience with
Gatsby and the Green Light—Ch. 1—20-21)
|
The green light
symbolizes Gatsby’s American dream. It holds everything he wishes to have—Daisy
and the sense of belonging. He has the wealth and reputation he has always
wanted, but he does not have love. The mansion and the large parties are
nothing if he does not have Daisy. He is so close to accomplishing his dream,
but there is still a barrier between him and his dream life. Daisy is married.
Gatsby’s dream is realized, for a moment, during his and Daisy’s short-lived
affair that ends with Gatsby’s death.
The Eyes of T.J. Eckleburg
The Eyes of T.J. Eckleburg
“But
above the gray land and the spasms of bleak dust which drift endlessly over it,
you perceive, after a moment, the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg. The eyes of
Doctor T. J. Eckleburg are blue and gigantic-their irises are one yard high.
They look out of no face, but, instead, from a pair of enormous yellow
spectacles which pass over a nonexistent nose.” (Nick about the eyes—Ch. 2—23)
T.J.
Eckleburg’s eyes on the abandoned billboard within the Valley of Ashes represents the eyes of god, abandoned and decaying due to the arrogant
upper-class. The citizens of West and East Egg surround themselves in wealth
and their own deceit, ignoring the ever-watchful eyes of god. The eyes stand
over the Valley of Ashes, disapproving of society’s careless behavior.
In an article titled, “Religious Language and Symbolism in The Great Gatsby’s Valley of Ashes,” Robert C. Hauhart focuses on this location exclusively. Hauhart asserts that, “God saw mankind fallen from grace into an ash-gray heap of earthly ambitions, illusory quests, and morally suspect conduct. . . [and] the constant presence of the ashes images acts to remind us there are few, if any, instances of humility, compassion, patience, or charity displayed by any character in the novel” (202-203). As this billboard and the valley of ashes remain the focal point between Tom’s infidelity, Myrtle’s death, and later Gatsby’s murder and Wilson’s suicide, its stark implications foreshadow and juxtapose its characters’ frivolity.
Tom & Myrtle's Apartment
In an article titled, “Religious Language and Symbolism in The Great Gatsby’s Valley of Ashes,” Robert C. Hauhart focuses on this location exclusively. Hauhart asserts that, “God saw mankind fallen from grace into an ash-gray heap of earthly ambitions, illusory quests, and morally suspect conduct. . . [and] the constant presence of the ashes images acts to remind us there are few, if any, instances of humility, compassion, patience, or charity displayed by any character in the novel” (202-203). As this billboard and the valley of ashes remain the focal point between Tom’s infidelity, Myrtle’s death, and later Gatsby’s murder and Wilson’s suicide, its stark implications foreshadow and juxtapose its characters’ frivolity.
Tom & Myrtle's Apartment
“The living-room was crowded to the doors with a set
of tapestried furniture entirely too large for it, so that to move about was to
stumble continually over scenes of ladies swinging in the gardens of
Versailles.” (Nick describing Myrtle’s apartment—Ch. 2—29)
The apartment in New York in which Tom and Myrtle act out their adulterous behavior signifies the darker, hidden side to upper-class society. The small apartment is a vast downgrade from Tom’s and Daisy’s luxurious mansion. It is where Tom can do anything he normally cannot do in East Egg, but the actions that take place in the apartment must be hidden from the watchful eye of gossiping socialites.
The Valley of Ashes
The Valley of Ashes
“This is a 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” (Nick on The Valley of Ashes—Ch. 2—23).
The Valley of
Ashes is a stretch of land between West Egg and New York City, and represents
the desolation of society and the corruption of the American dream. It’s an
unfortunate place, a stark contrast from the bustling city life in New York
City and the lavish mansions in East Egg. Upper-class society dismisses the
valley and perceives it as nothing more than a divider between two cities. The
valley is a broken place that shows Gatsby’s shattered dreams and stifled a
marriage, as it is the location of the car crash that killed Myrtle that led to
Gatsby’s murder.
The Valley of Ashes remains a symbol for crossing over places both physically and psychologically. Tom must pass through this desolate place to get to New York and his mistress, Myrtle, just as Daisy has to later when she begins her affair with Gatsby. Even if they don’t acknowledge their moral faults, they still have to pass through this land that seemingly represents adultery and sin simply to remind them that their acts aren’t unseen or unnoticed, even though this is how they treat this bridge between what they believe is their sorrow and their happiness—as an unfortunate, ignored necessity.
The Valley of Ashes remains a symbol for crossing over places both physically and psychologically. Tom must pass through this desolate place to get to New York and his mistress, Myrtle, just as Daisy has to later when she begins her affair with Gatsby. Even if they don’t acknowledge their moral faults, they still have to pass through this land that seemingly represents adultery and sin simply to remind them that their acts aren’t unseen or unnoticed, even though this is how they treat this bridge between what they believe is their sorrow and their happiness—as an unfortunate, ignored necessity.