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The Great Gatsby

Themes, Motifs, and Symbolism Review. The Great Gatsby. Theme. #105: Theme: The fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work. Sometimes said to be an underlying “message” of a story.

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The Great Gatsby

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  1. Themes, Motifs, and Symbolism Review The Great Gatsby

  2. Theme • #105: Theme: The fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work. Sometimes said to be an underlying “message” of a story. • On the surface, The Great Gatsby is a story about thwarted love between a man and a woman (Gatsby and Daisy) • The central theme encompasses the corruption of the American Dream • What is the American Dream? • Originally about discovery, individualism and the pursuit of happiness; transformed or corrupted into easy money and the disintegration of morals

  3. Symbolism • The Great Gatsby is a symbolic representation of the disintegration of the American dream in a time of unprecedented prosperity and material excess • The parties that Gatsby throws symbolize the reckless prosperity, cynicism, greed and empty pleasure • Newfound materialism is also represented in Gatsby’s actions, house, and manner

  4. Symbolism • Gatsby as symbolic of the rise of criminal activity that is organized and unpunished • Clash (symbolic) between old money and new money (Gatsby=new and Tom = old) • Green Light: Gatsby instills meaning in the green light by associating it with Daisy. He’s trying to obtain her, without understanding that their love is not real.

  5. Symbolism • Explored by The Great Gatsby is also the hollowness of the upper class lifestyle • The upper class (old money) in the novel demonstrate their hard heartedness, lack of care—how they are used to having their money take care of “problems”

  6. Motifs • MOTIFS: West Egg=newly rich and East Egg= old wealth • Valley of Ashes: Moral and Social decay of America • Weather: Often reflects the mood and meaning of the actions that the characters are making • The Eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg are a pair of fading, bespectacled eyes painted on an old advertising billboard over the valley of ashes—represent a few things: God staring down and judging society—however, they may take on different meanings as associated with each character. • Green Light: Gatsby’s hopes for the future (Daisy) Nick compares the green light to how the first settlers must have seen America when they sighted land for the first time

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