F. Scott Fitzgerald indited, The Great Gatsby to represent the elevate and decline of the American Dream. The author places the affluent and opulent lifestyle on a high pedestal while he shows the dramatic consequences of moral and social decay amongst the characters. As the story progresses, the American Dream gradually crumbles in the selfish hands of those who remain incognizant to anything else in the world. The consequentiality of the many symbolic elements in The Great Gatsby plays a role in revealing the characters, the underlying themes of the American Dream, and enhancing the novel. Fitzgerald deftly utilizes the Valley of Ashes, the billboard, and the color yellow as symbols to advance his plot and enhance the quality of the novel.
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T. J. Eckleburg, a billboard that symbolizes a higher power judging American society as a moral and convivial wasteland. The advertisement is simply a pair of eyes “[looking] out of no face” and stands at “one yard high,” looking over the “solemn dumping ground” (Fitzgerald 12). In the beginning of chapter two the billboard commences to pop up, when Nick’s personification of the inanimate eyes implicatively insinuates that they represent a displeased watcher or the characters’ moral failures. The eyes on the billboard pops up in chapter seven too, when the eyes are an warning to Nick, who perceives them as an image of a higher ascendancy sitting in judgment. Lastly, popping up in chapter eight, when Michaelis's explanation that the billboard is not authentically God releases the violence George Wilson has been holding in check for so long. Wilson highlights the symbolism of the billboard that it represents God staring down over everyone and judging American society and visually perceiving the moral wasteland. This is due to the fact that he refers to the eyes several different times throughout the novel. For example, he refers to them when he is telling Myrtle he knows about her affair; “ ‘I told her she might fool me but she couldn't fool God. I took her to the window.’... ‘and I said 'God knows what you've been doing, everything you've been doing. You may fool me, …show more content…
Yellow additionally seen as the color gold, designates many different things, but it first can symbolize [old] money, materialism and high social position. In the western culture, the yellow color is the color that the aristocratic class uses to embellish themselves, representing wealth and noble identity. In order to win Daisy back, Gatsby chooses yellow to embellish himself and his house to show that he has been a member of the higher class. After owning enough money, he keeps himself in a golden world to show his wealth to Daisy: his golden tie, yellow car, golden food and music in his lavish parties, and even a golden toilet set. Dr. T. J. Eckleburg’s enormous glass are also yellow, which can stand for that the Jazz Age is an age where everyone shows great worship of money and where materialism is so fashionable that even God cannot avoid its influence. Not only that, but the author describes Daisy as a “golden girl” (Fitzgerald 99). Making the color designate not only wealth, but avarice. On the other hand, yellow designates corruptness, moral decay, death, and falsehood. Fitzgerald utilizes the color yellow to symbolize decay, as he indites The lamp-light, bright on his boots and dull on the autumn-leaf yellow of her hair" (Fitzgerald 10). He is verbalizing about Tom and Jordan Baker, suggesting that Tom might be heading for moral decay. This is seen in many different areas, such as Tom
T. J. Eckleburg, a billboard that symbolizes a higher power judging American society as a moral and convivial wasteland. The advertisement is simply a pair of eyes “[looking] out of no face” and stands at “one yard high,” looking over the “solemn dumping ground” (Fitzgerald 12). In the beginning of chapter two the billboard commences to pop up, when Nick’s personification of the inanimate eyes implicatively insinuates that they represent a displeased watcher or the characters’ moral failures. The eyes on the billboard pops up in chapter seven too, when the eyes are an warning to Nick, who perceives them as an image of a higher ascendancy sitting in judgment. Lastly, popping up in chapter eight, when Michaelis's explanation that the billboard is not authentically God releases the violence George Wilson has been holding in check for so long. Wilson highlights the symbolism of the billboard that it represents God staring down over everyone and judging American society and visually perceiving the moral wasteland. This is due to the fact that he refers to the eyes several different times throughout the novel. For example, he refers to them when he is telling Myrtle he knows about her affair; “ ‘I told her she might fool me but she couldn't fool God. I took her to the window.’... ‘and I said 'God knows what you've been doing, everything you've been doing. You may fool me, …show more content…
Yellow additionally seen as the color gold, designates many different things, but it first can symbolize [old] money, materialism and high social position. In the western culture, the yellow color is the color that the aristocratic class uses to embellish themselves, representing wealth and noble identity. In order to win Daisy back, Gatsby chooses yellow to embellish himself and his house to show that he has been a member of the higher class. After owning enough money, he keeps himself in a golden world to show his wealth to Daisy: his golden tie, yellow car, golden food and music in his lavish parties, and even a golden toilet set. Dr. T. J. Eckleburg’s enormous glass are also yellow, which can stand for that the Jazz Age is an age where everyone shows great worship of money and where materialism is so fashionable that even God cannot avoid its influence. Not only that, but the author describes Daisy as a “golden girl” (Fitzgerald 99). Making the color designate not only wealth, but avarice. On the other hand, yellow designates corruptness, moral decay, death, and falsehood. Fitzgerald utilizes the color yellow to symbolize decay, as he indites The lamp-light, bright on his boots and dull on the autumn-leaf yellow of her hair" (Fitzgerald 10). He is verbalizing about Tom and Jordan Baker, suggesting that Tom might be heading for moral decay. This is seen in many different areas, such as Tom