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