Theme Of Water In The Great Gatsby

Words: 1341
Pages: 6
Open Document
While the novel The Great Gatsby portrays George Wilson as the killer of Jay Gatsby, his pursual of the American dream actually killed Gatsby. Gatsby started at the very bottom of society, and ended up at the very top, changing his name from James Gatz to Jay Gatsby in the process. He built a life for himself on hopes and dreams in the society of the 20’s, but lost his life all the same to its hidden greed. Throughout the novel, the motif of water surrounds Gatsby, defining the crucial moments of his life. In his novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses the motif of water to represent how the society of 1920s America offered new beginnings, as well as tragic endings. Water surrounds Gatsby’s birth on the waters of Lake Superior because …show more content…
The first significant place water turns up since Gatsby’s birth is at a death, the death of Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship. Gatsby, just back from the war and prepared to rekindle his past relationship with Daisy, decides to send her a letter on the day of her wedding to Tom Buchanan. When Daisy receives the letter, she is distraught, screaming and crying that she has changed her mind about the marriage. Jordan tries to console her, putting her into the bath, but she wouldn’t let go of the letter, “She took it into the tub with her and squeezed it up into a wet ball, and only let me leave it in the soap-dish when she saw that it was coming to pieces like snow” (76). Daisy dissolves the letter from Gatsby in the water, ending their relationship; It is important that she destroys it this way because it foreshadows the truth that Daisy and Gatsby’s relationship could never be what it once was again. In this moment, Fitzgerald uses the motif of water to demonstrate the death of Daisy and Gatsby’s relationship, demonstrating the power that the society of the 1920s had to destroy. Also connected to the bath scene is a new beginning, the marriage of Tom and Daisy. The day after their marriage, Daisy and Tom set off on their honeymoon, “a three months’ trip to the South Seas” (76). Just after ending her relationship with Gatsby, Daisy started a new one
Show More

Related Documents: Theme Of Water In The Great Gatsby

What Does The Shirts Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

really express themes of the novel. When symbolism is used, the reader is able to connect to the story. Scott F. Fitzgerald's, The Great Gatsby, became a best seller because of the symbolism used to express the theme throughout the novel. Many people think of the American Dream as being free and everything is is good. However, there is a dark side about it. Without this symbolism, the theme of the dying American Dream, the book would have never gotten to where it is today. This theme is what really…

Words 876 - Pages 4

The Great Gatsby Theme Essay

Throughout the novel, The Great Gatsby, the most prominent theme is THE NEED FOR A distinction between illusion and reality. F. Scott FITZGERALD PROVIDES many examples of characters being careless and shooting for dreams there are no chances of reaching. The theme that Fitzgerald conveys throughout The Great Gatsby is THE NEED FOR a distinction between illusion and reality which is shown within the recurring motifs of cars, the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg, and the green light. The first motif…

Words 1225 - Pages 5

How Is Tom Buchanan And Jay Gatsby Alike

Jay Gatsby and Tom Buchanan Literary Analysis Essay. Liam Hickernell In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, “The Great Gatsby,” Jay Gatsby and Tom Buchanan share both similarities and differences, each representing their views on the American Dream. Although Jay Gatsby and Tom Buchanan share similarities, such as their living conditions and social status, their dreams and aspirations differ. Gatsby, with his mysterious past and drive to make money, shows one side of the American Dream, where anyone can make…

Words 963 - Pages 4

Themes In The Great Gatsby

Theme is the life lesson or moral that is in a piece of literature. Authors often give their opinions on life by using theme. Themes are used to send a message to the reader. In the story The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, he coveys his thought on life in the 1920s through the main character Nick’s point of view. Fitzgerald develops multiple themes to show his thought on the American dream, money, and love. The American Dream can be a person’s want for happiness, money, fame, love, or…

Words 955 - Pages 4

Social Class In The Great Gatsby

In The Great Gatsby and A Diamond as Big as the Ritz, the themes of both texts can be compared in relation to the presentation of social class. In The Great Gatsby social status is a substantial feature central to the text as it distinguishes the different geographical locations in the novel but more crucially, depicts the mentalities of members of the different social class’ which affects the events that occur and perceptions of many of the characters. The themes of wealth, American capitalism…

Words 946 - Pages 4

What Does The Light Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby; written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a fictional book that takes place in the 1920's. The main theme of this novel is the corruption of the American dream. The Great Gatsby follows the main character Nick as he helps his neighbor Gatsby reunite with his long lost love Daisy. After waiting five years Gatsby's dream is hard to turn into reality. Throughout the book Fitzgerald uses symbols like the green dock light, the eyes of Dr. TJ Eckleburg, and the Valley of Ashes to bring…

Words 187 - Pages 1

Crazes In The Great Gatsby

Charleston”. Fitzgerald wrote about these times in his novel, The Great Gatsby as well as several short stories. “The Jazz Age” started with the May Day riots of 1919 and ended with the Stock-Market Crash of October 1929 (Gillespie). However, The Great Gatsby deals more with the history of the times by showing the settings and characters in a culture that exploded to new heights prior to the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression. According to Bennett and Royle “literary texts are embedded…

Words 365 - Pages 2

Characterization Great Gatsby

In the novel “The Great Gatsby” written by F. Scott Fitzgerald Jay Gatsby lives a lavish, extravagant life hosting parties in his mansion that is located in the West Egg. At these parties just about all of New York is in attendance. “On week-ends his Rolls-Royce became an omnibus, bearing parties to and from the city between nine in the morning and long past midnight, while his station wagon scampered like a brisk yellow bug to meet all trains.” (Fitzgerald, 39) “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald…

Words 1458 - Pages 6

Similarities Between The Wasteland And The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, with the comparative themes of The Wasteland, by T.S. Eliot, comments on the foundation of which American lifestyle is built on, consumerism and modernism. Following World War One, American culture dove into the industrial and brand new age of the “roaring twenties,” which both Eliot and Fitzgerald incorporate into their literature. This time period, in history, allowed for the economic and social growth of American culture; however, Eliot, with The Wasteland…

Words 665 - Pages 3

Love Theme Essay

The theme of Love throughout The Great Gatsby and Frankenstein James Fincher Jay Gatsby, the argued protagonist of The Great Gatsby, is the most obvious character to write about under the theme of love. Mr Gatsby is a mysterious and wealthy man who owns a large house/mansion on the East Egg of Long Island, in New York. Gatsby, for a man who throws large extravagant parties every Saturday for the citizens of New York, has a lack of identity amongst the party crowds. Many gossip and say he has killed…

Words 669 - Pages 3