- Name: Drashti Joshi
- Batch: M.A. Sem.2 (2022-2024)
- Enrollment N/o.: 4069206420220016
- Roll N/o.: 05
- Subject code & Paper N/o.: 22399 Paper: 106
- Paper Name:- The twentieth century literature:1900 to world war-2
- E-mail Address: drashtijoshi582@gmail.com
- Submitted to: Smt. S.B. Gardi Department of English M.K.B.U.
- Date of submission: 31 March 2023
This Blog is an Assignment of paper no.:106 The twentieth century literature:1900 to world war-2 In this assignment I am dealing with the Novel ``The Great Gatsby '' by F.Scott.Fitzgerald. In this blog I am going to write about all Symbols which are used in Novel “The Great Gatsby”.
About Novelist Fitzerald:
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, on September 24, 1896, the namesake and second cousin three times removed of the author of the National Anthem. Fitzgerald’s given names indicate his parents’ pride in his father’s ancestry. His father, Edward, was from Maryland, with an allegiance to the Old South and its values. Fitzgerald’s mother, Mary (Mollie) McQuillan, was the daughter of an Irish immigrant who became wealthy as a wholesale grocer in St. Paul. Both were Catholics.
On academic probation and unlikely to graduate, Fitzgerald joined the army in 1917 and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the infantry. Convinced that he would die in the war, he rapidly wrote a novel, “The Romantic Egotist”; the letter of rejection from Charles Scribner’s Sons praised the novel’s originality and asked that it be resubmitted when revised.
The publication of This Side of Paradise on March 26, 1920 made the 24-year-old Fitzgerald famous almost overnight, and a week later he married Zelda Sayre in New York. They embarked on an extravagant life as young celebrities. Fitzgerald endeavoured to earn a solid literary reputation, but his playboy image impeded the proper assessment of his work. In Paris Fitzgerald met Ernest Hemingway, then unknown outside the expatriate literary circle, with whom he formed a friendship based largely on his admiration for Hemingway’s personality and genius. The Fitzgeralds remained in France until the end of 1926, alternating between Paris and the Riviera. Fitzgerald made little progress on his fourth novel, a study of American expatriates in France provisionally titled “The Boy Who Killed His Mother,” “Our Type,” and “The World’s Fair.” During these years Zelda Fitzgerald’s unconventional behaviour became increasingly eccentric.
F. Scott Fitzgerald died believing himself a failure. The obituaries were condescending, and he seemed destined for literary obscurity. The first phase of the Fitzgerald resurrection “revival” does not properly describe the process that occurred between 1945 and 1950. By 1960 he had achieved a secure place among America’s enduring writers. The Great Gatsby, a work that seriously examines the theme of aspiration in an American setting, defines the classic American novel.
About Novel:
The Great Gatsby, Third novel by American author F. Scott Fitzgerald, published in 1925. Set in Jazz Age New York, it tells the tragic story of Jay Gatsby, a self-made millionaire, and his pursuit of Daisy Buchanan, a wealthy young woman whom he loved in his youth. The book is narrated by Nick Carraway, who recounts the events of the summer of 1922, after he takes a house in the fictional village of West Egg on Long Island. There he lives among the newly rich, while across the water, in the more refined village of East Egg, live his cousin Daisy and her brutish wealthy husband, Tom Buchanan. As the summer progresses, Nick is finally invited to attend one of the dazzling parties held by Jay Gatsby, his neighbour. At Gatsby’s request, Nick invites Daisy to his house, where she and Gatsby meet again and renew their relationship. Tom soon becomes aware of the affair and confronts Gatsby at the Plaza Hotel. Daisy tries to calm them down, but Gatsby insists that he and Daisy have always been in love and that she has never loved Tom. As the fight escalates, Tom reveals what he had learned from an investigation into Gatsby’s affairs—that he had earned his money by selling illegal alcohol. Gatsby tries to deny it, but Daisy has lost her resolve to leave her husband, and Gatsby’s cause seems hopeless. Gatsby and Daisy leave together in Gatsby’s car, with Daisy driving. On the road she hits and kills Myrtle Wilson, Tom’s mistress, though her identity is unknown to Daisy, who knew only that Tom was having an affair. Terrified, Daisy continues driving, but the car is seen by witnesses.The next afternoon George Wilson, Myrtle’s widower, arrives in East Egg, where Tom tells him that it was Gatsby who killed his wife. Wilson goes to Gatsby’s house, where he shoots Gatsby and then himself. Afterward the Buchanans leave Long Island, and Nick arranges Gatsby’s funeral. Fitzgerald considered The Great Gatsby to be his greatest achievement at the time it was published, but the book was neither a critical nor commercial success. The novel gained popularity in the 1950s, soon becoming a standard text of high-school curricula, and is now considered a masterpiece of American fiction.
There have been several film adaptations, notably a production directed by Jack Clayton in 1974, starring Robert Redford as Gatsby, and one in 2013 directed by Baz Luhrmann, starring Leonardo DiCaprio.
Symbols in The Great Gatsby :
The Green Light:
The Valley of Ashes:
The Eyes of Doctor. T. J. Eckleburg:
Gatsby’s Mansion
East and West Eggs
Other Colours
Cars
1.The Green Light:
-The green light pops up many times in the novel and represents Gatsby’s dream and hope. It also represents everything that haunts him and takes him to the past. It also signifies the green stuff (money), his memories with Daisy and the gap between his past and his present. He deliberately chooses the house in a direction from where he can have the enchanting sight of green light. He loves to stand at the dock to stare at that green light which represents his innermost desire to revive his past. He is hopeful that one day he will win the lost moments. The artificial green light also stands for his artificial and unrealistic aims in life.
This green light glows at night and is emphasised in the novel. In the first chapter Gatsby describes this light and says:
"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."
From this quotation, the reader understands that this light is at the end of Daisy's dock, so in a way it represents Daisy in Gatsby's pursuit of happiness by being with her. In chapter 1, Gatsby looks at this light as a guidance at night to lead him. Gatsby compares this green light to America that gave hope for its people about prosperity. The green light is a concrete object that represents abstract concepts of yearning and nostalgia. The green light is noticed again in the last chapter of the novel, but here it indicates the disillusionment of the American Dream.
"Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then."
It also seems that the green light at the beginning of the novel foreshadows the tragic end in the last chapter, when we find Gatsby dead. Now, the green light only exists in Nick's memories. Mizener describes the effect of this green light on Gatsby's life by saying:
"For Gatsby Daisy does not exist in herself. She is the green light that signals him into the heart of his ultimate vision".
2.The Valley of Ashes:
The valley of ashes is a symbolic place in the novel that first appears in chapter two. Nick goes there to search for his mistress. It is a place between East and West Egg created by dumping the industrial waste. It represents how morality and social code of conduct are dropped out of the industrial society. It also depicts the miserable plight of people like George Wilson who live among the ashes without ambition. This is a highly effective symbol that represents the divide between the poor and the rich class in the society of that time and even the present.
The ashes are made by an industry that helps others to be rich. Thus, it shows the impossibility of the American Dream.
"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 crumble through the powdery air"
Symbolically, the Valley of Ashes is a wasteland of human desires and human life. Myrtle hopes to escape after being imprisoned in it. It seems that this place has deprived many characters of their dreams.
3.The Eyes of Doctor. T. J. Eckleburg:
Another symbol we see in the novel is the eyes of T.J.Eckleburg. These are faded bespectacled eyes printed on the billboard over the ‘valley of ashes’. The eyes represent the commercialism which is the backbone of the American dream. It is clear from the fact of how Gatsby earns a lot of wealth to get Daisy back in life. These eyes also represent the hollowness and solidity in Gatsby’s eyes, for despite having all the glitters in life, his eyes reflect emptiness. To George Wilson, they are the eyes of God that watch over every segment of society. To Nick, they represent the waste of the past which sticks around, though, vanished.The Eyes of Doctor. T. J. Eckleburg can be interpreted in different Ways. They can be seen as God's eyes judging and looking at people who have lost their morality. They look down upon humanity and the human condition.
Nick Carraway describes the billboard as a huge pair of blue eyes. He says in chapter two:
"The Eyes of Doctor. T. J. Eckleburg are blue and gigantic- their retinas are one yard high"
In an implicit way, George Wilson explains that these are the eyes of God referring to his wife's infidelity. He says, "God knows what you've been doing, everything you've been doing. You may fool me, but you can't fool God".
4. Gatsby’s Mansion
Gatsby’s grand and lavish mansion symbolises his high lifestyle. It also shows the inner conflict of Gatsby and foreshadows his loneliness hidden behind his lavish estate. It also symbolises his unbound love for Daisy. Gatsby uses his new money to buy the grand house, thinking it is similar to the house of the old money taken away from him. Though he progresses a lot in life, ironically his luxurious lifestyle does not bring satisfaction to him. It rather seems like a falsifying dream. In fact, he struggles to reach this position to win Daisy back.
5. East and West Eggs
East and West Eggs are two fictional villages Fitzgerald has created to represent the different ideas of the new rich and the old rich. East Egg represents the old rich. Tom and Daisy belong to East Egg. It represents the people, who are born rich and are considered classy, with an arrogant stance toward West Egg. West Egg stands for newly rich people like Gatsby. It is the world of those who make their own fortune and are not rich by birth. East symbolises corruption, whereas West symbolises goodness.
6.Other Colours
Colours are widely used in the novel having deeper meanings. For example, Gatsby’s car and T. J. Eckleberg’s glasses are yellow. It represents the corrupt and false standards of Gatsby and the society of that time. Blue colour stands for illusions and falsifying dreams; Gatsby’s garden is blue, Eckleberg’s eyes are blue, and chauffeur's uniform is also blue. While white colour is a symbol of purity, in the novel it symbolises immortality. Gatsby, Daisy, and Jordan wear white, but none of them is a morally ideal character. The valley of ashes is grey symbolising hopelessness, or the filthy side of the society.
7.Cars
Cars in the novel symbolise the display of vanity. The rich and complex description of Gatsby’s car is an epitome of ostentation and excess. It describes the dominance of commercialism and how wealth is the centre of attraction for the society. The car of the drunk man is also symbolic, as he runs his car off the road and breaks the wheel. It represents the careless attitude and ignorance of the rich society.
Conclusion:
The Great Gatsby is one of the best novels in the 20th century. Symbols in the novel play an important role in giving the reader an idea about the 1920s and make the reader understand how concrete things stand for abstract ideas.
The novel succeeds in combining imagination and vitality in an analysis of American culture via using important symbols. It is a remarkable novel because it emphasises the glittering surface of America that fascinated people but came to be superficial expressions.
Nick's first-person narration makes the narrative gorgeous. He adds radiant brilliant images to show the effects of Gatsby's destructive love that is so sentimental but leads to his tragic end. The contextual symbols used by Fitzgerald in this novel evoke the reader's imagination due to the fact that they carry different interpretations. They are an integral part of this literary work that make the reader go beyond this world and reach far horizons to discover their hidden meanings.
Thank you for reading this blog and assignment…
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