Examples Of Imagery In The Great Gatsby

735 Words2 Pages

20. In this passage Fitzgerald crafts an atmosphere of amazement through Daisy and juxtaposes it with a feeling of uneasiness through Nick in order to display the awe felt by Daisy as she toured Gatsby’s magnificent mansion and the ominous feeling of the empty mansion. The incorporation of imagery build the wonderment of Daisy who admires the “frothy odor of hawthorn and plum blossom” (90 Fitzgerald) emphasizing the tantalizing effect that the mansion was having upon Daisy. Moreover, the description of Gatsby’s rooms as “Restoration salons” (91 Fitzgerald) allude to the extravagant wealth of France, connecting it with Gatsby’s mansion and the awe felt by Daisy. On the other hand, Nick held a certain degree of uneasiness in the mansion as he …show more content…

The shirt scene was a rather interesting scene in my opinion as it showed the reader major characteristics of both Gatsby and Daisy. Continually through the chapter, especially in the shirt scene, Gatsby has displayed his vast wealth to Daisy but has not displayed any emotions toward her. Through this Gatsby is displaying in my eyes how he has become so absorbed in his wealth that he has ignored his emotions. He did acquire all his materialistic value in order to win over Daisy, but does not create an emotional connection with her. Similarly, Daisy breaks down in tears when she sees the shirts which leaves the reader to question why she has done so. Fitzgerald is portraying how Daisy has lost the old Gatsby who she originally fell in love with and that the new materialistic one is nothing like the man she remembers. That the one thing Gatsby did to attract actually lessen the love she felt for him and that she feels let …show more content…

Within the novel the green light which Gatsby has been displayed on multiple occasions looking out to from his house which he had built in order for him to be directly across the bay from the light. The light had signified to him the love he sought from Daisy and how the wealth he had built himself was for him to attain his desire. However, now that Daisy has arrived, the light’s “colossal significance” (93 Fitzgerald) has disappeared as he no longer has to strives for it. Moreover, the reality that is setting upon him that Daisy and he are disconnected has diminished his dreams greatly. That he had built a magnificent dream of what his relationship with Daisy would be like, but now that he is with her, the truth has let him down. Furthermore, Gatsby’s “count of objects” (93 Fitzgerald) is one less after Daisy enters his life which removes one of the central symbols of his life. Thus, his aspirations had created a dream, which reality could not

Show More
Related

  • Examples Of Imagery In The Great Gatsby

    869 Words  | 2 Pages

    Scott Fitzgerald going into extreme detail about how the shirts look and feel, and how the shirts make Daisy feel. In this quote, Fitzgerald is describing the emotions Daisy feels while looking at the shirts. "Suddenly, with a strained sound , Daisy bent her head into the shirts and began to cry stormily. "They're such beautiful shirts," she sobbed, her voice muffled in the thick folds. "It makes me sad because I've never seen such -- such beautiful shirts before." (Pg 86). The way Daisy feels about the shirts, and her having such a dramatic or emotional reaction to them, really shows that they symbolize something much more then just an average shirt. Maybe the shirts being wrinkled and tossed everywhere symbolize how Gatsby felt when Daisy left him because he wasn't rich enough, or how Daisy feels when she's with Tom. In this next quote Fitzgerald shows examples of imagery, by going into detail about how the shirts look while being tossed everywhere. "He took out a pile of shirts and began throwing them, one by one, before us, shirts of sheer linen and thick silk and fine flannel, which lost their folds as they fell covered the table in many-colored disarray."(Pg 86). The shirts being thrown around so carelessly shows that in The Great Gatsby objects that are as simple as a shirt don't matter, regardless of the emotions or memories connected to them. That things like shirts are just another materialistic thing that we as a

    Read More

  • What Does The Water Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

    658 Words  | 2 Pages

    Symbolism is immensely spread through this novel, as well as an immerse amount of color. For example, the green light gatsby strives for. Gatsby states that the "single green light" on Daisy's dock that Gatsby gazes wistfully at from his own house across the water represents the "unattainable dream," the "dream [that] must

    Read More

  • The Objectification of the American Dream in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

    843 Words  | 2 Pages

    Gatsby can achieve his dream once he marries Daisy Buchannan, a young woman he met in Louisville, where he falls in love with the opulence that surrounds her. Throughout the book, the motifs of the green light and fake facade are used to signify Gatsby's hope and never ending lust for status respectively. Gatsby's obsession with restructuring his past leads to his failure. Fitzgerald uses these motifs of the green light, fake facade and past to showcase Gatsby's objectification of his American Dream. The green light at the end of Daisy Buchannan's dock signifies both hope and the difficulties Gatsby encounters while pursuing his dream.

    Read More

  • The Green Light In The Great Gatsby

    1067 Words  | 3 Pages

    The thrill of the chase, the excitement in the dream, the sadness of the reality is all represented in the green light that encompasses Jay Gatsby’s attention in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The meaning contained in the green light consumed Gatsby in ways that demonstrated an unhealthy obsession in which five years of his life was spent attempting to get Daisy. The moment that dream became attainable to him, she fell right into his reach only to crush his heart. Five years were wasted on a dream that he really could not see. His life was spent changing himself to achieve “the dream.” Everyone needs to be able to say they lived their life to the fullest and have no regrets when it becomes their time. Do not waste it on an unrealistic

    Read More

  • Paradox And Symbolism In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

    1234 Words  | 3 Pages

    By acknowledging Gatsby’s fixation for his future with Daisy, Nick conjoins Gatsby’s boundless desperation with the novel’s theme that the power of hope cannot determine a dream, or in this case, Gatsby’s dream. Because he is so consumed with his delusion, Gatsby does not realize that his dream is unreachable whereas no amount or power of hope can create his perfected fantasy of the future. In continuation to the green light’s relationship with the theme, not only does the green light illustrate Gatsby’s desperation for the dream but the light furthermore acts as a symbol of Gatsby’s hope for the future. Gatsby’s longing for the light affirms and “embodies the profound naïveté of Gatsby’s sense of the future” as he pursues this unattainable relationship

    Read More

  • the great gatsby

    708 Words  | 2 Pages

    that he always observed Daisy from his house but all that he could see was the green light. He could only hope and dream about having Daisy by his side. This is before Gatsby finally met Daisy. When, at last, he met Daisy in Nick’s house, it seems that “the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever” (Fitzgerald 90). He had Daisy next by his side therefore “his count of enchanted objects had diminished by one.” (Fitzgerald 90). Not only does the green light represent Gatsby...

    Read More

  • The Pursuit of Wealth, Power, and Pleasure in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

    684 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hugh Hefner once said, “I looked back on the roaring Twenties, with its jazz, 'Great Gatsby' and the pre-Code films as a party I had somehow managed to miss.” The parties of the Roaring Twenties were used to symbolize wealth and power in a society that was focused more on materialism and gossip than the important things in life, like family, security, and friends. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, portrays the characters of Tom and Daisy Buchanan as the epitome of the era. The reader sees these characters acting selfishly and trying to meddle with others’ lives. On the other hand, Nick Carraway, the narrator, acts more to help others and act honestly. Initially the reader sees Carraway’s views towards Jay Gatsby as negative as Gatsby’s actions are perceived as being like the Buchanan’s. As the novel moves forward, the reader notices a change in Carraway’s attitude towards Gatsby. Carraway sees Gatsby for whom he truly is, and that is a loving person who only became rich to win Daisy’s heart. But in this the reader also sees how corrupt and hurtful Gatsby’s actions were to the love of his life. Gatsby’s relationship with Daisy reveals that just as Gatsby’s dream of wooing Daisy is corrupted by illegalities and dishonesty, the “American Dream” of friendship and individualism has disintegrated into the simple pursuit of wealth, power, and pleasure.

    Read More

  • Effects Of Daisy Buchanan In The Great Gatsby

    697 Words  | 2 Pages

    Gatsby had a hope of the future to be with Daisy and he related that hope with a green light. The green light symbolizes Gatsby's hopes and dreams with Daisy, but once Gatsby reunited with Daisy, the light lost its meaning. Similarly, Gatsby was obsessed with the idea of his past relationship with Daisy, yet he didn’t recognize the facts around him for example, Pammy- Daisy’s and Tom’s daughter. Pammy is an obstacle between Daisy and Gatsby’s “love”, they can’t run away or anything because Daisy would not leave her daughter behind. Gatsby’s past is based on Daisy, everything he did to triumph was for her, however; Daisy did not appreciate all the hard work he did. Therefore, Gatsby did not cherish all his fortune because all he wanted was Daisy by his side, this results in Gatsby's throwing many lavish

    Read More

  • Materialism And Superficiality In The Great Gatsby

    1044 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gatsby tries to make Daisy love him through his money and excessive spending on non essential, things. When he and Daisy first reconnect their relationship, he brings her over to his house to show off the clothes in his closet: “He took out a pile of shirts and began throwing them, one by one, before us, shirts of sheer linen and thick silk and fine flannel, which lost their folds as they fell and covered the table in many-colored disarray. While we admired he brought more and the soft rich heap mounted higher — shirts with stripes and scrolls and plaids in coral and apple-green and lavender and faint orange, and monograms of Indian blue. Suddenly, with a strained sound, Daisy bent her head into the shirts and began to cry stormily. (Fitzgerald 92).” Gatsby is throwing his shirts everywhere to show that he has a tremendous amount of money ...

    Read More

  • The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

    1052 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. And then one fine morning— So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” (180). Situated at the end of Daisy’s East Egg dock and barely visible from Gatsby’s West Egg lawn, the green light represents Gatsby’s hopes and dreams for the future. Gatsby associates it with Daisy, and in Chapter 1 he reaches toward it in the darkness as a guiding light to lead him to his goal. Fitzgerald illustrates Daisy as a symbol of wealth, success, dreams, beauty, marriage, motherhood, and she ultimately encompasses the idealistic American Dream. However, t...

    Read More

  • Motifs In The Great Gatsby

    1107 Words  | 3 Pages

    People repeating things signifies that whatever they said acts as something very important to them. F. Scott Fitzgerald does this with the use of motifs throughout his novel The Great Gatsby. Jay Gatsby, one of the main characters of the story, repeats himself many times, which shows what he truly values in life. He lives next to Nick Carraway, the cousin of Daisy-Gatsby’s love, whom he tells his life story to. Gatsby tells Nick everything he wanted to gain in the world, including all of his dreams, which he repeats to show that he really want them. All of Gatsby’s action shows his personality and without him constantly repeating himself, people would not know his values. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses motifs to characterize

    Read More

  • The Great Gatsby

    630 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Possibly it had occurred to him that the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever.” (93). Jay Gatsby spent his time at night looking at green light that glimmered across the bay on East Egg. Gatsby seemed to cherish this light, almost as if it was his enchanted object that he relished everyday. The green light had meant jealously to Gatsby, but now that Daisy was at his side he saw the green light as if it was telling him to go. Gatsby had never felt so close to Daisy, even though the distance between them wasn’t so far at all. But now the green light was just another light at the end of the bay. His count of cherished items had diminished by one.

    Read More

  • Among The Ash Heaps And Millionaires In The Great Gatsby

    1193 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gatsby’s dream of winning Daisy has been deferred for long enough, that it seems impossible to everyone else around him. He pursues the past while he is in the future. He pines for Daisy after losing her to another man. Gatsby’s elaborate parties were all thrown in hopes that someday Daisy would wander inside. Nick finds out Gatsby’s intentions when he says, “Then it had not been merely the stars to which he has aspired on that June night. He became alive to me, delivered suddenly from the womb of his purposeless splendor” (Fitzgerald 83). All the extravagant spending, the house, the new identity, the illegal activities, were all for Daisy. He throws everything he has into this charade as he tries to adapt to Daisy’s world of high society. The problem is that Gatsby is so close, but yet so far away, “he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way... I glanced seaward- and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock” (Fitzgerald 25). Gatsby tries to embrace the light that emits from the end of Daisy’s dock. The light is something that he cannot hold, just like he cannot hold Daisy Buchanan in his arms. He attempts to pursue his dream that is nothing more than an illusion. Despite being blinded with his infatuation with her, “He hadn’t once ceased looking at

    Read More

  • Figurative Elements In The Great Gatsby

    920 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the character (Gatsby) attempts to remake the past by altering his identity and accumulating riches in order to win over his lost love (Daisy Buchanan), who married another rich man while Gatsby was away fighting in WWI. The narrator of the novel is Gatsby's neighbor, Nick, who is trustworthy and cynical, connected with all the main characters, and has the ability to see the good in Gatsby. Throughout The Great Gatsby there are various figurative elements that encompass mood and symbolism such as the weather and different colors that consistently reappear in the story. These figurative elements also display Gatsby’s emotional dilemma, which is his dream of getting Daisy back although she

    Read More

  • Corruption of the American Dream in the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

    1440 Words  | 3 Pages

    Though success lies at the heart of the American dream, Fitzgerald deftly portrays the ease with which this sacred idea can become tainted by commenting on the corruption of wealth. Gatsby exemplifies the American dream in his ideals, in this case the desire for success and self-substantiation; however, this dream become corrupted because he is not able to distinguish the acquisition of wealth from the pursuit of his dream, embodied by Daisy, and is tainted by the illicit foundations of his wealth as well as his desires for an unsuitable married woman. Fitzgerald uses the symbol of the green light at the beginning of the novel to represent Gatsby’s dream and even uses the light to introduce him for the first time. “He [Gatsby] stretched his arms out towards the dark water in a curious way, and as far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward- and distinguished nothing but a single green light, minute and far away”(Fitzgerald 26). The author uses the light to represent the American dream; initially the color green represented fertility, which plays a prominent role in the dream, but as the story progresses the green light grows to symbolize money. In his essay “Money, Love, and Aspiration”, Roger Lewis discusses the means by which Gatsby amasses his wealth and poisons his dream.

    Read More

More about Examples Of Imagery In The Great Gatsby

Open Document