Symbols and Symbolism Essay - Role of Symbolism in The Great Gatsby :: Great Gatsby Essays

The Crucial Role of Symbolism in The Great Gatsby       The critic Harold Bloom once wrote, Never has symbolism played such a crucial part in the very foundation of a novel as it does in Scott Fitzgeralds masterpiece, The Great Gatsby. The dictionary defines the word symbolism as, The practice of representing things by way of life of symbols or of attributing symbolic meanings or significance to objects, events, or relationships. The novel takes place during the summer of 1922, in Long Island and New York City. Daisy and tom turkey introduce Nick to Jordan Baker, a beautiful female golfer who cheats at the game Nick and she begin a relationship. Not long by and by they meet, Nick travels to New York City with Tom and Myrtle. Gatsby asks to speak to Jordan alone, and, through Jordan, Nick later learns more about his mysterious neighbor. Gatsbys extravagant lifestyle and wild parties are simply an attempt to impress Daisy. aft(prenominal) an awkward reunio n, Gatsby and Daisy restore their connection. Tom soon grows suspicious of his wifes relationship with Gatsby. Daisy realizes that her marriage is to Tom, and Tom sends her back to East Egg with Gatsby, attempting to prove that Gatsby cannot hurt him. When Nick, Jordan, and Tom thrust through the valley of ashes, however, they discover that Gatsbys car has hit and killed Myrtle, Toms lover. They rush back to Long Island, where Nick learns from Gatsby that Daisy was driving the car when it struck Myrtle, but that Gatsby intends to take the blame. The neighboring day, Tom tells Myrtles husband, George, that Gatsby was the driver of the car. George then goes to find Gatsby he finds him at his mansion and shoots him.   An excellent example of symbolism in The Great Gatsby can be found in many places including, the ash heap, Gatsbys silk shirts, the green light, The Eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg, and Gatsbys library. The eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg are a pair of fa ding, bespectacled eyes painted on an old advertising billboard over the valley of ashes, But above the grey land and the spasms of bleak dust which drift endlessly over it, you perceive, after a moment the eyes of Doctor T.