SYMBOLS
The Great
Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald
DEFINITION
Any object, person, place, or idea that
carries additional meaning to one or more
people.
Draw a symbol.
Think: Emoticons, public building signs,
street signs, international symbols.
COLORS
Turn to a
page in the
book
between
pages 1-59.
What
description
s using
color do
you see?
GRAY
Meaning: conservatism, traditionalism, intelligence,
serious, dull, uninteresting
Example in the book: Gray is the color for dreariness. It
symbolizes the lack of life and/or spirit. It is the place of no
hope, no future. In the book this place is called the valley of
ashes where everything is covered in gray dust-even the
people. This would not be a place where you would want to
be.
WHITE
Meaning: Cleanliness, purity, newness, virginity, peace,
innocence, simplicity, sterility, snow, ice, cold
Cultural Connection: White: Innocence. Purity. Fresh. Good.
These are some of the meanings of white. Brides wear white
(innocence), doctors and nurses (although many wear blue
now) wear white (sterility), and heroes tend to wear white or
ride off on a “white” horse.
Example from the book: White is the color that has the
deeper meaning of false purity or goodness. Daisy and
Jordan are always seen in white.
GREEN
 Meaning: Durability, reliability, environmental, luxurious, optimism, well -being,
nature, calm, relaxation, Spring, safety, honesty, optimism, harmony, freshness
 Cultural Connection: Green: Nature. Growth. Money. Fertility. Safety. Green
is easy on the eye and can improve vision. It has a calming effect, thus the
“green rooms” where guests who are to appear on TV wait and it is often used
in psychiatric wards. It’s often associated with good health too.
 Example from the book: Green represents so many things in this novel. One
thing is that it means is something to hope for, to reach out for, and a hope of
new. Like the green light that is at the end of Daisy and Tom’s dock. In the first
chapter Gatsby is reaching out for the light. He is reaching out for his hope of
Daisy and a life with her It also represents wealth and prosperity. And both of
these meanings correlate with each other because in the book, wealth is
something to hope for and to reach out for.
RED
Meaning: Warmth, love, anger, danger, boldness, excitement,
speed, strength, energy, determination, desire, passion,
courage
Cultural Connection: Red: Intense. Love. Caution. Beware.
Red is a very emotional color. It is supposed to stimulate a
faster heart beat and breathing. Red is love. Red clothing gets
noticed, as do red cars. Red is a good color to use for accents.
Example from the book: Red represents blood and death in
the novel.
YELLOW
 Meaning: Attention-grabbing, comfort, liveliness, cowardliness, hunger,
optimism, overwhelm, Summer, comfort, intellect, happiness, energy, conflict
 Cultural Connection: Cheerful. Attention-grabber. Youth. Fun. Energetic.
Yellow is an interesting color. While it’s usually associated with upbeat and
optimistic feelings, studies reveal that when a room is painted yellow,
tempers are lost more and babies tend to cry more. It is supposed to
encourage concentration, thus yellow legal pads, but it’s also a hard color
for the human eye to take in so it shouldn’t be overused.
 Example from the book: Yellow is in many facets of the book. Yellow in
general means corruptness and things that go bad. –Yellow leaves represent
decay and corruptness. –The yellow of Gatsby’s car represents corrupt
dishonesty and deception.
GOLD
Meaning/Example from the book: Gold represents
wealth, but, more so, the show of wealth.
COLORS IN…
 Temperature
 The more towards the red end of spectrum you go, the hotter it gets.
 The more towards the blue/purple end of the spectrum you go, the colder it gets.
 Weight:
 Darker and more intense colors seem heavier.
 Lighter colors seem, unsurprisingly, lighter.
 Money:
 Darker colors, such as burgundy red, tend to show opulence (they are often called 'rich' colors).
 Dull shades, such as gray and dark browns indicate poverty.
 Seasons:
 Pastel and light shades are delicate, feminine, springtime.
 Bright shades of primary colors indicate summer.
 Earthy shades of brown, yellow and orange speak of nature and the fall.
 Cool shades of white, black and blue represent winter.
APPLICATION
Use in retail and business
 Red: Creates urgency - often used in sales and
impulse sales
 G r e e n : E a s y, c a l m - u s e d t o r e l a x p e o p l e
 B l u e : C r e a t e s t r u s t - u s e d b y f i n a n c i a l i n s t i t u t io n s s u c h
as banks.
 N a vy b l u e : C h e a p e r - s e l l i n g t o p r i c e - s e n s i t ive
 R o ya l b l u e : U r g e n c y - s e l l i n g t o i m p u l s e b u ye r s
 P i n k : R o m a n t i c - s e l l i n g t o wo m e n a n d g i r l s
 Ye l l ow : G r a b b i n g a t t e n t i o n - u s e d i n d i s p l a ys a n d
wi n d o ws .
 Orange: Energizing - used to push for action, as in
i m p u l s e b u yi n g
 Purple: Calm - used in anti-aging products
 B l a c k : P o we r - s e l l i n g l u xu r y, a g g r e s s i ve p r o d u c t s , o r
t o i m p u l s e b u ye r s
 C o l o r c a n e ve n c h a n g e wh a t yo u t a s t e . C u s t o m e r s wh o
bought 7-Up cans that had their color changed to
ye l l o w r e p o r t e d t h a t t h e d r i n k t a s t e d m o r e l e m o n y.
So w hat?
 So use the color in situations where you are
trying to persuade. Use shades of brown and
green to relax people and say you are
environmentally friendly. Use red to kick
people into action. And so on.
 McDonald's, apparently, use red and yellow
because red=fast and yellow=hunger (hence
fast food!).
 Remember also that meaning is what we
create. It does not exist in the color itself and
individual meanings may or may not exist in
different cultures and individuals.
LOCATIONS
EGGS
The East and West eggs are where they live, and there is
always drama going on. An egg is white on the outside, and
yellow on the inside. So on both sides of the spectrum there
is deception everywhere. An egg symbolizes a false show of
purity on the outside, but rotten and corrupt on the inside .
There is always constant bickering between the eggs
because the west eggers are rowdy and don’t know how to
handle themselves amongst the continually wealthy people.
GATSBY’S MANSION
Facade; imitation
‘a colossal affair by any standard – it
was a factual imitation of some
Hotel de Ville in Normandy’,
‘spanking new‘ with a 'thin beard of
raw ivy’ to make it seem venerable
(page 5)
Real books in the library: Has
Gatsby ever read them? The
books add to the fraudulence
or represent Gatsby.
BUCHANAN HOUSE
Wealth; Corruption
The Buchanan’s place is “a cheerful red-andwhite Georgian Colonial mansion, overlooking
the bay. The lawn started a the beach and ran
toward the front door for a quarter of a mile [.
. .] the front was broken by a line of French
windows, glowing now with reflected gold
[. . .]” (page 6).
East Egg; Old Money
THE VALLEY OF ASHES
A symbol of a callous, careless
society and of its underlying despair.
It is a huge dumping ground of a
industrial society totally absorbed in
materialism. (Parkinson, 18)
The valley of ashes can also be
seen as more commentary on the
American Dream. The America of
The Great Gatsby is ashen,
decaying, and barren. It is also,
based on the action that goes down
in the valley of the ashes, devoid of
morality and compassion. Myrtle
Wilson lives by the ash heaps, and
so there resides Tom’s infidelity.
George Wilson lives by the ash
heaps, so we can place there both
anger and envy.
It’s the only place where all
the characters’ stories cross.
NYC APARTMENT
 Tastelessness and pretentiousness
 Implies the value Tom gives to Myrtle
Myrtle’s
Purchases
New $
EAST EGG
The east egg represents old money that has been passed
down from generation to generation.
WEST EGG
The west egg represents new money that the people who
live inside there have earned.
CHARACTERS & OBJECTS
MYRTLE
The romantic heritage of some
flowers is relatively easy to trace.
For instance, myrtle was sacred to
Aphrodite, the mythological Greek
goddess of love. In the floral pattern
of meaning, it is no surprise, that
the flower myrtle symbolizes love.
Myrtle, Tom’s mistress,
epitomizes the idea of a
shrub that supports life,
vitality. Because she is full
of life, and makes
spontaneous decisions.
DAISY
Daisies represent purity,
loyal love and are symbol
of innocence. It also can
symbolize new beginnings.
The flowers are also a
symbol of death and at
one time they were placed
on the graves of children.
Daisy embodies a fragile
flower, because she is a
fragile person who can’t
make up her own mind.
NICK
 Nick is someone who stands to the side. He has his own opinion, but he doesn’t
always express it. However he was one of the main people who connected Gatsby
to Daisy, which turned out to be a really bad thing. He was like the un-innocent
bystander.
A LIAR,
TOM
 Power, control, and supremist
GATSBY
Gatsby represents
the result of a dream
deferred. He
overestimated what
it would be like with
Daisy, so much that
she could never in
all her life live up to
his expectations.
The more that the
hope did not come
alive, the more he
dreamed, and that
made it all the worse
for him and Daisy.
OWL EYES
First, there’s the owl bit; owls are a symbol of wisdom, but
can also be an omen of death. Then there’s the glasses bit;
a man with large eyes and spectacles would be expected to
be more perceptive than those around him.
He is the one sobering up in the library, who discovers the
books are real, and gets in a car accident after the party, but
isn’t the one driving.
THE AIREDALE (DOG)
“Looking with blind eyes
through the smoke”
Reference to the moral
blindness pervading the
novel; there is no place for
the helpless (Parkinson, 63)
Passive figure, victim of
chance and of the whims of
careless people = Myrtle
Wilson’s status and role
(Parkinson, 63)
GATSBY’S SHIRTS
Materialism; objects of wealth
The colors characterize Gatsby’s emotions (Parkinson, 47)
SPRING
Spring represents a new beginning, a clean slate to mess up
all over again.
The story starts, Spring 1922.
Gatsby, Nick, and George are all hoping for something
SUMMER
The season of summer is hot, and it represents the
heat and boiling point of the story and or conflict.
CARS
Status symbol & new freedom (page 14)
Tom’s car aids him in committing adultery
CLOCK
The “clock” time of reality contrasts with the romantic
possibilities
Gatsby seems to push time backwards when it falls from
the mantel.
(Parkinson, 49)
THE EYES OF T.J. ECKELBURG
 There is he billboard with T.J. Eckelburg. The billboard is right over
the valley of ashes. The billboard consists of really big eyes and
even bigger spectacles. There is a plethora of meanings behind this
billboard:
 There is the meaning that he watches over everything that goes on
around in the valley.
 Also, his glasses have yellow rims which symbolize corruptness in
two different ways. (1) That all he sees is corruptness, and,(2) he
sees through the eyes of someone who is corrupt.
 The empty face represents the hollowness of people and their
materialistic values.
 The empty face also represents an empty, unresponding, and dead
God.
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JUNIOR JUMPSTART
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Ticket out of class
Assignment
Video
GROUP DISCUSSION:
Answer the following questions:
1. Why does Fitzgerald list all of Gatsby's party guests? (p. 61-63)
2. What could Gatsby’s car be a symbol of? (Think of its description, how he drives
it, what he gets away with) (p. 60, 68, 69)
3. What 2 things does Gatsby always carry?
4. Describe Mr. Wolfshiem (3 things)
5. What role does Meyer Wolfsheim play in the novel? Why is there so much focus
on his nose and what does this tell you about Fitzgerald's politics? (68-73)
6. What does Jordan's story of Daisy's marriage reveal about Daisy? (p 74-78)
7. What did Tom give Daisy the day before their wedding?
8. What made Daisy reconsider marrying Tom?
9. Why did Gatsby want Daisy to see his house? (p. 79)
SYMBOLS REVIEW
(AFTER READING THE GREAT GATSBY)
HTTP://WWW.LITCHARTS.COM/LIT/THE -GREAT-GATSBY/DOWNLOAD
THE GREEN LIGHT AND THE COLOR GREEN
The green light at the end of Daisy's dock is the symbol of Gatsby's hopes
and dreams. It represents everything that haunts and beckons Gatsby: the
physical and emotional distance between him and Daisy, the gap between
the past and the present, the promises of the future, and the powerful lure
of that other green stuff he craves —money. In fact, the color green pops
up everywhere in The Great Gatsby. Long Island sound is "green"; George
Wilson's haggard tired face is "green" in the sunlight; Michaelis describes
the car that kills Myrtle Wilson as "light green" (though it's yellow);
Gatsby's perfect lawn is green; and the New World that Nick imagines
Dutch explorers first stumbling upon is a "fresh, green breast." The
symbolism of green throughout the novel is as variable and contradictory
as the many definitions of "green" and the many uses of money —"new,"
"natural," "innocent," "naive,“ and "uncorrupted"; but also "rotten,"
"gullible," "nauseous," and "sickly."
THE EYES OF DOCTOR T. J. ECKLEBURG
The eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg on the billboard overlooking the
Valley of Ashes represent many things at once: to Nick they seem to
symbolize the haunting waste of the past, which lingers on though it is
irretrievably vanished, much like Dr. Eckleburg's medical practice. The
eyes can also be linked to Gatsby, whose own eyes, once described as
"vacant," often stare out, blankly keeping "vigil" (a word Fitzgerald
applies to both Dr. Eckleburg's eyes and Gatsby's) over Long Island
sound and the green light. To George Wilson, Dr. Eckleburg's eyes are
the eyes of God, which he says see everything.
LOCATIONS
THE VALLEY OF ASHES
An area halfway between New York City and W est Egg, the Valley of Ashes is
an industrial wasteland covered in ash and soot. If New York City represents
all the "mystery and beauty in the world," and W est Egg represents the people
who have gotten rich off the roaring economy of the Roaring Twenties, the
Valley of Ashes stands for the dismal ruin of the people caught in between.
EAST AND WEST
Nick describes the novel as a book about W esterners, a "story of the W est."
Tom, Daisy, Jordan, Gatsby, and Nick all hail from places other than the East.
The romanticized American idea of going West to seek and make one's
fortune on the frontier turned on its ear in the 1920's stock boom; now those
seeking their fortune headed back East to cash in. But while Gatsby suggests
there was a kind of honor in the hard work of making a fortune and building a
life on the frontier, the quest for money in the East is nothing more than that: a
hollow quest for money. The split between the eastern and western regions of
the United States is mirrored in Gatsby by the divide between East Egg and
W est Egg: once again the W est is the frontier of people making their fortunes,
but these "Westerners" are as hollow and corrupt inside as the "Easterners."
GATSBY'S MANSION
Gatsby's mansion symbolizes two broader themes of the novel. First, it
represents the grandness and emptiness of the 1920s boom: Gatsby justifies
living in it all alone by filling the house weekly with "celebrated people."
Second, the house is the physical symbol of Gatsby's love for Daisy. Gatsby
used his "new money" to create a place that he thought rivaled the houses of
the "old money" that had taken her away.