Many books contain symbols that give deeper meanings
to the story to make them good. The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald, was
one of them. This book portrayed characters with the names of Jay Gatsby, Nick,
George Wilson, and many others. This was a story of how these two different men
became friends and how both of these men seem to fall in love with the wrong
people. Fitzgerald included symbols on the rich peoples live in comparison to
poor people using symbols. The symbols that were found made the story unique in
its own way and created an in depth conclusion on how the characters thought in
the1920s world that they lived in.
One
of the symbols that were found in the pages of this book was the green light. In
the book, the green light was attached to the end of Gatsby’s dock; this light
represented the hopes and dreams for the future. For instance, when Nick was
looking at Gatsby, it quotes, “—he stretched out his arm 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...” This shows that Gatsby had deep feelings to the light at
the end of his dock. He might have been hoping for something for his hands had
been trembling, many people in the world do have a keen eye for things or
objects that hold deeper meaning for them. Also, towards the end of the book
when Nick is looking at Gatsby’s lawn, mourning his death, he says, “I thought
of Gatsby’s wonder when he picked out the green light at the end of the dock.
He had come a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have been so close
that he could hardly fail to grasp it.” When Nick thinks that, it showed to the
readers that Gatsby had held onto the spark of the green light and that he
believed in it. He used the light to think about the future before him and he
followed his dreams. The symbol of the green light represents dreams and how
people can hold on to them as long as they keep that light glowing brightly.
One
of the very important symbols that were discovered in the book was the valley
of ashes. The valley of ashes was a place where all the characters in the book
had to pass through in order to get into town. It represents the moral and
social decay hidden by the West, and East Egg, the place where the characters
live. For example, in the book, Nick passes by the valley of ashes and
describes its look, “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 ash-grey men, who move dimly and already crumbling
through the powdery air.” The figures that were mentioned in this quote were
most likely written to represent the main characters in the book. The ashes
represented the dead with self- centered and arrogant bodies that were rising
within. Also, the book had many horrid things take place near the valley of
ashes, including the death of George Wilsons’s wife and arguments between the
rich and the poor. The valley of ashes and the constant trouble that brew down
in there represented how the moral and social things started to decay, and how
that place is full of life’s bad moments.
The
last symbol that was infused with the book was the eyes of Dr. Tj Eckleburg.
The eyes symbolized God, through George Wilson. It represented how God seemed
to look over Wilson. For example, in the book when Wilson passes by the
billboard with Eckleburg’s eyes, he recounts to Michaelis what he said to Myrtle
after finding out about her affair, “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!’…
‘It’s just a billboard.’” As you can probably see, Wilson looks up to the
billboard of Dr. Tj Eckleburg’s eyes and thinks of God who apparently knew
everything and sent a sign to Wilson about it. This symbolizes how a simple
billboard can have so much meaning to a person and can’t be brought down by
another. In a way, when Wilson thinks of the billboard as the eyes of God which
also shows how he always thinks and needs someone to rely on even if it was
indeed just a billboard. Also, in the book when it writes about Wilson passing
by the billboard, it mentions that it was located in the valley of ashes. Even
then, Wilson had still believed that God was there looking down to him and
protected him by warning about Myrtle who was about to die. The eyes kind of
represented Wilson’s savior and comforter. In the real world, the billboard
would have acted as a conscience of Wilson’s that looked over him.
All
in all, this book held three symbols that represented characters thoughts that
led to deeper meanings throughout the book. One of these symbols was a green
light that represented the hopes and dreams of both Gatsby in the book and
America in the real world. The other was the valley of ashes which represented
the moral and social decay of rich people to poor people in both the book as
well as the real world. And lastly, the eyes of Dr. Tj Eckleburg had
represented God that can be looked upon as a conscience to people inside the
book as well as people who seek reassurance in the outside world. This book,
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, represented many symbols and current
life issues that were hidden in deeper meaning that were resolved by the
characters throughout the whole book.
Julia Nowak 811
