When Daisy sees it, she immediately picked up the brush and started to brush her hair with it. It also represents the struggles of the lower-class citizens as the rich consume thoughtlessly and live in decadent indulgence all around them. One of the symbols in Great Gatsby is the 'toilet set of pure gold that was sitting on the dresser in Gatsbys room (Fitzgerald 91). The Valley of Ashes represents decay as a result of the greedy pursuit of wealth. The area is described as the precise geographical location where the ashes from New York City fall. What does the Valley of Ashes symbolize? The midway point between East Egg and West Egg, and a stop between these wealthy locations and New York City, this is where the working-class reside. The eyes’ lack of explicit meaning makes them creepy and uncomfortable to the reader. Gatsby sees them as a representation of empty dreams. Nick explores the idea that the eyes represent the meaninglessness of the world and the futility with which people attribute meaning to material things. The eyes take on different meaning depending on which character is looking at them. They represent the judgmental eyes of God over American society, as connected by the grief-stricken George Wilson. These eyes are faded on an old abandoned advertising billboard. Eckleburg’s eyes symbolize? In the Valley of Ashes, there is a billboard advertising Dr. On the first day of autumn, there is a noticeable chill in the air when Gatsby is killed. The climax of the novel occurs on the hottest day of the summer. As the sun starts to reemerge, their love begins to rekindle. Throughout the novel, the weather corresponds to the prominent emotional states of the characters.įor example, Gatsby and Daisy begin their affair during rainy weather, which matches their awkward melancholy. In addition to geographical significance, a prominent motif is the weather. The geography of this region is a notable motif in this novel, which is a commentary on wealth and social class as much as it is a story about unrequited love.
SYMBOLS IN THE GREAT GATSBY SEASONS FULL
This corridor between the city and the suburbs contains the full range of social and economic classes which is central to the major symbolism found in the novel. East Egg represents old wealth and aristocracy while West Egg represents new wealth.īetween the city and these wealthy suburbs is the Valley of Ashes which is where the working-class reside. Because the novel is continually in a state of transition, the summer serves as a bridge that the movement is guided along.The story takes place in New York with action occurring in the city and in the fictional Long Island suburbs of East Egg and West Egg. While life began again with the coming of summer, it ends at the coming of autumn. While Gatsby is laying in the pool, under the falling Autumn leaves, Wilson shoots Gatsby and then kills himself. The summer is a period of movement where the period of time outside the summer becomes stagnant.Īs the summer ends, as the seasons transition into fall, it is then that Gatsby's story falls apart. Nick moves in next to Gatsby, Gatsby finally find's Daisy again, and the characters constantly travel to New York City through the Valley of Ashes. During the summer season, the action of the novel takes place, and becomes a transition period. The summer seems to represent the rebirth of "life" for the characters of the novel. It is in the summer weather that Gatsby throws his lavish parties, Jordan and Daisy are able to sit around all day embodying the definition of conspicuous consumption, and Daisy and Gatsby momentarily rekindle their lost love.
In the beginning of the novel, when we first meet Nick, before Gatsby is seen for the first time, Fitzgerald writes, "And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer." The change or progression into the summer opens up the story and thrusts the plot line forward. The novel also ends with Gatsby's death right as the impending presence of Autumn approaches. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald pins the story of Jay Gatsby and Daisy during the summer season, and parallels their love story along with the climax of the summer heat.
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