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Bella Faulkner

Mrs. Doud

English III Honors

Period 4

Symbolism In The Great Gatsby

Fitzgerald uses symbolism in ‘The Great Gatsby’ to subtly tell the reader

something about the characters or how they feel about a situation. The symbolism helps

with the character development because the reader can read into these easter eggs left

by the author to grasp the character’s emotions. This helps the reader understand the

character and see when the character grows or changes. An example of symbolism in

‘The Great Gatsby’ is the clock. The clock, to me, symbolizes the time in which Daisy

and Gatsby have been apart. The line of the clock symbolism is “Luckily the clock took

this moment to tilt dangerously at the pressure of his head, whereupon he turned and

caught it with trembling fingers, and set it back in place. Then he sat down, rigidly, his

elbow on the arm of the sofa and his chin in his hand. “I’m sorry about the clock,” he

said.” (Fitzgerald 62). This shows how Gatsby is now clumsy since he is in front of his

past lover. The line ““We haven’t met for many years,” said Daisy, her voice as

matter-of-fact as it could ever be. “Five years next November.” The automatic quality of

Gatsby’s answer set us all back at least another minute.” (Fitzgerald 62) shows Daisy’s

reaction to the clock. The reader could infer that Daisy reacted to the clock incident the

same way they did. Daisy suddenly speaks about how it has been many years since

they’ve met. Gatsby’s casual reply of the exact date sets a tense mood. The reader can

assume that Fitzgerald wanted the clock scene to be interpreted as Gatsby being the

one to ruin the relationship, or at least in Daisy’s eyes he is. Through this scene, the
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readers can get a closer glimpse at the true person Gatsby is. This scene greatly helped

the character development for Daisy and Gatsby.