Motif essay for great gatsby
Content
1
In The Great Gatsby, it appears to be a story of romance and love between two people. The main theme of the novel, actually, surrounds a much larger, less romantic aspect. Though all of the story¶s plot takes place over a just a few short months during the summer of 1922 and is set in an area in the vicinity of Long Island, New York, The Great Gatsby is a highly symbolic story on 1920s America as a whole, such as how there was an old rich and a new rich. Also how it symbolizes the fall or demise of America and what is becoming of it.
Throughout the novel of The Great Gatsby, the main motifs that are relevant to the themes and meanings of the novel as a whole are geography (such as places, settings), and the weather. In the novel The Great Gatsby, places and settings epitomize the various aspects of the 1920¶s American society that Fitzgerald (author of The Great Gatsby) focuses on. For example, two of the settings, which were West Egg, and East Egg, New York city. East Egg represents the old rich, while west egg represents the new rich. Old rich (east egg) is for the fairly old people who have different things from the new rich (west egg) from previous times of their own life. The new rich are the people who have recently become rich or come into money such as Gatsby, he is not the richest man yet but he does have money now, when he never did before; or the others who were born into money but now just acquire the more modern type of living.
Also, as first mentioned in chapter two, the valley of Ashes, which represent the moral and social decay of America, is put into the story The Great Gatsby because throughout the story, the author and the character Nick, feel practically disgusted with how the American society had become. Obsessed with money and socials rumors, etc. and the valley of ashes between West Egg and New York City consists of a long stretch of land which was created by the dumping of industrial ashes. It represents the moral and social decay that results from the old rich and new rich, as the rich consume themselves with regard for nothing but their own pleasure, which
2
represents how Nick and the author feel. Additionally, the East is connected to the moral decay of social life in New york, while the West (including Midwestern and northern areas such (as Minnesota) is connected to more traditional social values and concepts, in other words, which would make them more classy and less trashy.
Also, Nick¶s analysis in chapter nine of the novel has revealed to his sensitivity to this situation; though it is set in this East, the story is really one of the West as it tells how people originally from the West of that states, react to the pace and style of life on the East coast. These symbols and Motifs all relate to one of the main (major) themes of the novel, which is Money. West Egg, East Egg, valley of ashes all somewhat relate or directly relate to the theme of money. But money brings out greed and cruelty, and many other things into the world. Through the story the characters just prove that theory. The valley of ashes represents that. West Egg and East egg differ between old rich and new rich.
Additionally, another Motif relating to the novel The Great Gatsby would be the weather. In much of other authors work, the weather in the story unfailingly matches the emotional and narrative tone of the story. Gatsby and Daisy¶s reunion was in set of a rain storm, which would resemble awkward and uncomfortable, which shows how, they are thinking of their past and how much has changed over time. Seeing each other once again five years later brings back old memories and feelings that should not be happening in the periods of their life, especially Daisy¶s. But during the memories of their past together their love for each other reawakens just as the sun begins to come out. The weather in this part of the book represents Gatsby¶s and Daisy¶s love for each other. When it was raining their feelings for each other have been pushed aside and somewhat forgotten. But when the sun comes out, the love they have for each other comes back as well and starts to blossom again.
3
As evidence, it is proven that Gatsby¶s and Daisy¶s love for each other is strong and true. It tends to affect others and brings complications into each other¶s lives, especially Daisy¶s because she is married to Tom Buchanan, and she also has a daughter. This whole motif relates to the theme of Love. In the novel The Great Gatsby , the Green Light is a symbol of Daisy and everything Gatsby¶s dreams of. ³Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that¶s no matter²tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . . And then one fine morning²So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.´
To explain what this quote from the book means; this quote concludes the novel and to find Nick returning to the theme of the significance of the past to dreams of the future, here represented by the green light. He to focus on our struggles as humans and how we tend to not move on from our pasts but to dwell in them, feel guilty and not move on. As in using the metaphoric language in this, it shows or symbolizes how ³the current draws them backward as they row forward toward the green light´. This gives an example of how Gatsby wants to look back to the past, instead of looking towards the future. He wants to go back to 1917 to fix his relationshipwith Daisy so in the future and the present (summer of 1922) he would be able to be with her and have the dreams he¶s dreamed of. Gatsby loves Daisy more then anything. He thinks about her all the time and his dreams. But Gatsby is far too late to attain Daisy as his girlfriend or wife. Time has gone on and things have changed. All of this relates to the theme of Love and Gatsby¶s and Daisy¶s love for one another and how it affects Gatsby.
In support of,another example of the weather motif would be the day of Gatsby¶s climatic confrontation with Tom. That day occurs on the hottest day of the summer, under the scorching
4
sun. That type of weather symbolizes the tension, and anger, etc. between Tom and Gatsby for their competition over winning Daisy¶s heart. As opposed to, the fatal encounter between Mercutio and Tybalt in the tragedy ³Romeo and Juliet´. For example, of what had happened between Gatsby and Tom, here are quotes from that section of the novel. ³Tom doubly enraged at the potential loss of his mistress and his wife, malevolently questions Gatsby after the group assembles at the Plaza Hotel. He confronts Gatsby about his love for Daisy. Gatsby, refusing to be intimated, tells Tom ³You wife doesn¶t love you«she¶s never loved you. She loves me.´ Tom in disbelief turns to Daisy for confirmation. Daisy, however, cannot honestly admit she never loved Tim. Gatsby, somewhat shaken by the scene unfolding before him-the collapse of his carefully constructed dream-tries another tactic. He declares, ³Daisy¶s leaving you´.
Tom assures him Daisy will never leave him for a bootlegger. Tom orders Daisy and Gatsby to head home (in Gatsby¶s own car this time). Tom, Jordan, and Nick follow in Tom¶s car´. Everything within this scene has played out and become more open than had been throughout the entire book. So the weather is a symbol of all the emotions and thoughts, feelings coming out, reawakening to each other, just like it had with Gatsby and Daisy first seeing each other again when the sun came out during the rain storm the feelings came back out. So this all directly relates to the theme of love because of not only the obvious love that Gatsby and Daisy hold for each other but how Tom also loves Daisy too and how Gatsby and Tom are willing to fight for Daisy and the winning of her love/heart.
Additionally, for the weather motif, Wilson kills Gatsby on the first day of autumn, as Gatsby floats in his pool despite a palpable chill in the air. The death of Gatsby is represented by the weather of the season autumn because it is a chill weather, coldness can symbolize bitterness, sadness, depression etc. Wilson was in a rage though from the murder of his wife myrtle that he
5
thought Gatsby killed. So as a result of Wilson¶s depression & anger he killed Gatsby and afterwards killed himself. Weather in autumn is symbolic of the murder scene in The Great Gatsby, for the bitterness, anger, and death, of Wilson and Gatsby.
A way to foreshadow this death towards Gatsby would be to analyze the colors and change of colors. Gold and yellow: Money, and Death but also a change of emotions and how the story progresses. First off, we¶ve got yellows and gold¶s, which we¶re thinking has something to do with money since Gold is worth tons of cash. Why gold and not green? Because we¶re talking about the real stuff, the authentic, traditional, "old money" ± not these new-fangled dollar bills. So you¶ve got your "yellow cocktail music" playing at Gatsby¶s party where the turkeys are "bewitched to dark gold" and Jordan and Nick sit at a table with "two girls in yellow."
It seems clear, then, that Gatsby is using these parties to try to fit in with the "old money" crowd. And it doesn¶t stop there; when Gatsby is finally going to see Daisy again at Nick¶s house, he wears a gold tie. Nick later mentions the "pale gold odor of kiss-me-at-the-gate," which may seem weird, until we remember Nick¶s description of New York as "a wish out of non-olfactory money." Odor then is associated with gold, and non-odor with money. The difference? Perhaps the same distinction as Daisy¶s upper class world that she has been involved in for some time now and Gatsby¶s new-found wealth which he has just become apart of. While Gatsby buys a yellow car to further promote his facade, he¶s really not fooling anyone. Lastly, we¶ve got Daisy, who is only called "the golden girl" once Gatsby realizes that her voice, her main feature, is "full of money." Yellow is not just the color of money, but also of destruction. Yellow is the color of the car that runs down Myrtle. The glasses of Eckleburg, looking over the (what they think of as) landfill,of America, are yellow. This dual symbolism clearly associates money with destruction; the ash heaps are the filthy result of the decadent lifestyle led by the
6
rich. So the yellow obviously also can represent death, as in Gatsby¶s when Wilson killed him he had been surrounded by gold leaves since the leaves were falling in the season of autumn.
In summary, motifs are related to a lot of things themselves but in the motifs are symbols and relative terms to the major/main themes which is the main idea (bigger picture) of this essay. Love and Money; two amazing, horrible things, both can tear you apart. In this novel The Great Gatsby, that theory is proven. Gatsby and Daisy are driven to certain extents and complications in their lives because of their love for eachother. Money, which also connects to greed, power, social status, etc., can be a wonderful thing that helps you through your life and makes everything easier. But it can also make things ten times as difficult as well. Some of the things that are important to people is to be accepted by society but to also have the acceptance in a ³true way´ not ³fake´. In this novel Money and love are two major themes which have a lot of impact and effect on people. The motifs and symbol through the story explain it in a symbolic and metaphorical way.
7
In The Great Gatsby, it appears to be a story of romance and love between two people. The main theme of the novel, actually, surrounds a much larger, less romantic aspect. Though all of the story¶s plot takes place over a just a few short months during the summer of 1922 and is set in an area in the vicinity of Long Island, New York, The Great Gatsby is a highly symbolic story on 1920s America as a whole, such as how there was an old rich and a new rich. Also how it symbolizes the fall or demise of America and what is becoming of it.
Throughout the novel of The Great Gatsby, the main motifs that are relevant to the themes and meanings of the novel as a whole are geography (such as places, settings), and the weather. In the novel The Great Gatsby, places and settings epitomize the various aspects of the 1920¶s American society that Fitzgerald (author of The Great Gatsby) focuses on. For example, two of the settings, which were West Egg, and East Egg, New York city. East Egg represents the old rich, while west egg represents the new rich. Old rich (east egg) is for the fairly old people who have different things from the new rich (west egg) from previous times of their own life. The new rich are the people who have recently become rich or come into money such as Gatsby, he is not the richest man yet but he does have money now, when he never did before; or the others who were born into money but now just acquire the more modern type of living.
Also, as first mentioned in chapter two, the valley of Ashes, which represent the moral and social decay of America, is put into the story The Great Gatsby because throughout the story, the author and the character Nick, feel practically disgusted with how the American society had become. Obsessed with money and socials rumors, etc. and the valley of ashes between West Egg and New York City consists of a long stretch of land which was created by the dumping of industrial ashes. It represents the moral and social decay that results from the old rich and new rich, as the rich consume themselves with regard for nothing but their own pleasure, which
2
represents how Nick and the author feel. Additionally, the East is connected to the moral decay of social life in New york, while the West (including Midwestern and northern areas such (as Minnesota) is connected to more traditional social values and concepts, in other words, which would make them more classy and less trashy.
Also, Nick¶s analysis in chapter nine of the novel has revealed to his sensitivity to this situation; though it is set in this East, the story is really one of the West as it tells how people originally from the West of that states, react to the pace and style of life on the East coast. These symbols and Motifs all relate to one of the main (major) themes of the novel, which is Money. West Egg, East Egg, valley of ashes all somewhat relate or directly relate to the theme of money. But money brings out greed and cruelty, and many other things into the world. Through the story the characters just prove that theory. The valley of ashes represents that. West Egg and East egg differ between old rich and new rich.
Additionally, another Motif relating to the novel The Great Gatsby would be the weather. In much of other authors work, the weather in the story unfailingly matches the emotional and narrative tone of the story. Gatsby and Daisy¶s reunion was in set of a rain storm, which would resemble awkward and uncomfortable, which shows how, they are thinking of their past and how much has changed over time. Seeing each other once again five years later brings back old memories and feelings that should not be happening in the periods of their life, especially Daisy¶s. But during the memories of their past together their love for each other reawakens just as the sun begins to come out. The weather in this part of the book represents Gatsby¶s and Daisy¶s love for each other. When it was raining their feelings for each other have been pushed aside and somewhat forgotten. But when the sun comes out, the love they have for each other comes back as well and starts to blossom again.
3
As evidence, it is proven that Gatsby¶s and Daisy¶s love for each other is strong and true. It tends to affect others and brings complications into each other¶s lives, especially Daisy¶s because she is married to Tom Buchanan, and she also has a daughter. This whole motif relates to the theme of Love. In the novel The Great Gatsby , the Green Light is a symbol of Daisy and everything Gatsby¶s dreams of. ³Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that¶s no matter²tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . . And then one fine morning²So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.´
To explain what this quote from the book means; this quote concludes the novel and to find Nick returning to the theme of the significance of the past to dreams of the future, here represented by the green light. He to focus on our struggles as humans and how we tend to not move on from our pasts but to dwell in them, feel guilty and not move on. As in using the metaphoric language in this, it shows or symbolizes how ³the current draws them backward as they row forward toward the green light´. This gives an example of how Gatsby wants to look back to the past, instead of looking towards the future. He wants to go back to 1917 to fix his relationshipwith Daisy so in the future and the present (summer of 1922) he would be able to be with her and have the dreams he¶s dreamed of. Gatsby loves Daisy more then anything. He thinks about her all the time and his dreams. But Gatsby is far too late to attain Daisy as his girlfriend or wife. Time has gone on and things have changed. All of this relates to the theme of Love and Gatsby¶s and Daisy¶s love for one another and how it affects Gatsby.
In support of,another example of the weather motif would be the day of Gatsby¶s climatic confrontation with Tom. That day occurs on the hottest day of the summer, under the scorching
4
sun. That type of weather symbolizes the tension, and anger, etc. between Tom and Gatsby for their competition over winning Daisy¶s heart. As opposed to, the fatal encounter between Mercutio and Tybalt in the tragedy ³Romeo and Juliet´. For example, of what had happened between Gatsby and Tom, here are quotes from that section of the novel. ³Tom doubly enraged at the potential loss of his mistress and his wife, malevolently questions Gatsby after the group assembles at the Plaza Hotel. He confronts Gatsby about his love for Daisy. Gatsby, refusing to be intimated, tells Tom ³You wife doesn¶t love you«she¶s never loved you. She loves me.´ Tom in disbelief turns to Daisy for confirmation. Daisy, however, cannot honestly admit she never loved Tim. Gatsby, somewhat shaken by the scene unfolding before him-the collapse of his carefully constructed dream-tries another tactic. He declares, ³Daisy¶s leaving you´.
Tom assures him Daisy will never leave him for a bootlegger. Tom orders Daisy and Gatsby to head home (in Gatsby¶s own car this time). Tom, Jordan, and Nick follow in Tom¶s car´. Everything within this scene has played out and become more open than had been throughout the entire book. So the weather is a symbol of all the emotions and thoughts, feelings coming out, reawakening to each other, just like it had with Gatsby and Daisy first seeing each other again when the sun came out during the rain storm the feelings came back out. So this all directly relates to the theme of love because of not only the obvious love that Gatsby and Daisy hold for each other but how Tom also loves Daisy too and how Gatsby and Tom are willing to fight for Daisy and the winning of her love/heart.
Additionally, for the weather motif, Wilson kills Gatsby on the first day of autumn, as Gatsby floats in his pool despite a palpable chill in the air. The death of Gatsby is represented by the weather of the season autumn because it is a chill weather, coldness can symbolize bitterness, sadness, depression etc. Wilson was in a rage though from the murder of his wife myrtle that he
5
thought Gatsby killed. So as a result of Wilson¶s depression & anger he killed Gatsby and afterwards killed himself. Weather in autumn is symbolic of the murder scene in The Great Gatsby, for the bitterness, anger, and death, of Wilson and Gatsby.
A way to foreshadow this death towards Gatsby would be to analyze the colors and change of colors. Gold and yellow: Money, and Death but also a change of emotions and how the story progresses. First off, we¶ve got yellows and gold¶s, which we¶re thinking has something to do with money since Gold is worth tons of cash. Why gold and not green? Because we¶re talking about the real stuff, the authentic, traditional, "old money" ± not these new-fangled dollar bills. So you¶ve got your "yellow cocktail music" playing at Gatsby¶s party where the turkeys are "bewitched to dark gold" and Jordan and Nick sit at a table with "two girls in yellow."
It seems clear, then, that Gatsby is using these parties to try to fit in with the "old money" crowd. And it doesn¶t stop there; when Gatsby is finally going to see Daisy again at Nick¶s house, he wears a gold tie. Nick later mentions the "pale gold odor of kiss-me-at-the-gate," which may seem weird, until we remember Nick¶s description of New York as "a wish out of non-olfactory money." Odor then is associated with gold, and non-odor with money. The difference? Perhaps the same distinction as Daisy¶s upper class world that she has been involved in for some time now and Gatsby¶s new-found wealth which he has just become apart of. While Gatsby buys a yellow car to further promote his facade, he¶s really not fooling anyone. Lastly, we¶ve got Daisy, who is only called "the golden girl" once Gatsby realizes that her voice, her main feature, is "full of money." Yellow is not just the color of money, but also of destruction. Yellow is the color of the car that runs down Myrtle. The glasses of Eckleburg, looking over the (what they think of as) landfill,of America, are yellow. This dual symbolism clearly associates money with destruction; the ash heaps are the filthy result of the decadent lifestyle led by the
6
rich. So the yellow obviously also can represent death, as in Gatsby¶s when Wilson killed him he had been surrounded by gold leaves since the leaves were falling in the season of autumn.
In summary, motifs are related to a lot of things themselves but in the motifs are symbols and relative terms to the major/main themes which is the main idea (bigger picture) of this essay. Love and Money; two amazing, horrible things, both can tear you apart. In this novel The Great Gatsby, that theory is proven. Gatsby and Daisy are driven to certain extents and complications in their lives because of their love for eachother. Money, which also connects to greed, power, social status, etc., can be a wonderful thing that helps you through your life and makes everything easier. But it can also make things ten times as difficult as well. Some of the things that are important to people is to be accepted by society but to also have the acceptance in a ³true way´ not ³fake´. In this novel Money and love are two major themes which have a lot of impact and effect on people. The motifs and symbol through the story explain it in a symbolic and metaphorical way.
7
