Analysis Of Great Literary Characters In The Great Gatsby

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Recommended: Symbols in the book the great gatsby

Hanne Boveng
Ms. Greve
AP Language Arts
March 25, 2015

Great literary characters are immortalized and perpetually discussed not because they are individually so grand and majestic, but because they exist as more than themselves. A great literary character truly exists in the external and symbolic associations that the author and audience apply. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald reveals social and emotional elements of his character Daisy Buchanan through the symbols of white dresses and a pearl necklaces in order to convey a message concerning detrimental class values, a theme that can be better understood by comparing Daisy to a diamond. Fitzgerald’s use symbolic white dresses contributes symbolism that enhances and reveals meaning …show more content…

When telling Nick about Daisy’s past, Jordan explains that “The day before the wedding [Tom] gave her a string of pearls valued at three hundred and fifty thousand dollars” (80). This grand gesture exhibited Tom’s social standing and his immense financial contribution to the relationship. However, the evening of the bridal dinner, Jordan found Daisy drunk and frantically pouring over a letter from Jay Gatsby as she “groped around in a waste-basket she had with her and pulled out the string of pearls” (81). Daisy proceeded to beg Jordan to “Take’em downstairs and give’em back to whoever they belong to” (81). She had momentarily changed her mind, swayed by by prospect of the possibility of Gatsby. She was willing to symbolically throw away the necklace and to give up on her pending marriage to Tom. However Jordan explains “We gave her spirits of ammonia and put ice on her forehead and hooked her back into her dress and half an hour later when we walked out of the room the pearls were around her neck and the incident was over” (81). Daisy was ultimately not willing to sacrifice the assets that a marriage to Tom held, neither on her wedding day nor years later at the conclusion of Nick’s story. The attraction of prestige and money proved to be shaping forces of Daisy’s desires and motives. Through his use of the symbol of the pearl necklace, Fitzgerald comments on the corruptive and compelling nature of old

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