symbolism

I'm glad I read The Great Gatsby. It's become one of my favorite books because of Fitzgerald's use of intense points of view, background on the Roaring Twenties, and my favorite - symbolism. I found it amazing how Fitzgerald utilized symbolism to really bring out essential aspects of the novel. He uses objects such as the defunct clock to represent Gatsby's desire to travel back in time and rekindle his past relationship with Daisy. However his ideal perspective of Daisy leads to a mere obsession of impossible dreams in contrast to the reality of life. The green light is one of the most important symbols utilized throughout the book, representing Gatsby's vocations and hopes for his future life. The eyes of TJ Eckleberg symbolize "God" looking down upon the moral decay society is suffering from. The billboard seems to look down upon all the sins that people commit including death. The lavish and opulent parties represented a place where the rich could attend to escape life's responsibilities, and resort back to hedonism and luxuries whenever life was too challenging to handle. My favorite quote from the book was, "Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic 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 then one fine morning— So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past," in which he uses a metaphor to express the extent to which dreams are truly able to be accomplished. The quote epitomizes the ideal where Gatsby desperately wants to return back to the state of romance with Daisy, yet is constantly set back by obstacles. He fails to realize his ambition to run away with Daisy is a mere fantasy, because Daisy herself is not at all stable enough to decide whether to continue living her comfortable life with Tom and her daughter, or throw it all away in hopes of achieving another rekindling romance with Gatsby. As Gatsby constantly obsesses over recreating a past, his struggles to make his illusions into reality ultimately lead to his downfall.
- posted by Jennifer J.