The Great Gatsby Symbolism
By: Sanjay Lamsal
In The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald uses many different examples of intricate symbolism in-order to tell the story of the protagonist, Jay Gatsby. Two different examples of symbolism in The Great Gatsby are time and the green light on Daisy’s dock.
Gatsby's relationship with time is a major aspect to the plot and is most important to Gatsby’s character. The whole book is about Gatsby trying to erase five years is his life and Daisy’s life and continue their relationship. Gatsby's response to Nick, telling him that he can repeat the past, is symbolic of the tragic irony that is behind Gatsby's fate. Gatsby exclaims on page 116, "Can't repeat the past? Why of course you can!" Gatsby actually tells Nick how, “as soon as Tom is out of the picture, he and Daisy were going to go to Memphis so they could get married at her white house just like it were five years before hand.” Gatsby's continuous trouble with time is illustrated in the scene when a couple stops by Gatsby's house with Tom Buchanan on a Sunday afternoon while riding on horseback. The woman invites Gatsby to join them for dinner. Having accepted the invitation, Gatsby went for his coat. Mr. Sloane then dragged the other two with him and rode off saying to Nick, "Tell him we couldn't wait, will you?" Just then Gatsby walks out the door with his coat and hat, ready to go. This scene symbolizes how Gatsby lost Daisy to Tom because Gatsby he took too much time again. Another example of time being used as symbolism is when Daisy and Gatsby meet for the first time after five years. As Nick enters the room where Daisy and Gatsby have just met, Gatsby is leaning nervously against the mantelpiece while resting his head upon the clock on the mantle. The clock starts to tip as if to fall off the mantle and Gatsby dramatically catches the clock before it falls and all three characters are speechless, stricken with a strange...