Examples Of Seasons In The Great Gatsby

The idea of accumulating great sums of money can hold a big burden on one's life. For some people, it makes them mindful to work to help others, while other people may become arrogant and selfish about accumulating their wealth. Most people hold different views of the American dream along with different goals in mind in order to make that possible. In the novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald does not believe the American dream can be reality. To support his claim, Fitzgerald uses symbolism such as the motif of seasons to describe his outlook on the American Dream.

Fitzgerald uses of the motif of “seasons” very prominently throughout the novel, he develops the characters by using seasons to describe them. The actions and hardships of the characters regularly coincides with the current seasons through the novel. The novel begins in
In the summer days during new beginnings Gatsby planned to chase his American dream by getting the girl- Daisy. When Daisy and Gatsby meet for the first time, the weather is gloomy and bad, which depicts the mood Gatsby is in prior. “The rain cooled about half-past three to a damp mist, through which occasional thin drops swam like dew”(84). The weather during their meeting after a long love and long time without seeing each other represents the nervousness both are in, especially Gatsby who cannot sit still and even disappears when he hears Daisy arrive. Towards the end of the novel the seasons suddenly change from summer to autumn, a season of death and no sunshine. After the tragedy of Myrtle's death and Tom and Daisy leaving, Gatsby realizes the death and destroyment of his own dreams.“He must have looked up at an unfamiliar sky through frightening leaves and shivered as he found what a grotesque thing a rose is and how raw the sunlight was” (161). Gatsby realizes the raw, painful truth of reality as he is described with a depressing