1、The Great GatsbySymbolismSymbolism The symbolic meanings of the geography The symbolic meanings of colors The symbolic meanings of characters The symbolic meanings of the thingsThe symbolic meanings of the geography The east and the west of America East egg and west egg New York City The valley of t
2、he ashes (Locations in this novel are always featured charming but elusive, heavily weighed with symbolic connotations) The East and the West of America It is a significant theme in this novel. The author has projected East/West division of the States on the division of class in the 20th century. Th
3、e East represents the amoral value of sophistication, of materialism, of corruption; The West symbolizes virtuous qualities, a certain sort of innocence, of idealism, of rawness. East Egg and West EggThey represent different social statuses. East Egg embodies the old upper class who inherits the mon
4、ey from their ancestors. West Egg is the newly rich who accumulate their wealth through their hardworking.New York City This city plays an unique role in American literature because it no longer serves as a mere setting for a story; instead, it is more and more frequently portrayed as a symbol of gl
5、amour, ideal, and despair in modem society. It is the representative of the 20th century morals and culture which express contemporary America.The Valley of the Ashes It is lying between the West Egg and New York. It symbolized the empty existence of the human being, the waste land in modern society
6、, and is the result of the failure of the American Dream.The symbolic meanings of colors Green: symbol of life ,hope, envy and destroy Blue: symbol of illusion White: symbol of innocence Yellow: symbol of wealth, money and death Gray: symbol of hopeless Pink: symbol of love and persistencyGreen: sym
7、bol of life ,hope, envy anddestroy It is a color of nature. In the culture of America, it always symbolizes hope and desire. Meanwhile , it represents unreality which symbolizes Gatsbys dream and pursuit have been frustrated. On the other hand, green symbolized wealth and Gatsbys pursuit of wealth.
8、But sadly , he doesnt understand the real meaning of wealth and how to take advantage of his fortune which leads to his dreams completely broken.Blue: symbol of illusion It represents depression and peace. There is a huge billboard painted doctor Eckers big blue eyes in the valley of the ashes. The
9、pair of eyes seems to be gloomy because of wind and rain. But it is interpretive into the eye of the omniscient god as if his blue eyes know everything happened. Through this pair of blue eyes showed that his critical towards peoples living conditions and idealism.White: symbol of innocence Generall
10、y speaking, it is a symbol of purity. But for Daisy, on the surface, white represents her purity, beauty and her grimness, selfishness and impulsion. In fact, white symbolizes she is superficial, stupid and irresponsible. And this is just the root of Gatsbys tragedy. Yellow: symbol of wealth, money
11、and death It is the symbol of corruption. The residents of east egg and west egg think money is the only thing in their lives for their minds have been materialist decay erosion. The yellow cocktail music played by the orchestra, Gatsbys yellow car and his pale yellow suit all present the smell of d
12、eath and his bad ending.Gray: symbol of hopeless The Valley of Ashes provides the scene for the majority of the use of the color gray in The Great Gatsby.The color gray can also be interpreted a symbol of death. Fittingly, Myrtle Wilsons death occurs in the gray setting of the Valley of Ashes. The s
13、ymbolic meanings of characters Gatsby Daisy Gatsby He is an embodiment of idealist and a victim of the American Dream. As a romantic dreamer,he would like to fulfill his American dream when he was a child so that he did anything to get money and the social position .Though Gatsby is poor ,he is ambi
14、tious. The pursuit of wealth and love is composed of his dream,but neither of them is realized at the last because Gatsby is also a dramatic symbol of the American dream ,which makes materialism itself a type of daydream.Tom and Daisy They belong to the same middle class inheriting a large amount of
15、 fortune for their profligacy. they even do not have the so-called life goal, let alone experiencing frustration and success. As for Tom, his only pursuit of life is to seek “dramatic excited”.they are the symbol of the pure substance.Nick Nick is a double character designed by the author in many wa
16、ys as Gatsby. there are many similar places between the author and Nick. The author let Nick observe Gatsby to take place other roles in the objective description of the novel.Nick close to Daisy to Tom that the core of the erosion of the rich life step by step and goes on at the same time gradually
17、 finding Gatsbys dream. We can easily find Nick is a moral decision maker.The symbolic meanings of the thingsThe books and the housesCommunication toolsGreen lightThe books and the houses Book is the symbol of spiritual wealth.There are a lot of books in Gatsbys library but dont read a book. It just
18、 becomes an arty decoration which represents the American dream at the time of the United States that is how superficial and hopeless.House is material wealth, a symbol of personal identity, representing Gatsby want to blend in the upper class.Communication toolsIn the life of Gatsby, the car is not
19、 only the traffic tools, but also a sign of an identity and honor,has surmounted the social nature of communication tools and cultural characteristics.Rich Gatsby as a nouveau the car is an important means to show off his wealth and luxury style in the process of pursuing his dreams.The accident of
20、Mrs Hudson, however, drew Gatsby and the destruction of Johnson, this is his cost to pay for love.Therefore, the car is also the symbol of destruction.Green LightGreen light represents the naive dream of Gatsby and his pursuit of frustration.It shows the hero Gatsby is yearning and longing for the f
21、uture.it played an important role in the process in shaping the personality .the green light is visible to many and always distant, and it is Gatsbys future he sought after and believed in which represents his faith.In view of the fact that the green light is Gatsbys wanted future, if he associates
22、Daisy with the green light, then obviously he want her to be in his ideal life later on. Gatsby never fulfilled his life by arriving at the green light, his unreachable dream, because he was too involved in his future to worry about his current situation.The further and further Gatsby reached, the further the green light seemed. He always consistently reached for the green light, and each time he would reach, he would be pulled further and further from reality, until he was finally out of reality, and had his life taken away from him.
