- Joyce give a mythical dimension in the last name of Stephen.

The name Dedalus comes from the

Greek myth of the craftsman "Daedalus ". The myth talks about an artificer and a craftsman who
got trapped in a maze with his son so Daedalus builds waxing wings so they can escape.
Eventually, the father managed to escape but Icarus failed and died drowning in the sea.
Stephen draw strength from his last name because just like Daedalus he walked the streets of
Dublin searching for an escape whether in the confessional oe in the brothels but eventually he
overcome the labyrinth in order to live a prosperous life.
- Nick was talking to Gatsby after his dream partly collapse, he was reassuring him and comforting
him because of his disappointment from what happend and from Daisy after finding out her true
self. Nick tells him this line describing Tom, Daisy, Jordan and the others and telling Gatsby and
these people are rotten, they don't goodness in them and and you are worth them all and more,
because Gatsby unlike them, he has good manners and honest heart and real feelings.
- the valley of Ashes is a waste land, some kind of a dump that happened during the rise of the
East and West Egg. it symbolizes the bad effect of the Roaring twenties, it gives us an image of
the inner self of the habitants in the area and in the east. it symbolizes a black-white painting
with nothings growing in it, there is no flouishing, it is all emptiness and corruption just like most
of the characters of the novel.
- the clock symbolizes Gatsby's manipulating in time. His attempt in restoring and reliving the
past. even though the clock did not broke when gatsby bump into it, but their visions and their
thinking that the clock shattered represent the dangerousness of following the past.

Nick Carraway is a well-Characterised personality, he is a good listener, and he listens more than he talks
and acts so people find in him a shelter fo their misery. he scorns all these temporary values and beliefs
of the Easterns. he is an honest man who withholds judgments on others, following his father's advice,
he went to the war and returned with the same old values of his. And he came to the west egg to build a
life for himself and to depend on himself, not on his family's fortune. So even though Nick and Gatsby
both were new to this world and this area, Nick felt this supremacy over Gatsby, because of these
characteristics in his personality. he represents Adam in this new world with all this knowledge and
wisdom that will help him in his path. So Nick will be of use to Gatsby, he will somehow guide him in his
path and help him and we can see this for example, when Nick helped him in meeting Daisy, or how Nick
Stood by him to the end when his dreams collapsed. Nick was a good friend and a real guide to Gatsby
who helped him in paving the way for his dreams regardless of the outcome.

Stephen is different from his actual father, from the beginning his father, Simon, kept advising Stephen
to be a man, to stand for his country, and to accompany only nationalist friends. Simon's advice
narrowed Stephen's path and contradict his feelings. As for his symbolic father, Stephen kept thinking
how can he, a confused disordered man, live up to the expectations of his symbolic father, the artificer
Daedalus. Stephen spent his childhood and most of his teenage years wallowed, not knowing how to
face reality, and spending his time overwhelmed in his inner self. he was unable to accept and act
according to his father's advice because it doesn't represent the real him. And at the same time, he was
so sunken in ideas and thoughts about guilt and pleasure and desires, it felt like he is stuck in a maze and
he can't break free as his symbolic father did. but eventually, by letting the advice and the expectations
and all the ties that burden his shoulder and prevented him from flying, he finally was able to access his
freedom and to understand his priorities.

Ireland at that time was divided between religion and politics, both of these were of an oppressive
nature on Stephen. the church had certain beliefs that contradicted Stephen's way of thinking. The guilt
and warnings about everything Stephen's sensitive nature was attracted too extended his confusion and
the feeling of oppressing within him to the point where he repents out of fear and because of the
ugliness and the horrifying images of the catholic sermons. As for politics, it created this mold, this idea
that every Irish man had to be subjected to it, to act manly and be a nationalist and think of the country
before all. both of these institutions contradicted Stephen's ambitions of becoming an artist and his
senses that express his way of exploring and trying to know the world.

The author, Fitzgerald, uses these characters to illustrate the several aspects of the American dream and
to explain through them the change that happened within the society. Tom for example, he fulfilled his
dream and everything that he desires, he reached the peak at early age. After the peak there is nothing
else to look up to, Emptiness takes place now. he represents all those in the society who accomplish
their dreams and they are now in a decline, filling their lives with false things. As for others who lost
their dreams, who suffered from shattered dreams like Gatsby, they tried to relive these dreams in other
ways, even if it was immoral ways. Gatsby represent the real American dream, he dedicated his life to
win his sweetheart Daisy, but he was affected with the change of the century and he had to deal with
illegal activities in order to reach his dream. Daisy on the other hand, she represents the shallowness
and the kind of people who will fulfill what the desire even if it wrong. she wanted wealth, she wanted
someone that will provide for her well. Gatsby couldn't fulfil her dreams so she married Tom, the
wealthy man that she chose to stay with him, even though he turned out to be cheating on her, just for
the sake of wealth and appearances. It is only Nick, that represent the real and true American dreams,
he represents the dream that require hard work and honesty to fulfill it. Nick, thought he is from a
wealthy family, he chose to establish and build his own life and thought he is living in the age of change,
he clings to his old beliefs. he represents few people who were not affected by the change.