Symbolism In The Great Gatsby

F. Scott .Fitzgerald, the famous American novelist in the 20th century, is known as the spokesman and laureate of the "Jazz Age" America, whose works give us an accurate picture of the aura of the American twenties: the prosperity of economy and the moral absence. Written in 1925, The Great Gatsby is one of the greatest literary documents of Fitzgerald's period, which wins many favorable praises. Now people keep reading it. The critics analyze the novel through different perspectives, such as the writing techniques, the narrative point of view, the structure of the novel, etc. The exploration of moral emptiness and hypocrisy beneath the Jazz Age, together with the stylistic language brilliance of the novel ensures Fitzgerald's position in American literature. His novel bears some features of modernism, among which symbolism is the most remarkable.The thesis analyzes the novel through the perspective of symbolism in terms of three levels: symbolic settings, symbolic characters and symbolic themes. It consists of seven parts. Chapter one, the introductory part introduces the writer and his works. Fitzgerald's masterpiece, literary contribution to American literature, and The Great Gatsby's reputation are also covered in this part. Chapter two concerns symbolism in literature, in which the types and functions of symbols are studied. Chapter three analyzes the symbolic settings in this novel, and illustrates the rich connotations of the settings. Throughout the novel places and settings epitomize the various aspects of the 1920s American society that Fitzgerald depicts. Each of the settings or places corresponds to a particular theme or a type of character encountered in the story. Chapter four studies the symbolic characters and their personalities in order to disclose the relation between the characters and their fates. Based on the chapters four and three, chapter five explores the theme of the novel. Though all of the plots take place over a mere few months during the summer of 1922 and is set in a circumscribed geographical area , The Great Gatsby is a highly symbolic meditation on the 1920s America as a whole, in particular the disintegration of the American dream in an era of unprecedented prosperity and material excess. In this thesis thenew criticism will be employed in textual analysis. Chapter six analyzes the writer's writing techniques .It shows readers how Fitzgerald achieves symbolism in the novel. The last part is the conclusion.