Symbols and Symbolism in The Great Gatsby :: Great Gatsby Essays

Symbolism in The Great Gatsby In The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald presents a novel with intricate symbolism. Fitzgerald integrates symbolism into the heart of the novel so strongly that it is needed to read the book several times to gain any level of understanding. The overtones and connotations that Fitzgerald gives to the dialogues, settings, and actions is a major reason why The Great Gatsby is one of the classics of the 20th century. threesome themes dominate the text of The Great Gatsby. They are time / loss, appearance / mutability, and perspective. Most of the novels thematic structure falls neatly into one of these categories. In order to satisfactorily understand the novel, we must examine the roles of these three themes. The word time appears 450 times in the novel either by itself or in a change word. Fitzgerald obviously wanted to emphasize the importance of time to the overall design of the book. Time is most important to Gatsbys character. Gatsbys relationship with time is a major medical prognosis to the plot. He wants to erase five years from not only his own life but also Daisys. Gatsbys response to Nick, telling him that he can accept the past, is symbolic of the tragic irony that is behind Gatsbys fate. Gatsby exclaims on page 116, Cant repeat the past? Why of course you can Gatsby cannot accept Daisy until she erases the last three years of her life by telling Tom that she never loved him to his face. Gatsby fully believes what he says and thinks (or desperately hopes) that that is true about Daisy. At one part of the news report he actually tells Nick how, as soon as Tom is out of the picture, he and Daisy were going to go to Memphis so they could get married at her white house just like it were five years before hand. In another scene, when Gatsby and Nick go to the Buchanans for lunch towards the end of the book, Gatsby sees Daisys and Toms child for the firstborn time. Nick describes Gatsbys expression as one of genuine su rprise and suggests that Gatsby probably never before believed in the girls existence. Gatsby is so caught up in his dream that he becomes vulnerable to the worlds brutal reality. Fitzgerald masterfully creates a time symbolism in the scene when Daisy and Gatsby meet for the first time in five years.