Fitzgerald's Main Themes example essay topic

454 words
The Great Gatsby is concentrated with wonderfully written content. F. Scott Fitzgerald does a superb job of synthesizing the content together with his uniquely distinctive style. A couple of the devices he utilizes to fuse his work together are his extensive use of imagery and symbolism. These two devices alone are enough for Fitzgerald to convey his several themes that he wants the reader to comprehend by the end of the novel. Fitzgerald utilizes language that is full of images- concrete verbal pictures appealing to the senses. There is water imagery in descriptions of the rain, Long Island Sound, and the swimming pool at Gatsby's mansion.

Somewhere in the midst of all that imagery Fitzgerald manages to make good use of symbolism. The green light that Gatsby is caught reaching for in chapter I has many symbolic meanings. It might symbolize Gatsby's goal of once again reuniting with Daisy and the enduring love he still has for her. It might stand for his desire to be accepted into the society that Daisy is a part of. The green light might just be a light at the end of a dock. The very houses that Daisy, Gatsby, and Nick live in have symbolic meanings as well.

Tom and Daisy's Georgian style mansion represent their place in society; the elite or the very top of the social ladder. Call it what may the house symbolizes their roles as the accepted rich. Gatsby's castle-like mansion embodies his place in the nov eau riche part of society. Nick's house symbolizes his place in the upper middle class. He is supposed to be the model of hard earned money. Finally, the last major symbol lies in the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleberg.

This billboard is supposed to have some type of a religious symbolism. The eyes of Doctor Eckleberg represent the eyes of God, in the sense that he is always watching. The point of view the story is told in helps to make the story more realistic. It is told by Nick Carraway rather than some omniscient observer. Fitzgerald also succeeds in representing three different worlds, giving character information, and previewing the four main locations the book is to take place in. All this is done in chapters I - through Nick Carraway as he attends three different parties.

Not until about chapter IV does Fitzgerald move the reader into the main plot of the story. By chapter IX the educated reader will have picked up on Fitzgerald's main themes: the corruption of the American dream and the meaning / importance of the past.