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How Scott Fitzgerald Uses Symbolism in The Great Gatsby to Develop His Themes

The Great Gatsby, a novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, was published around 1925, reflecting on the life of a rich person, Jay Gatsby, and his pursuit of a wealthy young lady called Daisy Buchanan. Nick Carraway, Gatsby's neighbor, narrates the story that is covered in the entire novel. The whole story revolves around money and its dynamics in human interaction by establishing two types of wealth; one of the inheritances, such as in the case of Daisy and Tom Buchanan, and the second one which is newly acquired, such as the one of Gatsby. The novel has lots of lessons for the people to learn about resources, relationships, deception, as well as loneliness even when one is seemingly affluent in a community. In his novel, Fitzgerald uses the symbol of green color to portray the theme of deception, and the symbol of Gatsby’s expansive mansion to illustrate the theme of loneliness.

First, the symbol of green color is used to reflect the theme of deception. Just as the green light appear in traffic for a short period, so is the purported success of Gatsby. In Fitzgerald's story, green color represents Gatsby's hopes as well as his short life; this signals massive wealth aimed at winning Daisy's heart. Therefore, the green color shows a false indication of Gatsby's wealth and influence, but he ends up winning nothing. “Gatsby's wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy's dock [...] his dream must have seemed so close that...