Dust in The Great Gatsby

In the novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald incorporates many different themes, but the most prevalent message is that of the impossibility of the American Dream. Fitzgerald writes of two types of people: those who appear to have the ideal life and those who are still trying to achieve their dreams. Tom and Daisy are two characters who seem to have it all: a nice house, a loving spouse, a beautiful child, and plenty of money (Fitzgerald 6; ch. 1). However, neither of them is happy, and both end up having affairs. Their lovers, Gatsby and Mrs. Wilson, are two examples of characters who are still trying to attain the perfect life. By the end of the novel, the hopes of both Gatsby and Mrs. Wilson have been dashed and they have passed away. While discussing the lost dreams of these two people, the image of dust is used several times. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald used dust to symbolize the destruction of the dreams of the common man.

For instance, Mrs. Wilson was an ordinary woman who had high hopes for creating a new and better life. She couldn't wait to escape her life as the wife of a poor car repairman (35; ch. 2). Her husband had settled for this life, but Myrtle still hoped for better things. "A white ashen dust veiled his [Mr. Wilson] dark suit and his pale hair as it veiled everything in the vicinity - except his wife, who moved close to Tom" (26; ch. 2). Fitzgerald uses dust to emphasize that Mr. Wilson had no dreams, and that Mrs. Wilson stil...