The Brilliant Minutiae of Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby"
Written: Nov 28 '01 (Updated Mar 20 '02)
Product Rating:
Pros: Fitzgerald's meticulously crafted, seemingly timeless literary masterpiece is near flawless
Cons: Some of the symbolism is laid on pretty thick
The Bottom Line: One of the most brilliant writings on the American Dream in the 1920's with one of the most vividly drawn and unforgettable heroes (Gatsby) in literature.
Donlee_Brussel's Full Review: F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
One of the most underrated attributes of F. Scott Fitzgerald's Jazz Age novel The Great Gatsby is how the seemingly minute details and descriptions of places and characters richly enhance the meaning and purpose of the novel. First of all, Fitzgerald employs color motifs: green and white both symbolizing something of significance. Second of all, there's the much ballyhooed weather symbolism present during Daisy and Gatsby's sweet reunion and melancholy disengagement. Finally, there is Fitzgerald's irreverent religious motif: Wilson's piousness and the fault in it
White and green play more than just a trivial role in the novel. The "old money" women in The Great Gatsby are constantly associated with white: Daisy, Jordan, and Pammy all wear white dresses, with Jordan, a pro golfer, even occasionally with white powder on her hands. For Gatsby, white symbolizes innocence and purity. Conversely, for Fitzgerald, white symbolizes ditziness and nothingness, evident by the way he seems to have disdain for these characters in white.
Green, as in the green light, also represents a number of items. In Gatsby's case, the green light symbolizes his American Dream: Daisy. The green light signifies his longing for his dream. In addition, the color green also stands for the color of money, as in what Gatsby says Daisy's voice is full of, as in what Daisy truly epitomizes. Green is also linked to the feeling of envy, what Daisy causes no doubt for both Gatsby and Tom Buchanan.
Next is the most insipid symbolism in the novel, a staple seemingly of supposed great literature such as Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter: the weather. When Daisy and Gatsby first reunite, they don't connect as they did five years earlier—rain pours outside showing disapproval of the awkwardness between them. Twenty minutes later though, a reconnection occurs as Daisy cries tears of joy and the sun starts shining.
A couple of chapters following the aforementioned, one of the hottest days of the year is occurring. Inside a suite at the Plaza hotel in New York, the temperaments of Gatsby and Tom have risen just as high as the temperature, to a boiling point. Once the enigma of Gatsby is finally unraveled and revealed, Daisy is no longer in love with Gatsby a.k.a. Mr. Cool. Daisy no longer radiates. Apparent by the sound of her voice, Daisy becomes as cold as the autumn night that succeeds the end of the affair between herself and Gatsby.
Finally, we have Fitzgerald's, dare we say, blasphemous religious commentary implicated in the conflict between the Wilsons, Buchanans, and Gatsby. When Wilson suspects his wife of being unfaithful, he takes Myrtle to the window of their home, and tells her, "God sees everything." Later on, this adulteress is killed after being hit by a car driven by Daisy. Myrtle's husband then swears revenge on the man who executed this craven act, but ends up killing the wrong man, the tragic hero of our novel, before killing himself. What this all means is that not only is God blind, but so are all his agents.
All the little niceties Fitzgerald injects into The Great Gatsby subtly amount to the complete achievement of brilliance in the novel.
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