The Great Gatsby
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Frederick C. Millett
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"I didn't call to him, for he gave a sudden intimation that he was content to be alone - he stretched out his arms towards 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." (16)
So ends the first chapter of The Great Gatsby and brings to our attention the first symbol in this book - that mysterious green light. In our first acquaintance with the light, we see Gatsby reaching out for it, almost, in a way, worshipping it. We find out later that this green light is at the end of Daisy's dock, and is a symbol for Gatsby's dream and the hope for the future. Green is the color of promise, hope, and renewal - so it is fitting that Gatsby's dream of a future with Daisy be represented physically in the novel by this green light. Later, in the final chapter of this novel, Fitzgerald compares
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At the end of the first chapter we are given the green light, a symbol for the hope and promise of the future. At the beginning of the second chapter, however, we are introduced to the "foul wasteland" of the present. Fitzgerald calls it a "valley of ashes" (16), where only the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg look over it from a billboard nearby. This section of the novel can be interpreted as the foul, material-driven world that the main characters live in, and which helps to destroy Gatsby's dream. The eyes of Dr. Eckleburg symbolize in this chapter advertising and materialism gone mad, one of the central themes of the plot. Later in the book, right before the climax, Daisy tells Gatsby that he reminds her of an advertisement. This statement confirms that Daisy does not like Gatsby for himself, but for the superficial illusion he represents. On a larger scale, it is through advertising that the material aspects of the American Dream are revealed. Hence, it only makes sense that Fitzgerald would use references to advertising throughout the course of his novel. Also in advertising, eternal youth, wealth, and beauty are constantly emphasized,
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Later on in The Great Gatsby, George Wilson, after seeing his wife die in a tragic car accident, gives the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg a whole new meaning. Wilson, a very non-religious man, compares the doctor's eyes to those of God, watching over him through the "foul dust" and desolate wasteland in which the novel is set. This is only one of many religious overtones mentioned or hinted at by Fitzgerald throughout The Great Gatsby. At the end of the first chapter, we see Gatsby reaching out for the green light, almost in the attitude of a worshiper. This is the first suggestion Fitzgerald gives us that Gatsby's quest for Daisy is more than just a physical endeavor, but a spiritual one as well. During the flashback in chapter seven, when Gatsby first met Daisy, his mind is compared to the mind of God, which will never act the same again if he kisses her. A chapter earlier, Nick writes the following concerning why Gatsby changed his name:
"He was a son of God - a phrase which, if it means anything, means just that - and he must be about His Father's business, the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty. So he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen-year-old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end." (63)
Gatsby, by changing his name, in a way creates himself anew, making his life more like that of God. In chapter eight, we find two instances of religious imagery. Daisy is compared to the "Holy Grail" and Gatsby's dream is like a knight's quest, showing once again the dream's spiritual nature. Also in this chapter, we see Gatsby, after the car accident,
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When the early explorers first came to America, escaping the corruption of their old world in search of the promise of a new world, they traveled from east to west. Now, America itself is corrupted, so the characters in The Great Gatsby travel from west to east - in search of wealth and sophistication - leaving the moral values and stability of the west behind. It is this eastern part which is called a "valley of ashes" by Fitzgerald, a place where morals are left out and only superficial, material-driven people can live in peace. Fitzgerald uses this change in direction as a symbol for the deterioration of American ideals and the American Dream, helping to prove that our quest for wealth and sophistication is corrupting our culture, and causing us to live in a wasteland of morals - an ash heap of civilization.
All these previous symbols - the green light, the ash heap, and the east and west - have one thing in common: change. Change is apparent in both the action and the underlying meaning and symbols of the novel. From the basic storyline, we find three major instances of change. First, all major characters change where they live, with Tom and Daisy a prime example - moving frequently from place to place throughout their life before arriving at East Egg. Also, Gatsby changes his name, which allows him to start his life from scratch and make it more like that of God - all in the ultimate goal of attaining Daisy. And finally we have the changing of the seasons, which symbolically correspond to changes in the
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"Everyone suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known." (39)
He later corrects this statement, during a conversation with Jordan Baker, saying: "I'm thirty. I'm five years too old to lie to myself and call it honour" (113). He develops enough in this story to realize that he is not above the rest of the characters, and is capable of lies and superficiality as well. What saves, or sets Nick apart from the rest, however, may have been his realization of his thirtieth birthday. At the climax of the novel, Nick kind of awkwardly throws in the fact
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All the following symbols in The Great Gatsby, when put together, give us the main theme or point that Fitzgerald is trying to make - that American idealism and spirituality have been corrupted by material possessions and wealth. Gatsby's dream fails because of his material wealth he must possess to accomplish it. In this respect, Gatsby fails before he even begins - showing the unforgiving nature of a land characterized by Fitzgerald as a wasteland of ashes. This "ash heap" is the present, the terrible time where The Great Gatsby takes place - a time which all hope is lost for the future, and Gatsby's sacred green light becomes nothing more than just a light at the end of Daisy's dock.
"Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter - tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther … And one fine morning -
So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past." (115)
Ceaselessly into the past, because the future is far too grim to imagine. Hope is lost, but that's no matter, we will still keep trying - and who knows, one day maybe we can accomplish our dreams.
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