The Art of Symbolism in the Great Gatsby.docx

The Art of Symbolism in the Great Gatsby.docx

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TheArtofSymbolismintheGreatGatsby

TheArtofSymbolismintheGreatGatsby

1.Introduction

F.ScottFitzgerald’sTheGreatGatsby（1926）is,atfirstsight,anovelaboutlove,idealismanddisillusionment.However,itsoonrevealsitshiddendepthsandenigmas.Whatisthesignificanceofthestrange“wasteland”betweenWestEggandNewYork,whereMyrtleWilsonmeetsherdeath,analienlandscapepresidedoverbytheeyesofTJEckleburgwhoseeyes,likeGod’s,“seeeverything”?

Andwhatarewetomakeofthenovel’sunobtrusivesymbolism（thegreenlight,thecolorofAmericandollarbills,whichburnsattheendofDaisy’sdock,thereferencestotheelements-land,seaandearth-overwhichGatsbyclaimsmastery,thecontrastbetween“East”and“West”）,oritssubtleuseofthepersonalizedfirstnarrator,theunassumingNickCarraway?

Itisanovelwhichhasintriguedandfascinatedreaders.Clearly,asaself-proclaimed“taleoftheWest”,itisexploringquestionsaboutAmericaandwhatitmeanstobeAmerican.InthissenseGatsbyisperhapsthatlegendaryopus,the“GreatAmericanNovel”,followinginthefootstepsofworkssuchasMobyDickandHuckleberryFinn.Wewillreturntothisaspectofthenovelinmoredetaillateron.However,wealsoneedtobeawarethatitisanovelwhichhasmuchtobesayaboutmoreabstractquestionstodowithfaith,beliefandillusion.Althoughrootedinthe“JazzAge”whichFitzgeraldissooftencreditedwithnaming,itisalsoanovelwhichshouldbeconsideredalongsideworkslikeTheWasteLand,exploringthat“hollownessattheheartofthings”whichliesjustbelowthesurfaceofmodernlife.Eliothimselfremarkedthatthenovel“interestedandexcitedmemorethananynewnovelIhaveseen,eitherEnglishorAmerican,foranumberofyears”.ViewedfrommoredistantperspectivesitispossibletoseeGatsbyasanarchetypaltragicfigure,theepitomeofidealismandinnocencewhichstrivesfororder,purposeandmeaninginachaoticandhostileworld.InthissenseGatsbycontainsreligiousandmetaphysicaldimensions:

theyoungmanwhoshapesa“Platonicvisionofhimself"andwhoendowstheworthlessfigureofDaisywithreligiousessenceeventuallypassesawayintonothingness,withfewatthefuneraltolamentthepassingofhisromanticdream”.

2.FitzgeraldandtheGreatGatsby

2.1Fitzgerald’slifeandhisworks.

FrancisScottKeyFitzgeraldwasanAmericanauthorofnovelsandshortstories,whoseworksaretheparadigmwritingsoftheJazzAge,atermhecoinedhimself.HeiswidelyregardedasoneofthegreatestAmericanwritersofthe20thcentury.Fitzgeraldisconsideredamemberofthe“LostGeneration”ofthe1920s.Hefinishedfournovels,ThisSideofParadise,TheBeautifulandDamned,TenderistheNightandhismostfamous,TheGreatGatsby.Afifth,unfinishednovel,TheLoveoftheLastTycoon,waspublishedposthumously.

Fitzgeraldalsowrotemanyshortstoriesthattreatthemesofyouthandpromisealongwithdespairandage.HesupplementedhisincomebywritingshortstoriesforsuchmagazinesasTheSaturdayEveningPost,Collier’sWeekly,andEsquire,andsoldhisstoriesandnovelstoHollywoodstudios.This‘whoring’,asFitzgeraldand,subsequently,Hemingwaycalledthesesales,wasasorepointintheauthors’friendship.Fitzgeraldclaimedthathewouldfirstwritehisstoriesinanauthenticmannerbutthenputin‘twiststhatmadethemintosaleablemagazinesstories.’

Hewasextremelysensitivetotheuseofsymbolsandmetaphors,hencealanguageofconcisenessandvividness.Hebasedhiscreationonhisownlifeexperiencestoalargeextent:

manycharactersinhisworkscanbefoundtohavearchetypeseitherfromhimself,orfromhislover,hiswife,hisfriends,andevenhisrivals.Thismakeshisbooksquitereadable,becausehehimselfisalegendwithaliferichingloryandhardships.Althoughhefaredveryhardinhislatedays,theresurgedaFitzgeraldrevivalthroughoutAmericaandthentheworldjustafewyearsafterhisdeath.TheGreatGatsby,ashisthirdnovelpublishedin1925,isviewedashisfinestnovelinexposingthewidespreadsocialabusesoftheJazzAge,thedisillusionnatureanddistortionsoftheAmericanDream,andthecrazypursuitofpeopleafterit.

2.2SocialandhistoricalcontextoftheGreatGatsby.

TheGreatGatsbyfirstpublishedin1925,whichissetonLongIsland’sNorthShoreandinNewYorkCityfromspringtoautumnof1922.

ThenoveltakesplacefollowingtheFirstWorldWar.WorldWarIhadleftallEuropeanbelligerentsweakandnumbedspiritually.America,however,nothavinginvolvedinthewarforlong,remainedjustasforcefulasbefore.Americansocietyenjoyedprosperityduringthe“roaring”1920sastheeconomysoared.

Atthesametime,Prohibition,thebanonthesaleandmanufactureofalcoholasmandatedbytheEighteenthAmendment,mademillionairesoutofbootleggers.AlotofgroupsaswellasindividualstookthechancetomakelargeprofitsovertheProhibition.Afteritsrepublishingin1945and1953,itquicklyfoundawidereadershipandistodaywidelyregardedasaparagonofTheGreatAmericanNovel,andaliteraryclassic.TheGreatGatsbyhasbecomeastandardtextinhighschoolanduniversitycoursesonAmericanliteratureincountriesaroundtheworldandisrankedsecondintheModernLiteracy’slistsofthe100BestNovelsofthe20thcentury.

Duringtheera,manypeoplethoughtAmericawasthelandoffreedomanddreamedan“Americandream”whichwasactuallyabeautifulmirage.TheAmericandreamturnedtobeadreamofmoney,andwealthbecamethesymbolofsuccess.Intheprocessofpursuingtheirdream,peopleabandonedalotofspiritualandsocialvaluestheytreasuredinthepastandregardedmoneyastheonlytoolofjudginghumansuccess.Howeverthegapbetweenthewealthyandthepoorwasstillpainfullyobviousinsociety.

3.VarioussymbolsemployedintheGreatGatsby

Symbolismwasalatenineteenth-centuryartmovementofFrenchandBelgianorigininpoetryandotherarts.Symbolismisthesystematicorcreativeuseofarbitrarysymbolsasabstractedrepresentationofconceptsorobjectsandthedistinctrelationshipsinbetween,astheydefinebothcontextandthenarrowerdefinitionofterms.

Inliterature,“symbolism”referstotheuseofabstractconcepts,asawaytoobfuscateanyliteralinterpretation,oftoallowforthebroaderapplicabilityoftheprosetomeaningsbeyondwhatmaybeliterallydescribed.Itissymbolismthatmakesastorycompleteandexcellent.InTheGreatGatsby,F.ScottFitzgeraldcleverlyusessymbolism,whichdepictstherottennessoftheAmericanDream.Thisthesisprobesintotheuseofsymbolisminthenovel.Theauthorsuggestshisfeelingsorideastothereadersbyusingmanyobjects.

3.1Colorsymbols.

3.1.1White.

Whiterepresentsthebeauty,purityandnobility.ThatisthereasonwhybridesarealwayswearingwhitedressduringtheweddingceremonyintheWest.Whiteisacolorwhichappearsmuchtimethroughoutthenovel.Atfirstsight,DaisyispaintedwithwhitebyFitzgerald,whichattractedGatsbydeeply.Daisyisalwaysdressedinwhiteclothesandhercarisalsowhite.Sheevenspeaksabouther“whitechildhood”.“FromLouisville.Ourwhitegirlhoodwaspassedtogetherthere.Ourbeautifulwhite---”（TheGreatGatsby,23）

Thiscolorrepresentsherpurity,herinnocence,herunperturbedself.However,underthebeautifulappearance,Daisyactuallyhasahollow,grimandselfishheart.Whiteisakindofcolorwithoutrealcolorcomparingwithothercolors,soitrevealstheemptinessofDaisyaswellasGatsby’sdream.White,whichcanbeinterpretedaswealth,cleanliness,innocence,isassociatedwithshallow,superficialandmoneygrabbingmotives.Forexample,whensheistakenintoGatsby’shomeforatour,sheisshownGatsby’sbeautifulimportedshirtsDaisybeginstocry,sayingthattheseshirtsaresobeautiful.ButwhatsheisreallyexpressingisherenvyandjealousyofGatsby’snewrichesandallofhiselaboratematerialpossessions.

Itisinterestingforustonoticeattheendofthestory,thereisa“drunkwomaninwhiteeveningdress”beingcarriedsomewherebyfoursolemnmen.Itcanbeinferredfromthestorythatthisissomeonewhocamebackfromacertainhilariousparty,whichisalsoillusoryanddream-like.Nowonderalotofhousesarepaintedwhitetoothroughoutthewholestory:

Daisy’shomeinLouisville,theBuchanan’swhitepalace,theapartmentTomrentinNewYork,etc,theyarealltokensofwealthandluxury,buttransientandillusoryaswell.

3.1.2Green.

Greenusuallyrepresentsspring,hope,andyouth.GreenisalsothecolorofAmericandollarbills.Thegreenlampalsorepresentshope.ItismuchassociatedwithGatsbyandhishopeinthenovel.Insociety,greenlamprepresentsmoneyandpoweraswealthrulesthelivesofthecharacters,whichisAmericanhope.Inthefiction,greenhasbeenthroughoutGatsby’swholelife.Thecolorgreensignifieshishope,faithandbelief---allputtogetherintooneobject:

Daisy.

Theimagegreenlampappearedthreetimesrespectivelyatthecrucialpointsofthedevelopment,andplaysanimportantroleintheprocessofmodelingtheprotagonistGatsby’scharacter.ThegreenlightsymbolizesthehopeofGatsby,anditisthemostsignificantobjectinthisnovel,whichstandsattheendofthedockoftheDaisy’shouse.Everytimewhenheseesthegreenlamp,thereisahopeinhisheartthathecangettheloveofDaisy.ThegreenlightsomehowremainsanunattainableobjectforGatsby,becausethereisanimpassablegulfbetweenhimandDaisy.Gatsby’sstretchesouthisarms,inordertoembracewhathehaslongbeenkeepinginhisdream---Da