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Read this after you’ve finished the book - in-depth exploration of themes, symbols, and meanings
The fundamental question of The Great Gatsby is: Can the past ever be recaptured, and at what cost?
Gatsby’s tragedy is not that he failed to become wealthy, but that he succeeded in his quest for wealth only to find that it couldn’t buy him the one thing he wanted: a return to a “pure” version of the past.
The answer is a resounding “No.” Gatsby’s death is the literal and symbolic end of the belief that one can “fix everything just the way it was before.” The book suggests that the American Dream is a beautiful, necessary, but ultimately fatal illusion.
What it means: The transition of the American Dream from a quest for self-improvement and discovery (the frontier) into a quest for material wealth and social status.
How it’s shown:
Key quote:
“Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther… .“
What it means: The idea that in America, despite the promise of equality, there is a rigid, uncrossable line between those born into wealth and those who earn it.
How it’s shown:
Why it matters: Fitzgerald suggests that “New Money” characters like Gatsby are actually more noble because they care and they try, whereas “Old Money” characters are stagnant and “careless.”
What it means: The human struggle to escape or relive the past, and how that struggle defines us.
How it’s shown:
What it means: The gap between the “persona” we present to the world and the “real” self.
How it’s shown:
What it means: The cynical lack of responsibility among the wealthy, who use people and discard them.
How it’s shown:
| Symbol | Meaning | Key Moment |
|---|---|---|
| The Green Light | The American Dream; yearning; the unattainable goal. | Gatsby reaching out for it in Chapter 1. |
| The Valley of Ashes | Social and moral decay; the working class left behind by capitalism. | Introduction of George and Myrtle Wilson. |
| The Eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg | God’s eyes or an indifferent moral watcher; lack of religion. | George Wilson looking at them after Myrtle’s death. |
| Gatsby’s Mansion | The grandiosity of his dream; also his profound isolation. | The parties vs. the empty house in Chapter 9. |
| The Color Yellow/Gold | Money, wealth, but also corruption and “fake” luxury. | Gatsby’s car; the “yellow cocktail music.” |
| The Color White | Illusory purity; Daisy’s deceptive innocence. | Daisy and Jordan in the white dresses in Chapter 1. |
| The Pool | The tragic end of Gatsby’s dream; stagnant wealth. | Gatsby’s death in the water. |
Nick is an unreliable narrator. While he claims to “reserve all judgments,” he is incredibly judgmental of everyone except Gatsby. He filters the story through his own romanticized view of Gatsby’s “hope.”
Fitzgerald’s style is “sensory.” He doesn’t just describe a party; he describes the “yellow cocktail music” and “laughter that is spilled like water.” This style makes the book feel like a dream, which is appropriate for a novel about illusions.
The novel begins in early summer (hope/youth) and moves toward the “hottest day of the year” in Chapter 7 (the crisis/explosion). The deaths occur as autumn begins, symbolizing the end of the dream and the end of the 1920s.
Significance: The final line of the book. It suggests that even though we try to move forward toward our dreams (the green light), the current of time and our own history always pulls us back.
Significance: Sets up Nick as a “fair” observer, but also immediately introduces the theme of class and privilege.
Significance: Daisy’s cynical admission about the role of women in the 1920s. She believes intelligence only leads to unhappiness for women.
Significance: Gatsby’s central delusion. It shows his “colossal” optimism and his refusal to accept the reality of time.
Focuses on the Valley of Ashes and the exploitation of the Wilsons by the Buchanans. Gatsby’s tragedy is that he tried to “buy” his way into a class that will never accept him, no matter how much capital he amasses.
Focuses on the objectification of Daisy. She is Gatsby’s “grail,” a trophy to be won, rather than a human being with her own agency. She is trapped between two men who both see her as a symbol of their own success.
Views Gatsby as a “knight” on a quest (the Grail is Daisy) but in a world that no longer has room for knights or honor.
Use this space to write your overall response to the book and what “Gatsby” means to you.
The Great Gatsby is the bridge between the Minimalism of Hemingway (Book 1) and the Social Critique of Dickens or Brontë. It uses a specific American setting to explore universal human tragedies: time, love, and the search for identity.
Next book: The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy — a shift from the “outer” world of wealth to the “inner” world of mortality and the search for a meaningful life.
Post-Reading Analysis created: 2025-12-25
For Great Literature 101 - Book 3 of 10