What Is The Connotation In The Great Gatsby

Gatsby Analytical Essay
Within the novel Fitzgerald plays upon the relationship between Gatsby and Daisy. He
reveals the struggle daisy must encounter of being a married woman who longs for another man.
The author also showcases Gatsby infatuation with Daisy and the plans he has created for them
which included her ending her marriage and leaving the life she knew behind. In his Novel The
Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses similes and metaphors to reveal that having outrageous
expectations in life can in turn be detrimental to the human condition.
In the middle of the book Fitzgerald flashes back to daisy’s wedding day where he reveals
how daisy had received a letter from her earlier love, Gatsby and how she would “only leave it in
the soap dish [once] it was coming to

snow”(Fitzgerald 76). The use of this literary device
exposes a greater meaning than daisy holding upon that letter in her bath. It imposes the idea that
daisy longed for something that she could no longer have. No matter how much she wanted it,
the love she craved would only be a memory, causing her to “leave it” and in turn marry
someone while she loved another.
Later on Gatsby and Daisy reunite and spend a wonderful night of dancing and drinking at the
extravagant home of Mr. Gatsby. As the night drew to an end they embraced and “at his lips
touch she blossomed for him like a flower and the incarnation was complete” (Fitzgerald 112).
This simile has a couple of different meanings the first being the comparison of daisy to a flower.
The connotative meaning behind flower alludes to Gatsby and Daisy sharing a bright and positive love, something that was quite beautiful.

However, the second and more pronounced
metaphor completely changes the connotation. The flower seemed to have represented the love
for Daisy and with “the incarnation complete” it suggests that their love has finished. After years
apart, one single moment together has ended something they wished could be everlasting.
Another use of Fitzgerald’s stylistic literary devices occur earlier on in the book when
Gatsby finally addresses the life he has dreamed up for him and daisy. He says “possibly it had
occurred to him that the colossal significance of that light diminished forever… his count of
enchanted objects had diminished by one.” (Fitzgerald 98) This metaphor explains that the dream
of him and daisy being together was something that would not occur. No matter how much he
yearned for the fantasy of finally being with her. His expectations could and would not be
reached.
In conclusion, the use of simile and metaphor throughout the novel bare the evidence that
wanting too much from someone can do more negative than positive. Gatsby’s unrealistic

ideals
about his love and future for him and daisy caused a domino effect that resulted in relationships
ending and even a death.