John Richardson
2* Carrel
5 May 2014
The Great Gatsby
In the Great Gatsby, there are many symbols. Some are more obvious than others. The more obvious include, first, The Valley of Ashes, a large piece of land where trains dump their burnt coal and the lower class workers find their jobs. Next, are the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg. Last, is the green light at the dock of the Buchanan’s residence. Each of these objects and places represent several different things, occurring multiple times throughout the novel. Each symbol has an impact on the plot and the characters.
The Valley Of Ashes symbolizes destruction. All of the houses in the valley are run down, dirty and small. The Thick Cloud of smoke and ashes and powdery air covers the houses and the workers. Everyone who lives near or next to the Valley is poor. “This is a valley of ashes–a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air. Occasionally a line of gray cars crawls along an invisible track, gives out a ghastly creak, and comes to rest, and immediately the ash-gray men swarm up with leaden spades and stir up an impenetrable cloud, which screens their obscure operations from your sight.” It also symbolizes death. Myrtle is killed right outside of her house.
The Essay on Difference In Response To The Doll House
Difference in Response to The Doll House A Dolls House is a play written by Henrik Ibsen in 1879 depicting the marriage between Nora and Torvald Helmer. Nora and Torvald fell in love with the conceptions of each other, not their real selves, which in the end causes the marriage to fall apart when they are faced with reality. A Dolls House is set in nineteenth-century Europe. It is the story of ...
Another symbol in the story are The Eyes of Dr. TJ Eckleburg. The eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg are a pair of fading and bespectacled eyes on a billboard over the valley of ashes. They symbolize the eyes of God. They can also represent Nick’s because he is the only character that knows what is going on. “But above the grey land and the spasms of bleak dust which drift endlessly over it, you perceive, after a moment, the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg. The eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg are blue and gigantic- their retinas are one yard high. They look out of no face but, instead, from a pair of enormous yellow spectacles which pass over a nonexistent nose…But his eyes, dimmed a little by many paintless days under sun and rain, brood on over the solemn dumping ground.” Wilson believes that they are the eyes of God who is watching over him, while his neighbor, Michaelis makes fun of him and says its just an advertisement.
The biggest and most important symbol is the green light at the end of the Buchanan’s dock. It represents Gatsby’s dream of success. The success, meaning seeing Daisy again. The light also represents the American dream. When Gatsby finally finds Daisy, the green light becomes unimportant to him because he found his dream. The story reads, “You always have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock.” Daisy put her arm through his abruptly, but he seemed absorbed in what he had just said. Possibly it had occurred to him that the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever. Compared to the great distance that had separated him from Daisy it had seemed very near to her, almost touching her. It had seemed as close as a star to the moon. Now it was again a green light on a dock. His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one”. The green light becomes insignificant.
All in all, each symbol has its own significance. Some are more important and obvious, as some vanish after the symbol becomes meaningless. Each symbol mentioned had an effect on almost every character in the novel.
