论《了不起的盖茨比》中的象征主义

摘要

弗朗西斯·斯科特·基·菲茨杰拉德是 1920 年代最杰出的作家之一，并且是美国“爵士时

代”的代表人物。《了不起的盖茨比》是菲茨杰拉德的代表作之一，其在叙事技巧和结构

上的成就早已受到评论家的认可，并得到了人们的广泛赞扬。他在小说中成功地大量运用

了象征主义来突出自己的主题。《了不起的盖茨比》以其成熟的写作技巧和深刻的思想被

认为是 20 世纪最重要的小说之一。

从表面上看，《了不起的盖茨比》是一个关于男人和女人之间失败的爱情故事。然而，

这部小说的主题包含了更大或者说是更不浪漫的意义。尽管《了不起的盖茨比》中人物的

所有活动都在 1922 年夏天，仅进行了几个月，并且都基于纽约长岛附近的地区，但它揭示

了 1920 年代美国的现实情况。菲茨杰拉德将 1920 年代描绘成一个社会和道德价值观衰落

的时代，这体现在人们的贪婪和对空虚的追求。这个故事是对美国梦的反思，是对美国空

前繁荣又空虚的时代的一次象征性的思考。

本文将通过四个部分来分析《了不起的盖茨比》中的象征主义。

第一部分是第一章。这是对该小说和本文的介绍，包括小说的简介与写作背景以及本

文的行文结构。

第二部分是第二章，为有关《了不起的盖茨比》的象征主义该论题的相关研究的文献

综述。

第三部分是第三章至第七章，解释什么是象征主义和《了不起的盖茨比》中的象征，

包括事物象征、地理象征、颜色象征和人物象征。

最后一部分是第八章。其为本研究的结论。

[关键词] 了不起的盖茨比 象征主义 菲茨杰拉德

 A Study on the Symbolism of The Great Gatsby
Abstract

Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald is one of the most distinguished authors in the
1920s and is the representative of “the Jazz Age” in the United States. The Great
Gatsby is one of Fitzgerald's masterpieces. He has extensively and successfully used
symbolism in the novel to highlight his theme. The Great Gatsby is regarded as one of
the most important novels of the twentieth century for its mature writing skills and
profound thoughts.
On the surface, The Great Gatsby is a story about the frustration of love between
a man and a woman. The theme of this novel, however, contains a larger and less
romantic meaning. Although all the activities of The Great Gatsby take place in just a
few months in the summer of 1922, and are based on the area near Long Island, New
York, it reveals the entire circumstances of the United States in the 1920s. Fitzgerald
portrays the 1920s as an era of decayed social and moral values, evidenced in its
overarching cynicism, greed, and empty pursuit of empty. The story is a reflection on
the American Dream and a symbolic thinking of an era of unprecedented prosperity
and emptiness.
This article will use four parts to analyze the symbolism in The Great Gatsby.
The first part is Chapter One. It’s an introduction of the novel and this article,
including the summary and the writing background of the novel and the organization
of this thesis.
The second part is Chapter Two. It shows the literature review of relevant studies
on the Symbolism of The Great Gatsby.
The third part is from Chapter Three to Chapter seven. It will explain what is
symbolism and the symbols in The Great Gatsby including symbols of objects,
symbols of geography, symbols of colors and symbols of characters.
The last part is Chapter Eight. It is the conclusion of this study.
Key words: The Great Gatsby; symbolism; Fitzgera

Contents
Chapter 1 Introduction.............................................................1
1.1 A Summary of The Great Gatsby...........................................1

1.2 Writing Background...............................................................3

1.3 Organization of This Thesis...................................................3

Chapter 2 Literature Review....................................................5

Chapter 3 Symbolism................................................................7
Chapter 4 Symbols of Objects..................................................9
4.1 The Green Light.....................................................................9

4.2 The Eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg.......................................9

Chapter 5 Symbols of Geography..........................................11

5.1 East Egg and West Egg........................................................11

5.2 The Valley of Ashes.............................................................11

Chapter 6 Symbols of Colors..................................................12

6.1 White.................................................................................... 12

6.2 Yellow.................................................................................. 12

6.3 Green.................................................................................... 13

6.4 Blue...................................................................................... 14

Chapter 7 Symbols of Characters..........................................16

7.1 Representative of the Newly Rich——Jay Gatsby...............16
 7.2 Representative of the Old Aristocracy——Buchanan couple

................................................................................................... 17

Chapter 8 Conclusion..............................................................19
References.................................................................................20
Acknowledgements..................................................................21
 A Study on the Symbolism of The Great Gatsby

Chapter 1 Introduction

Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was born on September, 24, 1896. Written in 1925,
The Great Gatsby is not only his masterpiece but also one of the greatest literary
documents of “the Jazz Age”, in which the American economy soared and brought
countless prosperity to the nation. The Great Gatsby is recognized as one of the most
important novels of the twentieth century for its mature writing skills and profound
thoughts. It's worth noting that this novel is so rich in symbolism that readers must
read repeatedly to explore the author's hidden meanings.

1.1 A Summary of The Great Gatsby

The novel has nine chapters. It tells a story about a young man named Jay
Gatsby. Nick Carraway is the novel’s narrator, who is a man from Minnesota. He rents
a mansion in the West Egg district of Long Island. Nick’s neighbour is a man called
Jay Gatsby, who lives in a big mansion and holds parties every Saturday night. People
love to attend his party but no one knows his identity. Nick has a cousin, Daisy
Buchanan, who lives in the East Egg district with her husband, Tom Buchanan. After
Nick moves to West Egg, Nick visits Mr. and Mrs. Buchanan in their mansion and
meets Daisy’s friend, Jordan Baker, with whom Nick begins a romantic relationship.
Jordan tells Nick that Tom has an affair with a man’s wife, Myrtle Wilson, who lives
in the place between West Egg and New York City called the valley of ashes. Once
Nick meets Tom and Myrtle and they goes to New York City together. They go to a
house for the affair and have a party with other people. Since then, Nick has

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acknowledged Myrtle.
One day, Nick receives an invitation from his neighbour Gatsby eventually. In
the party, he finally meets Gatsby himself. Nick is curious about this young man, who
has a charming smile and likes to call others “old sport”. As they know each other
much further, Nick know Gatsby’s secret that he is Daisy's former lover and Gatsby is
still obsessed with Daisy. So he comes to West Egg, builds this big mansion and holds
extravagant parties. He does all these things in order to attract Daisy’s attention. He
always stares at the green light at the end of her dock, across the bay from his
mansion. He really wants to see Daisy again, so he requests Nick to arrange their
meet. Therefore, Gatsby and Daisy reunion successfully and they rekindle the past
romance.
After a short time, Tom finds his wife’s affair from Daisy and Gatsby’s
interaction. He becomes outraged when he realizes they are in love with each other.
He forces Daisy, Gatsby, Nick and Jordan to drive into the New York City. When they
are in a hotel, Gatsby and Daisy confess their affair. However, Tom reveals to
everyone that Gatsby is a criminal, and his fortune comes from illegal activities.
Daisy is shocked and disappointed, and finally chooses Tom.
Tom contemptuously sends her back to East Egg with Gatsby, attempting to
prove that Gatsby can not hurt him. However, the tragedy happens. When Nick,
Jordan, and Tom drive through the valley of ashes, they discover that Gatsby's car has
struck and killed Myrtle, Tom's lover. In fact, it is Daisy who killed Mrs. Wilson while
driving. Gatsby decided to take Daisy’s blame, but Tom uses this to instigate Myrtle’s
husband Wilson to kill Gatsby. Wilson mistakenly thinks Gatsby is his wife's lover, so
he shoots Gatsby dead and kills himself finally. In the end, only Nick stages a small
funeral for Gatsby while no one wants to attend the funeral expect his father. Daisy
and Tom are so indifferent that they just leave America for travelling as if nothing
happened.

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 Realizing American dream of happiness and individualism has disintegrated into
the mere pursuit of wealth from Gatsby’s tragedy, Nick moves back to the Midwest
with disappointment and emptiness.

1.2 Writing Background

From the novel, we find that Gatsby is great because he is optimistic and full of
hope for the future. He has an American dream like many people. However, in “the
Jazz Age” where Gatsby lived, the development of capitalist society has entered the
stage of imperialism. It turns out that a large area of uncultivated virgin land has been
fully utilized with the increase of the population, and there is a shortage of resources
and a large number of people. The social competitiveness in all aspects is also
increasing. In addition, personal wealth is also largely determined by the hereditary
system under the patriarchal system. It can be said that in this social environment, a
person's social status and wealth are basically determined by his family. Therefore, in
this era of increasingly mature capitalism, the wealthy people are mostly the
descendants of early American pioneers who have achieved great success driven by
the American dream magic, such as Tom Buchanan in the novel. So Gatsby's tragedy
seems inevitable.
On the surface, The Great Gatsby is a story about the frustration of love between
a man and a woman. The theme of this novel, however, contains a larger and less
romantic meaning. Although all the activities of The Great Gatsby take place in just a
few months in the summer of 1922, and are based on the area near Long Island, New
York, it reveals the entire circumstances of the United States in the 1920s. Fitzgerald
portrays the 1920s as an era of decayed social and moral values, evidenced in its
overarching cynicism, greed, and empty pursuit of empty. The story is a reflection on
the American Dream and a symbolic thinking of an era of unprecedented prosperity
and emptiness.

3
1.3 Organization of This Thesis

This thesis focus on the symbolism in The Great Gatsby. By classifying the
symbols in this novel, I try to explain the author's deep thoughts.
This study consists of eight chapters. Chapter One serves as the introduction of
the whole thesis, including the summary and the writing background of the novel and
the organization of this thesis. Chapter Two is the literature review of relevant studies
on the Symbolism of The Great Gatsby. Chapter Three will explain what is
symbolism. From Chapter Four to Chapter Seven is the symbols in The Great Gatsby
including symbols of objects, symbols of geography, symbols of colors and symbols
of characters. The last chapter will combine the full text and conclude the study.

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 Chapter 2 Literature Review

As one of the most important writers of the “Jazz Age” in the 1920s in the United
States, Fitzgerald described the mental state and lifestyle of the young generation in
the United States after the First World War in his novels. The Great Gatsby describes
in detail the lives of young people in the “Jazz Age”. The reason why Fitzgerald was
able to create such a great work is inseparable from his own life background: the
“great” era in which he lived was the post-war America, and everyone had an
“American dream”. Even though this American dream is difficult and unreal, people
still struggle for it endlessly. In The Great Gatsby, the author portrays the social status
of the United States in the 1920s, describes how the protagonist Gatsby changed from
a poor young man to a wealthy upper class, and describes his return to Daisy and the
story of being killed.
In stylistics, rhetoric includes many aspects, such as metaphor, exaggeration,
symbolism, satire, etc. This article mainly analyzes the theme of the work by
analyzing the symbolism that appear in the novel. As an artistic expression method,
symbolism aims to show the invisible thought hidden behind the visible things and
phenomena in the creation of novels. In this great novel The Great Gatsby, symbolism
has played an unprecedented role.
Fitzgerald uses symbols to portray events, feelings, personalities and time
periods. Throughout the narrative, his superior use of other predominant symbols such
as color is also evident throughout the novel. Fitzgerald uses the color “green” to
express the hope and the new beginning. Then he uses the color “white” to symbolize
the innocence. “Yellow” can demonstrate the moral decay and the death. “Blue”
represents dreams and thoughts of the characters of the novel. In relation with money,
“gold” is represented as old wealth. "Red can also be inevitably associated with the
death and violence.
The use of settings represents an extraordinary achievement in Fitzgerald's
fiction-writing career. Setting plays an important role in developing Fitzgerald's

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theme. Throughout the novel, places and settings epitomize the various aspects of the
1920s American society that Fitzgerald depicts.
Fitzgerald's superior use of other symbols such as weather and time are also
evident throughout the novel, which makes their implications more real. Weather in
The Great Gatsby unfailingly matches the emotional and narrative tone of the story.
Weather and time are significant and symbolic throughout the entire novel.
In The Great Gatsby, Book appears several times to indicate the implicit
meaning. Nick,Gatsby, Tom, everyone has his own interest to collect or read the
books. Their books are seemingly their interest, in fact the books symbolize their
different spiritual pursuits.
The theme of the story is also expanded through symbolism. Jay Gatsby, the title
character and protagonist of the novel, functions as a symbol of America in the 1920s-
he becomes a more perfect symbol of the strange combination of moral decadence
and vibrant optimism that Fitzgerald portrays as the spirit of 1920s America.
To sum up, There have been many studies on the symbolism in The Great
Gatsby. The main innovation of this article is to divide some main symbols in the
novel into four categories for analysis so that the organization is clear and it benefits
to understand the authors’ meaning behind the symbols.

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 Chapter 3 Symbolism

To discuss symbolism in literature , it is necessary to the conception of

“symbol”. According to the Wikipedia, “symbol is something such as an object,
picture, written word, sound, or particular mark that represents something else by
association, resemblance, or convention. For example, crossed sabres may indicate a
battlefield on maps. Numerals are symbols for numbers (amounts). All language
consists of symbols. Personal names are symbols representing individuals.”
Symbolism is one of the common methods of English literature. When creating
literature, it often uses symbols, hints, metaphors and other methods to present and
explain, so as to continuously enhance the connotation and value of English literature.
Symbolism originated in Europe in the 19th century. Under the social background at
that time, many intellectuals were dissatisfied with social reality, so they used to rely
on the method of symbolism to express personal emotions and ideals in literary
works.
It is precisely because of the existence of symbolism that authors further
elaborated and deeply revealed the essence of their works, so as to continuously
deepen the author's understanding of life in order to achieve a stronger psychological
feeling. The aesthetic experience enhances the artistic charm and aesthetic value of
literary works. At the same time, the authors use symbolism to deeply reflect on social
issues, think on the meaning of life, and ingeniously explore sensitive topics into the
work. In addition, they resonate with readers from multiple levels and angles, expand
the reader's thinking depth and breadth.
With the progress of human beings and the development of society, the subject
and form of literature are constantly innovating and developing. This has greatly
promoted the emergence of new trends in literary development and fundamentally
enhanced the connotation and art value. The continuous realization of symbolism has
realized the pursuit of beauty, as well as the expression and search of free will and
free emotion, thus made a solid foundation for the author's ideological and emotional

7
sustenance and the realization of life experience. The symbolism of English literature
highlights the essential connotation and historical value of literature, so as to make
literature better serve the expression of emotions. In a word, symbolism has a very
important promotion significance for the development and inheritance of literature.

8
 Chapter 4 Symbols of Objects

4.1 The Green Light

The Green light appears on the dock near the heroine Daisy's house. The author
connects Gatsby with this "green light".
First, "green light" symbolizes Gatsby's wish for a happy life. Under the
narration of Nick, readers can know that Gatsby will watch the green lights of the pier
near Daisy ’s house in the moonlight. He always loves Daisy, but he doesn’t have
enough money to marry Daisy. It causes Daisy to marry someone, and Daisy is a
dream that he fails to realize. So Gatsby manages to approach Daisy after becoming a
so-called upper class and tries to bring Daisy back to his side. That "green light"
symbolizes Gatsby's wish for himself and Daisy's happy future.
Secondly, "green light" also represents Gatsby's desire for material wealth.
Gatsby regards the green light as a material life that is satisfying and yearning for a
drunken life. He has always believed that this unreachable dream will eventually
comes true.
Finally, the "green light" symbolizes the destruction of the "American Dream".
The light appears repeatedly, but it is invisible, just like the dream of people in "the
Jazz Age". People's longings eventually disappear with the wind and gradually drift
away, which means the "American dream" in the Jazz Age comes to the final
destruction.

4.2 The Eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg

Doctor T. J. Eckleburg’s eyes are a pair of tarnished eyes with glasses painted on
an old billboard overlooking the valley of ashes. Although the novel has never made a
clear statement, these eyes may represent God and he is staring down to judge the
American society that has become a moral wasteland. In fact, throughout the novel,

9
Fitzgerald implies that symbols only have meaning when characters give them
meaning. The connection between the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckelberg and God exists
only in the extremely sad heart of George Wilson. Because of the lack of specific
meaning, the image is uncertain. Therefore, these eyes also represent the essentially
meaninglessness of the world, and the randomness of the psychological process that
people give meaning to things. Nick explores these ideas in Chapter Eight, when he
suspects that Gatsby's last thoughts might be anxious about the emptiness of symbols
and dreams.

10
 Chapter 5 Symbols of Geography

5.1 East Egg and West Egg

Throughout the novel, places and settings epitomize the various aspects of the
1920s American society that Fitzgerald depicts. East Egg represents the old
aristocracy, West Egg the newly rich. Additionally, the East is connected to the moral
decay and social cynicism of New York, while the West is connected to more
traditional social values and ideals. Nick's analysis in Chapter Nine of the story he has
related reveals his sensitivity to this dichotomy: though it is set in the East, the story is
really one of the West, as it tells how people originally from west react to the pace and
style of life on the East Coast.

5.2 The Valley of Ashes

In the novel, the valley of ashes takes readers to a place full of modernization,
where there are vehicles that create wealth for humans, and passengers take these
vehicles to different places; there are modern factories, but these factories, on the one
hand, produce various items for the progress of society, on the other hand, in the
process of producing various commodities, industrial waste will inevitably be
produced, and finally the entire city will be buried by garbage. This not only reveals
the external image of a city, but also reveals to readers that the internal of the city has
begun to corrupt and decline just like the external. The deep meaning of the valley of
ashes refers to moral corruption and depravity. In addition, “ashes” also represents
this color, it feels dull and lifeless, which also echoes the confused and hopeless
theme of the young generation in an era of frustration and depravity.

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 Chapter 6 Symbols of Colors

6.1 White

White is a color that appears frequently in the novel. In a general sense, white
symbolizes purity and innocence. White is mentioned many times in the story. It is
closely connected with wealth, innocence, perfection, and success. It is used in most
cases in the novel to describe people in the East Egg, especially Daisy. Daisy was still
very simple and naive when she was young, and her love for Gatsby was pure and
sweet. However, as time passed, Daisy began to pursue money and society.
Eventually, an unhappy marriage was between her and Tom.
White can make everything look neat and tidy. At the same time, it is also a good
background color to contrast the darkness. The simple Daisy only exists in the past, or
we can say that she only exists in Gatsby's memory. She had to marry Tom in order to
live a rich life. Her vanity seemed to contradict her original innocence. She was
always associated with white clothes, white cars and white houses. White also means
living in this flashy society. Every character's empty heart is strongly ironic. All white
decorations reflect a monotonous and desolate life. In a society that highly emphasize
money and status, people's spiritual life is more lonely and helpless.

6.2 Yellow

Yellow is a bright color, this color is often closely linked to wealth and honor.
Gold can be regarded as a color similar to yellow. Gatsby likes to decorate himself
and decorate the house with gold. He believes that this is the only way to make others
aware of his success. It seems that the only goal for success is wealth. Gatsby firmly
believes in Daisy. He becomes rich because of his successful choice, but he is
destined to lose Daisy's love because of his wrong world view. This is not his fault,

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but should be attributed to the entire impetuous social environment. Thousands of
Americans are struggling to make money and want to realize the American dream
they are chasing, but few of them understand the true meaning of the American
dream. In addition to material satisfaction, they also need to have spiritual joy.
However, the spiritual abundance are precisely ignored by most people.
At the same time, yellow is also the color that best describes “the Jazz Age” and
the golden light shining on the road ahead. We all know that Gatsby ’s means of
making money are not glorious. He illegally sells private wine, so to this extent, gold
also symbolizes unrealistic things. According to the novel description, most of Gatsby
’s clothes and decorations are gold. He always hosts luxury parties to show off. He
has spent a lot of money to prove his success, and he is convinced that his wealth can
make Daisy renew back to him. Although he doubts again and again whether he has
got what he really wanted, he is still hopeful even before he died.
In addition, yellow is always used to describe autumn. After the joy of autumn
harvest, autumn always gives people a sense of withering. The author also associates
yellow with death. Perhaps through this connection, the author wants to tell the reader
that sometimes it is money that leads people to death.

6.3 Green

At the beginning of the novel, Gatsby always stood alone in the night and looked
into the distance, trying to touch the green light on the other side. The green light
causes the reader to think, it makes people feel mysterious and guides people to
explore further.
As we continue to read, we will find that green is closely related to the green
light in Daisy's house at the end of the pier. It symbolizes Gatsby's love for Daisy and
the pursuit of the American dream. However, because the green light is always weak
and far away, it also shows that his dream is easily disillusioned. In fact, the green
light symbolizes the hope and dream in Gatsby's heart, that is Daisy's love. Although

13
others around him think that Gatsby has enough money to enjoy a happy life, he is
painful and lonely. He didn’t get Daisy ’s love and he didn’t even know what he really
wanted. Daisy was like a green light in the distance, which he could only watch but
not touch.
The green light can be regarded as the belief of Gatsby's life, which always
guides the way forward. Gatsby can see countless possibilities through the green light,
which also prompted him to pursue his dream bravely and firmly.
The American dream of Gatsby is also the dream of thousands of Americans.
Gatsby’s hopes, efforts, and independence are similar to the early American settlers
who came to Long Island long before the birth of the American dream. All aspects of
the American dream are ways to pursue happiness, self-reliance and wealth. Gatsby's
American dream contains an ideal way of life and love for Daisy. Although it didn't
materialize in the end, Gatsby still had hope for himself and the future. He had been
waiting for Daisy's call before he died and expecting her to change her mind. This
positive attitude towards life also inspires every American to strive to pursue their
dream.
Fitzgerald uses multiple color symbols to give green profound and multiple
meanings. Green not only has a personal meaning but also a profound social meaning.
It is used to present the life of Gatsby’s legend and symbolizes an American dream
that he pursued all his life and brought him love, wealth and happiness.

6.4 Blue

Scott Fitzgerald uses blue to represent dreams and thoughts of the characters of
the novel. Dr. T. J. Eckleburg has enormous "blue" eyes, which are said to be God's
eyes. And they are believed to view the world as God himself would. God stares down
upon and judges American society as a moral wasteland. “Blue” here represents the
thoughts of God. The connection between the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg and God
exists in George Wilson's grief-stricken mind. Because of Wilson's strong belief in

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God, this poster is not just an advertisement. It has a deep meaning to him. The one,
who is guilty of killing Myrtle, will one day be brought to justice by God. As God is
the only one that Tom and Daisy can not buy or run away from. His view that God
sees everything shows how strongly he believes in God watching over him through
the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg.
Tom's lover Myrtle is dressed in a blue dress, which is present to represent her
dreams of escaping her commonplace life and running away with Tom. What's more,
Gatsby's gardens are described as being shades of blue and are firstly shown as a
place where people can escape from the world and be out of touch with reality. In
relation to Gatsby, the gardens were an indispensable part of his life. Just as Nick says
in the story, “He'd come a long way to this blue lawn.”

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 Chapter 7 Symbols of Characters

In the novel, there are newly rich in the West Egg, the representative of which is
the young millionaire Jay Gatsby. He was generous. In order to recover his past lover
Daisy, Gatsby used illegal means to gather money, bought a mansion in West Egg and
often held large parties. The purpose of his frequent gatherings throughout the
summer is to silently wait for the married woman Daisy whom he has loved for many
years. Although they were lovers many years ago, after meeting Daisy again, Gatsby
plunged himself into a quagmire and was eventually murdered by the Buchanan
couple.
In addition, the representatives of the old aristocracy from East Egg, the
Buchanan couple, were born in wealthy families. Seeking the supremacy of money
and extravagant life are the embodiment of their values. As Americans, they all have
different American dreams. Although they belonged to the wealthy aristocratic class,
due to their different growth environments, life experiences and identities, they were
very different in recognition of the social class at that time.

7.1 Representative of the Newly Rich——Jay Gatsby

The protagonist Gatsby is about the age of Nick and treats everyone politely at
the party. Although he is very rich, he is always a mysterious and young man,
especially when people at the party constantly speculate about his life. After Jay
Gatsby became a millionaire, he fabricated a lie about his life that only he knew. The
purpose of fabricating lies is to cover up his experience of using illegal means to get
rich. This lie did not reveal his true life until people kept contacting Gatsby. But in the
whole process, Gatsby always treated Nick honestly and truthfully. The purpose of his
pursuit of “American Dream” and fabrication of life experience is just to win Daisy's
love again. All his efforts include five years of silently waiting, having a party

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throughout the summer is to wait for Daisy to appear in front of him. For the people
around him, he is mysterious, noble and rich. But one thing Gatsby has always been
true is that his love for Daisy has never changed. Gatsby hopes to use his hard work
and wealth to return the love that once belonged to him and Daisy. He is willing to
share with her everything he has. It is precisely because of this impossible dream that
Gatsby finally brings into the end of death.

7.2 Representative of the Old Aristocracy——Buchanan couple

The Buchanan couple is a representative of an ancient nobleman in East Egg,

they have an outstanding family background and all the things from wealthy families.
Tom is conceited and pursues money and happiness. He often likes to show off his
wealth in front of others, secretly has an affair with Mrs. Wilson Myrtle. When he saw
that Gatsby was approaching Daisy, he was so jealous that he did his utmost to defend
his marriage with Daisy. However, women are nothing but possessions in his eyes.
Facing marriage and love, he betrayed Daisy and was extremely unfaithful to their
marriage. His wife Daisy is a beautiful woman. She is eager to enjoy, pursues a
luxurious and romantic life, and attracts much attention. Although she loves Gatsby,
for the sake of self-protection and interests, she eventually conspired with her
husband Tom to leave Gatsby and killed him.
Although it can be seen from the novel that the Buchanan couple's marriage is
not happy, the two must have some things in common:
Firstly, Tom and Daisy have a stable family. Both of them are children of wealthy
families. Tom is good at sports and is one of New Haven's most powerful rugby
wingers. He is very rich and often spends a lot of money. Daisy was born in a wealthy
family and fell in love with Gatsby. Because of his poverty, she gave up Gatsby,
married rich Tom, and lived a luxurious life.
Secondly, both of them are greedily pursuing and showing off their wealth and
status. For example, when Tom took Nick to visit his mansion, he tried to prove that

17
the mansion he lived in belonged to a famous person to show his wealth and prestige.
After seeing Gatsby again, Daisy embraced him again because of his rich identity.
Thirdly, the two do not regard marriage loyalty and betrayal. They treat love and
marriage sincerely. Tom has a lover in the United States, Mrs. Wilson, who is a
married woman. After seeing Gatsby’s wealth, Daisy did not care about her married
state and often had a date with Gatsby.
Fourthly, both of them are selfish, cruel, and hypocritical. Having unlimited
wealth and noble identity is the goal they pursue in their lives. After Daisy
accidentally knocked down Tom's lover Mrs. Wilson, Tom and Daisy conspired to
blame Gatsby for the accident. Poor Gatsby was killed by Mr. Wilson's gun. Even
after Gatsby died, they disappeared without a trace. This relentless attitude is strongly
contrast to Gatsby's endless love and loyalty to Daisy.

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 Chapter 8 Conclusion

Fitzgerald is one of the greatest writers in the history of American literature. The
Great Gatsby is a classic work of American postwar novels in the 1920s. In The Great
Gatsby, Fitzgerald criticizes American society in the 1990s. He uses human characters
to show the power of money, people ’s stupid and indulgent behavior. Fitzgerald
shows how hypocritical and empty this rich society is, how cold and cruel those rich
people are, and what happened in this period. How delusional Americans are and how
meaningless their existence is. These 10 years ,which began with prosperity and
ended with prosperity, really won the title of “Roaring Twenties”.
In the 1920s, the United States was a country full of great despair and
disappointment. The Great Gatsby is the reflection of these 10 years, it depicts a man's
fanatical pursuit of his American Dream and all aspects of his dream. The Great
Gatsby proves that people want to work hard to realize the American Dream and the
disappointment and despair after the dream is broken.
The greatness of The Great Gatsby is also that it is Fitzgerald's autobiography,
this novel tells his own experience and thoughts. This novel not only symbolizes an
era, but also represents people in “the Jazz Age” in the United States. There is no
doubt that this is a great novel that can resonate with readers, because it is not only a
love story that a man has not been together with a woman, it is also a story about
miracles, power and dedication, dreams and history. The dream is doomed, and the
tragedy of Gatsby is doomed to repeat.
The story of "Great Gatsby" is simple, but its inner meaning is very far-reaching.
The use of the symbol is its most remarkable artistic feature, and it also proves
Fitzgerald's superb artistic accomplishment. A systematic study of symbolism will
allow readers to better understand the theme of the novel and the American society at
the time. By showing the love tragedy of fanatical dream-catchers in the United States
in the 1920s, Fitzgerald realized that the years of dreams and the American Dream
have been both gone.

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 References

[1] The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald,F Scott. 1987

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