Symbolism

Forms of Symbolism

Actions

Places

Colors

Nature

Items

Types

Animals

Numbers

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.

Green Light

Another symbol we see in the novel is the eyes of T. J Eckleberg. 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 the society. To Nick, they represent the waste of past which sticks around, though, vanished.

Eyes

Gatsby’s grand and lavish mansion symbolizes his high lifestyle. It also shows the inner conflict of Gatsby and foreshadows his loneliness hidden behind his lavish estate. It also symbolizes 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 a falsifying dream. In fact, he struggles to reach at this position to win Daisy back.

Mansion

The clock in the novel symbolizes the passage of time that has passed and the moments Gatsby wants back. He wins the high living standards to rewind the clock to the times, change what happened between him and Daisy. In chapter five “the defunct masterpiece clock” represents that Gatsby is still living in the past with Daisy, while Daisy has moved on. The end of the novel also signifies the value of time and the dilemma faced by humans; the more we try to escape from the past, the more we get close to it.

Clock

Who sang it?

Yea, catching shots from head to toe

I don't need no medic thought

A modern Gatsby chasing Daisy , shoulda let it go

Ah, well

But you never know

I might have dreamed too high, rather way too low

'Cause you wouldn't stick around back when I wasn't making dough

Do you see a poster with my face for me to play a show?

And your friends are like "He made it now!

"Shoot Me Down"

Who sang it?

She's looking into my eyes, she's holding my hand she says, 'You can't repeat the past.'

I say, 'You can't? What do you mean, you can't? Of course you can.'

Who sang it?

Woke up in the morning to The Great Gatsby