symbolism within the great gatsby · symbolism with colors • gray: – dreariness! –...
TRANSCRIPT
SYMBOLISM WITHIN THE GREAT GATSBY
DEFINITION: • Symbolism: – objects, characters, figures, and colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts within the text
SYMBOLISM
WITH
COLORS
SYMBOLISM WITH COLORS • Gray: – Dreariness – Lack of life and/or spirit
– It is the place of no hope and no future
– Example: • The Valley of Ashes where everything is covered in gray dust-‐even the people.
SYMBOLISM WITH COLORS • White: – False purity – Goodness – Clean – Wealthy – Examples:
• Daisy and Jordan are always seen in white. (trying to be something they are not)
• Gatsby wore a white suit when he wanted to meet Daisy again for the first Lme in 5 years. He was trying to show that he was good and pure.
SYMBOLISM WITH COLORS • Green: – Hope – Wealth (Money) – Prosperity – Examples:
• The green light that is at the end of Daisy and Tom’s dock.
• The physical and emoLonal distance between Gatsby and Daisy.
• Chapter 1: Gatsby is reaching out for the light. He is reaching out for his hope of Daisy and a life with her.
SYMBOLISM WITH COLORS • Red: – Blood – Death – Example:
• The bloody death of Myrtle • The bloody death of Gatsby
SYMBOLISM WITH COLORS • Yellow: – CorrupLon – Dishonest/ DecepLon – Things that go bad – Decay/ RoUng – Examples:
• Gatsby’s yellow car represents corrupt, dishonesty, and decepLon. – He bought his car with
illegal $ – Daisy killed Myrtle with
Gatsby’s car • Dr. T.J. Eckleburg’s yellow glasses showing that he is watching the decepLon taking place in The Valley of Ashes.
SYMBOLISM WITH
CHARACTERS
SYMBOLISM OF CHARACTERS • Daisy Buchanan: – Married to Tom and Gatsby’s love interest
– AXracLve – Wealthy – Shallow – Always dresses in white dresses
– Embodies a fragile flower, because she is a fragile person who can’t make up her own mind
SYMBOLISM OF CHARACTERS • Tom Buchanan: – Daisy’s wealthy husband – Cruel – Shallow – Careless – He plays with cars, race horses, has affairs, and treats Daisy poorly.
– He represents power, but mostly the abuse of the power that he has been given.
SYMBOLISM OF CHARACTERS • Myrtle Wilson: – Mistress of Tom Buchanan and the wife of George Wilson
– Gaudy – Vulgar – Having a lot of energy – Having a great sense of vitality (the state of being strong and acLve)
– Full of life – Makes spontaneous decisions
SYMBOLISM OF CHARACTERS • Nick Carraway: – The narrator of the enLre novel – PracLcal – ConservaLve – Naïve – Innocent – Someone who stands to the side – He has his own opinion, but he doesn’t always express it.
SYMBOLISM OF CHARACTERS • Jay Gatsby: – One of the most interesLng and memorable males in ficLonal literature
– Hopes to end up with Daisy – IdealisLc romanLc – Fills his life with dreams – The more that the hope did not come alive, the more he dreamed, and that made it all the worse for him and Daisy.
OTHER SYMBOLISM: The Eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg
• To Nick: – symbolize the haunLng waste of the past
• To Gatsby: – his own eyes, once described as “vacant,”
oben stare out, blankly keeping “vigil” (a word Fitzgerald applies to both Dr. Eckleburg’s eyes and Gatsby’s) over Long Island and the green light.
• To George Wilson: – They are the eyes of God looking down
on the evil – He says they see everything – God is staring down and judging
American society as a moral wasteland • The Doctor’s glasses have yellow rims which
symbolizes that all he sees is corrupLon
OTHER SYMBOLISM: The Valley of Ashes
• An industrial wasteland covered in ash and soot.
• A dismal ruin of the people caught in between NYC and West Egg.
• A Valley: – a low area of land
between hills or mountains
– sandwiched between 2 wealthier areas
• Examples: – symbolizes the poor, like
George Wilson, who live among the dirty ashes.
– Death and evil: Myrtle is killed in the Valley of Ashes
OTHER SYMBOLISM: The Green Light
• Situated at the end of Daisy’s East Egg dock
• Represents Gatsby’s – hopes – dreams for the future – Wealth and prosperity
• Gatsby associates it with Daisy – Hope for Daisy and a life with her
• Example: – Chapter 1: Gatsby reaches
toward it in the darkness as a guiding light to lead him to his goal.
OTHER SYMBOLISM: EAST EGG VS. WEST EGG
• East Egg: represents old money that has been passed down from generaLon to generaLon
• West Egg: represents new money that the people have earned more recently
• Eggs: – white on the outside – yellow on the inside – So on both sides of the spectrum
there is decepLon everywhere. – symbolizes a false show of purity
(white) on the outside, but roXen and corrupt on the inside (yellow).
OTHER SYMBOLISM: GATSBY’s MANSION
• Grandness • EmpLness • Gatsby jusLfies living in it all
alone by filling the house weekly with “celebrated people.” (parLes)
• The house is also the physical symbol of Gatsby’s love for Daisy. – Gatsby used his “new money” to create a place that he thought represented “old money”
– He thought he could win her back with his $
OTHER SYMBOLISM: CARS
• Cars are a status symbol
• Carelessness • Recklessness • Examples: – Gatsby used his illegal $ to buy his car (yellow=corrupt)
– Jordan drove recklessly around
– Daisy also drove in a careless manor and killed Myrtle.
THE END