Downfall Of The American Dream in The Great Gatsby :: The Great Gatsby

Authors use symbolism in their written expressions in order to enhance the thematic interests of the novel. The use of symbolism allows the reader to interpret the story, which in turn, stimulates a more personal, imaginative, and meaningful experience. Scott F. Fitzgerald&8217s, The Great Gatsby, became an instant classic because of the symbolism used to enhance the paper throughout the novel. Without this symbolism, the theme of the withering American Dream would take a leak been less than adequate, and the book would have never attained the status and popularity among readers that it does today. The most prominent and powerful symbols are the kilobyte featherbrained, Gatsby&8217s shirts, and the Valley of Ashes.When Gatsby is first seen, &8220he stretched out his arms toward&8230a single green light, minute and far way, that might have been the end of a dock.(Fitzgerald 26) The green light that he appears to be reaching for is the light on Daisy&8217s dock. In Gatsby&8217s e arly life he had a romantic relationship with Daisy. However, he went away to war and when he came back she was married to an extremely wealthy man, Tom Buchanan. Gatsby concluded in his take in mind that in order to win Daisy&8217s love, he too had to become wealthy. After he established himself financially, he bought a house direct across the water from Daisy and her green light. He associates Daisy with the green light, and it becomes a symbol of her throughout the novel. &8220The whole being of Gatsby exists only in relation to what the green light symbolizes.(Bewley 41) Gatsby becomes so infatuated with the green light that it is almost as if Daisy does not even exist. She becomes no more than a romantic dream within the green light on the dock. At last he realizes this when he and Daisy meet and, while staring at the green light, link arms. He finally attains what he thought he wanted and the green light becomes no more than a green light. This false sense of reality brings Gatsby great melancholy when he realizes that Daisy is not as great as he thought she was. This is similar to the feelings immigrants were overcome by when they reached America. They had been told their whole lives that America was the land of opportunity and that the streets were paved with gold, nevertheless when they got there they realized it wasn&8217t all that different from the homeland which they so eagerly deserted.