Examples Of Imagery In The Great Gatsby

Words: 520
Pages: 3

In the novel ‘The Great Gatsby’, the author F. Scott Fitzgerald integrates symbols and imagery into the whole novel. Through overtones, connotations, paradoxes, similes and more literary tools he creates these images and gives the book the category of one of the classics of the 20th century. Chapter 3 has a lot of imagery consolidated in the narration, that represent several things about the 20th century and its society.

The first image created in Chapter 3 tells us Gatsby’s guests are materialistic and superficial “… at intervals she appeared suddenly at his side like an angry diamond, and hissed ‘You promised!’ into his ear.” (page. 41) This simile just shows how these people are all glamour and spark, but no real meaning or substance, just as a diamond which shines and represents wealth and status but will always be just a dead rock. Furthermore from Nick’s perspective, that woman is just as superficial and materialistic as the rest of the guests, and even though she seems like she cares for herself by shouting at her husband for his infidelity, when Nick reduces her into the category of an
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We see this God illustrated in the following quote “…with enormous owl-eyed spectacles, was sitting somewhat drunk on the edge of a great table, staring with unsteady concentration at the shelves of books.” (page. 36) This spectacles appear for the first time in The Great Gatsby in the Valley of Ashes, with Doctor T.J. Eckleberg’s “…pair of enormous yellow spectacles” (page. 18) This eyes in Chapter 3 symbolise the all-seeing eyes of God and the repugnance of the wealthy from the poor. This image of some enormous eyes worn by a man who lives with the wealthy in a a state of drunkness, are a way for the author to represent how the 20th century society is detached from faith and religion and how even though people attend this big parties and commit terrible sins, God will always be there watching every