What Does West Egg Symbolize In The Great Gatsby
Symbolism in The Great Gatsby
Symbolism, in any piece of literature is an important tool that allows an author to relay one message while indirectly meaning something else. American author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, displays this device seamlessly throughout his 1925 novel, The Great Gatsby, to highlight the American Dream. In the eyes of most, the American Dream can be defined as followed: “the ideals of freedom, equality, and opportunity traditionally held to be available to every American” (Dictionary.com). Fitzgerald, however, seems to reject this idea of the American Dream by building his plot around a character, Jay Gatsby, and his inability to fulfill his dreams.
Even in the first chapter of the novel, the pessimism focused on the American Dream rings clear through F. Scott Fitzgerald’s words. The story is set in the New York City area, including West Egg, East Egg, and the Valley of Ashes. These locations are symbols …show more content…
This light is yet another symbol of the unobtainable dream. Later in the novel, readers find out that the light belongs to Daisy, Gatsby’s teenage sweetheart whom he built his entire life around. The green light symbolizes Gatsby’s dream of finally winning Daisy’s heart and picking up their long-lost relationship right where it had left off. This dream is unattainable because Daisy had created her own life without Jay. She was married to a man named Tom Buchanan and even had her own daughter who Daisy hoped would grow up to be “a beautiful little fool” (Fitzgerald, 20). This is represented by the distance of the green light across the bay. Not only does this separate Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan physically but it also separated them figuratively since Daisy had started over with someone new, rendering Gatsby’s dream
Symbolism, in any piece of literature is an important tool that allows an author to relay one message while indirectly meaning something else. American author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, displays this device seamlessly throughout his 1925 novel, The Great Gatsby, to highlight the American Dream. In the eyes of most, the American Dream can be defined as followed: “the ideals of freedom, equality, and opportunity traditionally held to be available to every American” (Dictionary.com). Fitzgerald, however, seems to reject this idea of the American Dream by building his plot around a character, Jay Gatsby, and his inability to fulfill his dreams.
Even in the first chapter of the novel, the pessimism focused on the American Dream rings clear through F. Scott Fitzgerald’s words. The story is set in the New York City area, including West Egg, East Egg, and the Valley of Ashes. These locations are symbols …show more content…
This light is yet another symbol of the unobtainable dream. Later in the novel, readers find out that the light belongs to Daisy, Gatsby’s teenage sweetheart whom he built his entire life around. The green light symbolizes Gatsby’s dream of finally winning Daisy’s heart and picking up their long-lost relationship right where it had left off. This dream is unattainable because Daisy had created her own life without Jay. She was married to a man named Tom Buchanan and even had her own daughter who Daisy hoped would grow up to be “a beautiful little fool” (Fitzgerald, 20). This is represented by the distance of the green light across the bay. Not only does this separate Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan physically but it also separated them figuratively since Daisy had started over with someone new, rendering Gatsby’s dream