symbolism The Great Gatsby Essay 象征与伟大的盖茨比

1、 Eric KouMs. Reeves English Literature 03/28/2017Echoes From the Gilded Age: Symbolisms in The Great GatsbyThe Great Gatsby is rated as the second most renown book ever written. It is a tragic story about a man who failed to grasp for a dream that has disappeared long in the past. Fitzgerald via the

2、 rich use of symbolism, portrait the corrupted society of the Gilded Age. For instance, in The Great Gatsby, the green light symbolizes Gatsbys unpractical dream of perfected love, the Valley of Ashes represents the poverty and those who thus received humiliation, and the eyes of T.J. Eckleberg embo

3、dies the ominous gaze of God and the fraudulent American Dream.One of the prime examples of symbolisms in The Great Gatsby is the recurring green light across Gatsbys house. The light is located in East Egg, on the Buchanans rear dock symbolizes Daisy, the one whom he woes. This is evident during Ni

4、cks first encounter with the light, as he remembers “heGatsby stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way.I glanced seaward and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away”(Fitzgerald, “Gatsby” 42). This scene is gravitational as it depicts Gatsby desires

5、 something, far more important than his wealth and parties. The novel later on reveals that what he yearns is Daisy, and acquiring her love infers Gatsby realizing his American Dream. Hence the green light symbolizes Gatsbys dreams. However, Fitzgerald also implies that the dream is unachievable as

6、he pictured the green light as “minute and far away.” This is further on explained as later on Nick reminisces “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us”(Fitzgerald, “Gatsby” 246). Here, the green light is directly described as an icon that distance

7、s year after year, and Gatsby, believing in the green light suggests what he craves for lives in the past. The green light is symbolic for Gatsbys dream of Daisy, a perfected picture instead of what she is in real life. And hence Daisy became the ducks that never return in The Catcher in the Rye, wh

8、ereas Gatsby became a wanderer never to wake up from his unpractical dream. Thereby the green light is a symbol of Gatsbys dream, a spiritual desire unable to achieve in the materialistic world of The Great Gatsby.The Valley of Ashes, as a result of the Gilded Age, symbolizes poverty and humiliation

9、. The Great Gatsby takes place in the Jazz Age, an age of “miracles, an age of excess.an age of satire” (Fitzgerald, “Echoes” 16). However those who does not do well ends up living in the Valley of Ashes, and as a result, are look down upon by the wealthy. The valley is depicted as an industrial was

10、teland, home of the poor, as Nick describes “This is a valley of ashes a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens. of ash-grey men, who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air” (Fitzgerald, “Gatsby” 26). Here, Fitzgerald explains that th

11、e valley of ashes produces excessively extravagant goods that meet the materialistic needs of the wealthy. The valley is a farm that grows “grotesque gardens” out of the hard work of the poor. However, the mass living in the valley suffer gruesome conditions, and even crumbles “through the powdery a

12、ir.” Whats worse, the wealthy also looks down upon those who dwells in such horrible conditions. During a conversation Nick overhears between Tom Buchanan and a worker of the Valley, Tom replies to the employees complaint coldly “No, he doesnt. if you feel that way about it, maybe Id better sell it

13、somewhere else after all” (Fitzgerald, “Gatsby” 28). In this conversation, Tom shows that he completely overshadows Wilson, the worker. Tom becomes unhappy after being questioned by a worker of the Valley and shows no empathy to the worker. This scene infers that the people are discriminated due to

14、their difference of wealth. And as a result, the Valley of Ashes where the poverty accumulates, are look down upon. Thus the Valley of Ashes symbolizes poverty of the workers and the humiliation they receive from the upper class. The existence of the Valley is the cancer of the Gilded Age and mocks

15、the hollowness of the Yankees American Dream. Finally, in the Valley of Ashes, is the billboard advertisement eyes of T.J. Eckleburg. Fitzgerald uses the symbol of the eyes of the billboard to symbolize the ominous gaze of God and also represents the fraudulent American Dream. The clear parallel of

16、T.J. Eckleburg and God is revealed through the words of Wilson, as he points to the billboard and says “God knows what youve been doing, everything youve been doing” (Fitzgerald, “Gatsby” 159). Here Wilson states that billboard is the eyes of God and confronts Toms adultery. As the Billboard is loca

17、ted on the path from the city to New York, Fitzgerald suggests that the eyes of T.J. Eckleburg are watching the characters as they commit their sins, alike how God oversees the sin of the mass on a daily basis. Thus Fitzgerald implies that God witnessed the malignancy and corruption that took place

18、in the novel. It should also be noted that, as located in the Valley of Ashes, the billboard “eyes, dimmed a little by many paintless days, under sun and rain, brood on over the solemn dumping ground” (Fitzgerald, “Gatsby” 32). Nick describes the paint to faint slowly in the valley, bathing the sun

19、and rain, without any renovation. As the eyes symbolize God, the advertisement dimming away shows Gods influence slowly fades away in the material society. Whats more, as the eyes “brood” over the Valley of Ashes, Fitzgerald points out that the fabricated American Dream is a lie. While some may rise

20、 from the ashes and enjoy a luxurious life, the mass majority becomes workers who are ground down by the endless materialistic desire of the wealthy. Ironically after the success of the Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald also loses himself during later stages of his life as his beliefs switches from “material

21、s are meaningless” to “simple frugal lives are horrible” (Turnbull 53). In conclusion, symbolism is one of the most abundant rhetorical devices used in the Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald uses the Green Light to symbol the unpractical dream of Gatsby, the Valley of Ashes to indicate poverty and the humiliation they experience, and t