What Does West Egg Symbolize In The Great Gatsby
Daniela Ramirez Ossa
Ms. Fogarty
English 101
March 7, 2013
Literary analysis
Theme and symbolism are general ideas in the two of the pieces of literature written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby and “Winter Dreams.” In both pieces the American dream plays an important role in the character’s lives however the original American dream is replaced by a degraded dream greed and wealth.
In The Great Gatsby we encounter an extraordinary individual, Gatsby, whose immense wealth catches the eye of many speculators in New York, West Egg and East Egg. In the story the author makes sure to emphasize the decay of the original American dream. The American dream originally represented hope and equality, for everyone looking for a better life. However after the wars and the passing years people took a different stand on the American dream and gave it their own meaning. The most popular meaning of the American dream was to obtain immense riches and power at any cost and all thoughts of equality and hope had banished. We can see that in The Great Gatsby when Fitzgerald describes the differences between the people of rich individuals from West Egg, East Egg and the poverty and struggle of those living in the valley of ashes. In the story Gatsby symbolizes …show more content…
the original American dream. His hopes of getting Daisy back led him to work even harder to obtain his objective, he set forth to find wealth and a better life in order to share it with his beloved Daisy. This dream however is destroyed in the end and Gatsby was never able to accomplish his goal, any sort of hope produced by the character was smothered and banished, “Gatsby believed in the Green Light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us”(180) in other words the American dream is nonexistent because it has dwindled over the years. The American dream no longer symbolized hope and hard work, in the Great Gatsby the characters made up their own American dreams. Daisy had achieved her American dream through her wealthy husband Tom; she is a person who lived luxuriously without care and concern of her actions, “they were careless people… they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together and let other people clean up the mess they had made” (179). Tom was born into his American dream because all of his wealth was inherited by his parents; in his perfect world his only concern is to keep Daisy as his spouse at any cost because he views her as one of his possessions. Wilson was closer to the original American dream because he hoped to obtain enough money to leave with Myrtle in a beautiful place however his dreams were destroyed when Myrtle dies. Myrtle 's dream is to become rich and become the upper class she uses Tom as her ticket to the wealthy life.
In “Winter Dreams” the American dream is also present.
In this story Dexter 's American dream is to be successful, rich and part of the upper class. He is precocious and makes sure to act and dress likes the wealthy. His dream however doe not consist of reaching for opportunities that will give him happiness, Dexter 's dream is to be wealthy and be surrounded by the wealthy, but he has set his goal in order to be with Judy. She was the center of his dream and the one who motivated him. His dream however was destroyed when Judy 's beauty and charm banished after her marriage with another man and now Dexter feels empty,” Now that the thing is gone.. I cannot cry, I cannot care. That thing will come back no
more”(IV)
In the two pieces of literature by Fitzgerald, the author uses theme and symbolism to to emphasize the decay of the American dream. In The Great Gatsby the American dream did no longer mean working hard for a better life, but selfish thoughts of obtaining wealth at whatever cost. In “winter dreams” the author also described how the American dream was destroyed when Works Cited
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York, NY: Scribner, 1996. Print.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. Winter Dreams. [Whitefish, MT]: Kessinger, 2007. Print.
Dexter 's muse, Judy, was lost.
Ms. Fogarty
English 101
March 7, 2013
Literary analysis
Theme and symbolism are general ideas in the two of the pieces of literature written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby and “Winter Dreams.” In both pieces the American dream plays an important role in the character’s lives however the original American dream is replaced by a degraded dream greed and wealth.
In The Great Gatsby we encounter an extraordinary individual, Gatsby, whose immense wealth catches the eye of many speculators in New York, West Egg and East Egg. In the story the author makes sure to emphasize the decay of the original American dream. The American dream originally represented hope and equality, for everyone looking for a better life. However after the wars and the passing years people took a different stand on the American dream and gave it their own meaning. The most popular meaning of the American dream was to obtain immense riches and power at any cost and all thoughts of equality and hope had banished. We can see that in The Great Gatsby when Fitzgerald describes the differences between the people of rich individuals from West Egg, East Egg and the poverty and struggle of those living in the valley of ashes. In the story Gatsby symbolizes …show more content…
the original American dream. His hopes of getting Daisy back led him to work even harder to obtain his objective, he set forth to find wealth and a better life in order to share it with his beloved Daisy. This dream however is destroyed in the end and Gatsby was never able to accomplish his goal, any sort of hope produced by the character was smothered and banished, “Gatsby believed in the Green Light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us”(180) in other words the American dream is nonexistent because it has dwindled over the years. The American dream no longer symbolized hope and hard work, in the Great Gatsby the characters made up their own American dreams. Daisy had achieved her American dream through her wealthy husband Tom; she is a person who lived luxuriously without care and concern of her actions, “they were careless people… they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together and let other people clean up the mess they had made” (179). Tom was born into his American dream because all of his wealth was inherited by his parents; in his perfect world his only concern is to keep Daisy as his spouse at any cost because he views her as one of his possessions. Wilson was closer to the original American dream because he hoped to obtain enough money to leave with Myrtle in a beautiful place however his dreams were destroyed when Myrtle dies. Myrtle 's dream is to become rich and become the upper class she uses Tom as her ticket to the wealthy life.
In “Winter Dreams” the American dream is also present.
In this story Dexter 's American dream is to be successful, rich and part of the upper class. He is precocious and makes sure to act and dress likes the wealthy. His dream however doe not consist of reaching for opportunities that will give him happiness, Dexter 's dream is to be wealthy and be surrounded by the wealthy, but he has set his goal in order to be with Judy. She was the center of his dream and the one who motivated him. His dream however was destroyed when Judy 's beauty and charm banished after her marriage with another man and now Dexter feels empty,” Now that the thing is gone.. I cannot cry, I cannot care. That thing will come back no
more”(IV)
In the two pieces of literature by Fitzgerald, the author uses theme and symbolism to to emphasize the decay of the American dream. In The Great Gatsby the American dream did no longer mean working hard for a better life, but selfish thoughts of obtaining wealth at whatever cost. In “winter dreams” the author also described how the American dream was destroyed when Works Cited
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York, NY: Scribner, 1996. Print.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. Winter Dreams. [Whitefish, MT]: Kessinger, 2007. Print.
Dexter 's muse, Judy, was lost.