The Symbolism In The Great Gatsby

Francis Scott Fitzgerald(1896-1940)is one of the most outstanding American novelists in the twenties. In his short life, he wrote 5 novels and more than 170 short stories. And he is the spokesman of the Jazz Age and the representative writer of the Lost Generation.Published in 1925, The Great Gatsby achieved great success. And this is the peak of Fitzgerald's writing life, which lays a solid foundation for his status in the modern American literature. In this novel, Fitzgerald wrote on the side and described the true aspects of American society in the 1920 s in great details. The Great Gatsby is a typical tragicomedy about the illusion and disillusion of American dream. And symbolism is a great artistic feature of this novel. It applies great symbolism to keep the story moving, to mold characters, to express feelings and to highlight themes. Consequently, this paper mainly discusses the symbolism applied in The Great Gatsby. And then it interprets the significance and value of the symbolism used in the novel. This paper is divided into three parts:The first chapter discusses the characteristics of symbolism in The Great Gatsby. First explain the general meaning of the symbol in the literary works, and the makes a brief introduction of symbolism movement. Second mainly summarized from three aspects of symbolism in The Great Gatsby.The second chapter analyzes the expression forms of symbolism in the novel. The second chapter analyzes the manifestation of symbolism in the novel. Fitzgerald carefully shaped the use of symbolism in the work of the typical figures, showing the characters represented by the United States at the time of the general state of mind of the people in the United States. At the same time, combined with geographical location and description of the seasonal and weather strengthens the expression, also revealed that the society filled with money worship moral atmosphere.The third chapter concludes the significance of symbolism. One of the most important qualities of Fitzgerald's symbolism is the way in which symbolism is fully integrated into the plot and structure, so that the symbols seem naturally to grow out of the action rather than existing as mere abstractions. They function a lot as a means of representing figures, conveying feelings and making the theme standing out.