Light Symbolism In The Great Gatsby

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The Great Gatsby, a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, gives a vast insight to 1920’s America. This period is also known as the Roaring Twenties on account of the lavish lifestyles that many in the United States lead. Fitzgerald utilizes many symbols within the novel to enhance the reader’s experience, while also drawing them into the main themes presented throughout. The symbolic qualities of light are dispersed throughout the novel casting a glimpse of how deception plays a crucial role throughout the lives of all the characters. The color yellow is also very symbolic in The Great Gatsby. Yellow is a color known to represent corruption and deceit. The time period in which the novel takes place is a time of immense corruption within American …show more content…
There are many different variations of light that are all symbols for different events. For example, a green light appears many times. All of which symbolize the American Dream. There are many more important symbolic uses of light in the novel. All of the lavish parties in the novel are lit with artificial light. This artificial light represents how false most of the newly rich were and their pretentiousness. Chapter seven of the novel begins by describing one of Gatsby’s parties. When people arrive at the party, they realize that when their “curiosity of Gatsby was at its highest that the lights in his house failed to go on”(Fitzgerald 113). This time in the novel is when Gatsby has succeeded in his pursuit of Daisy, and no longer needs the artificial light of his parties to lure her in. The artificial light of the parties gave Daisy a false representation of Gatsby to her. The lights of Gatsby’s parties are out, because they are no longer needed, and the many people at the parties are no longer relevant to him now that he has Daisy. The artificial light of the parties shows the scale of deception that is used throughout the 1920s. Gatsby and his pursuit of Daisy is just one example of this deception. Along with light, symbolic colors also help illustrate the sinful scene of the
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