In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald presents a novel with elaborate symbolism. Fitzgerald integrates symbolism into the heart of the novel so strongly that it is necessary to read the book several times to gain a full comprehensive level of understanding. The overtones and connotations that Fitzgerald gives to the dialogues, settings, and actions is a major reason why The Great Gatsby is one of the classics of the 20th century.
Three themes dominate the text of The Great Gatsby. They are time (or the lack thereof), appearance, and perspective. Most of the novel’s thematic structure falls neatly into one of these categories. In order to satisfactorily understand the novel, we must examine the roles of these three themes.
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The word time appears approximately 400 times in the novel either by itself or in a compound word. Fitzgerald obviously wanted to emphasize the importance of time to the overall design of the book. Time is most important to Gatsby’s character. Gatsby’s relationship with time is a major aspect to the plot. He wants to erase five years from not only his own life but also Daisy’s. 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 cannot accept Daisy until she erases the last three years of her life by telling Tom that she never loved him to his face. Gatsby fully believes what he says and thinks (or desperately hopes) that that is true about Daisy. At one part of the story he 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 fi…
…rds, like floating and drifting, to have a strong negative connotation of loss. One person at Gatsby’s party participated in the gossip by adding that she had heard that Gatsby’s house wasn’t a house at all, but a disguised ship that floated around to different places to give parties. Finally, near the books conclusion, Fitzgerald hints at his thesis with Nick’s description on page 141 when Jordan, Tom and he returned from the city: “The Buchanan’s house floated suddenly toward us through the dark…” Tom’s facilitation of Mr. Wilson’s murdering of Gatsby followed by Mr. Wilson killing himself was a post-climatic climax. This end finally made us realize the definite evil of the “Tom Buchanans” and feel wrenched emotions on behalf of Gatsby, “the poor son-of-a-bitch.” While Gatsby was perhaps corrupt, what he stood for (his dream) was absolutely immaculate and genuine.
