What Does An Egg Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

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Symbolism provides an imagery that helps facilitate a deeper understanding. Taking place in the 1920’s, The Great Gatsby, is set during a time when society, put up facades while also striving to achieve wealth and elite social status. This classic novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald uses subtle multiple symbols throughout the novel to expose the controversial issues that existed with society at that time. His ultimate goal with this novel is to emphasize the class struggles and reveal the objectives needed to achieve the American dream. In The Great Gatsby, the author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, uses the infamous green light, the metaphor of an egg, and pearls to demonstrate and support the overall theme of the American Dream.
A simple analogy of an egg brings …show more content…

The author uses the relationship of Tom and Daisy to show the idea of how gifts help escalate the social status as; “the day before the wedding, he gave her a string of pearls valued at three hundred and fifty thousand dollars”(Gatsby 85). The pearls worth thousands of dollars, a ghastly sum during that time period, shows that Tom has wealth and a symbol of the American dream. Additionally, this gift that Tom bestows upon Daisy is not only declaring his love, but also more importantly winning control over her. Initially, she was in love with Gatsby, a meager man at the beginning of the novel, whom she communicates with by letters. However, prior to her wedding with Tom he provides Daisy with this necklace, thus forcing her to choose between love and money. By choosing the expensive necklace over the letter, Daisy desires a life of money and status over what Gatsby could possibly give her. These pearls represent the ability of money or valuable objects to sway individuals away from love and marriage with the hopes of achieving the American

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