Symbols in The Great Gatsby

The Palace of Versailles served as the royal residence of the French monarchy from 1682 until the start of the French Revolution in 1789. The Palace is often associated with opulence and wealth—and, in Myrtle and Tom’s apartment, symbolizes the power and status that Myrtle desires and Tom enjoys. The juxtaposition of the “Town Tattle” issue against the regal tapestry scenes of Versailles is a pointed reminder of the base behavior of the highest classes. This image is especially powerful given that Tom has just hit Myrtle, and she is trying to protect the tapestry, and its image of idealized splendor, from being stained by her blood.

Doctor T. J. Eckleburg’s vigilant, bespectacled eyes have symbolic significance in The Great Gatsby. Their “persistent stare” watches, faded from years of sunlight, over the dismal valley of ashes from a billboard that has been presumably abandoned by the oculist who paid for it. Over the course of the novel, the eyes take on different symbolic meanings for different characters.

A “valley of ashes” is what Nick calls the industrialized area of Queens that separates West Egg from Manhattan, and it is an important symbol in The Great Gatsby. Though the ground is not literally made of ashes, its pollution gives it a gray appearance that resembles ash. The valley of ashes symbolizes the working class, which has no access to the privilege of East Eggers and West Eggers. Instead, they are trapped in the position of subsidizing a booming capitalist economy with their labor without ever having the opportunity to benefit from it. The novel’s vivid image of the depressing valley of ashes, as well as its connecting its misery to the working class, indicates its stance that the upper class’s reliance on poor laborers is exploitative.

The bizarre car crash is an example of foreshadowing, or a device in which an author hints at an event that does not happen until later in the story. The crash may also be interpreted as a symbol of recklessness—the obvious drunkenness of the driver—and disregard for consequences—the driver’s inability to recognize the fact of his car being undrivable. Fitzgerald seems to associate both of these traits with 1920s American culture. It is also possible that Fitzgerald uses this particular symbol to hint that he anticipates a disastrous end to 1920s prosperity, which would occur with the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the subsequent Great Depression.

European Gothic architecture was popular in the High and Late Middle Ages (approximately 1100–1500 CE) and is chiefly characterized by its use of pointed, or ogival, arches. Gatsby’s library taking inspiration from such an old European style could be seen as an attempt on his part to associate himself with “old money” and older traditions, despite his West Egg residence.

Nick refers to the mess made at Gatsby’s house each weekend. The specific word choice, however, implies that another type of damage has been done that extends deeper than the disorder left after a large gathering. Gatsby’s parties are ultimately frivolous and superficial, a spectacle of wealth and status rather than a show of generosity. The people who attend his parties are also frivolous and superficial: they drink copiously, behave outrageously, and spread rumors about Gatsby while taking advantage of his hospitality. The “ravages” of the parties suggest a moral degradation, not only within the upper classes, but throughout American society in general.

Jay Gatsby’s house has symbolic significance throughout the novel. The fact that Gatsby is able to acquire such a mansion without inheriting familial wealth suggests that his house symbolizes the promise of the American dream: that anyone can achieve success. However, the fact that he regularly fills his house with rich people who do not even know him suggests that money, as well as the pursuit of wealth, does not provide emotional or spiritual fulfillment.

The passage of time is a motif throughout The Great Gatsby, and it is invoked here through the “disintegrating” timetable Nick used to record the people who came to Gatsby’s parties. The fact that the timetable is falling apart suggests that the names written on it have become irrelevant; the fact that the record was kept on paper as cheap and disposable as a timetable indicates that their irrelevance was inevitable.

The black wreath would have been hung on the front door as a symbol of mourning after the brewer’s death. The fact that Gatbsy, who has arrived at a pivotal moment for his dream of winning back Daisy’s love, lives in the same house suggests that Fitzgerald is foreshadowing a similar failure for his dream of establishing himself in society.

A world’s fair is an international exhibition of different countries’ great achievements in science, technology, and the arts. They have been held since the mid-19th century. Each fair is different and usually lasts for at least several months. Nick’s comparing Gatsby’s house to “the World’s Fair” elevates it to the level of a massive spectacle—one of the major attractions at the Pan-American Exposition of 1901 was its electric illumination. It indicates not only how bright the lights in Gatsby’s house are shining, but also that on some level Gatsby is showcasing himself and his possessions as a major city showcases its great accomplishments.

Pink has previously appeared in the clouds Daisy romanticizes during her tour of Gatsby’s mansion in chapter 5. There, it seemed to represent an element of genuine romantic love between Daisy and Gatsby. In this chapter, pink is found in “the luminosity of [Gatsby’s] pink suit” as he stands waiting outside Daisy’s home as well as in the light from Daisy’s window. Symbolically, it appears that Gatsby has clothed himself in romantic idealism; in contrast, Daisy’s pink-lit room is empty.

Fitzgerald again involves the color green, perhaps suggesting a reversal by inverting the words “green light” in Michaelis’s description of the “death car.” The green light at the end of Daisy’s dock was a positive, inspiring symbol of Gatsby’s hopes, but the unstoppable ambition those hopes caused has been revealed as a destructive force. Like the valley of ashes, Myrtle’s death can be interpreted as an example of the devastating effect that the ambition of the upper class has on the lives of the working class.

The unsettling image of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg vigilantly gazing across the valley of ashes returns. Recall that the symbol of the faded billboard carries multiple meanings throughout the text, and that different characters have their own relationships with (and project their own beliefs onto) the billboard. For Wilson, the eyes represent a watchful God who judges the immoral. Michaelis’s reminder of the billboard’s purpose points to one of the major themes of the text: the replacement of spirituality by commercialism. In Gatsby, this exchange results in dissatisfaction, loneliness, and a lack of moral substance; it is also endemic to the populations of East and West Egg.

Though the color pink is often used to represent romantic love, its contrast against the whiteness of Gatsby’s steps introduces an ambivalent tone—especially when readers recall the feeling of apprehension that led Nick to visit Gatsby in the first place. Given that whiteness is often used to symbolize purity, the “bright spot of color against the white” implies corruption. Therefore, the image of Gatsby’s bright suit against white could indicate that Gatsby’s corruption is complete, or will culminate in bloodshed.

Orchids have appeared before, both times attached to a figure of luxury or prestige at one of Gatsby’s lavish parties. That Daisy’s privileged, “artificial world” is “redolent of orchids” suggests that orchids represent wealth and decadence. However, the dying orchids beside Daisy’s bed after she returns home from nights out with other men associate this symbol with an image of fragility and decay.