Question

In a short essay ,identify how two characters of the Great Gatsby serve as symbols of the novels themes. Describe in detail how the symbolism of two characters support the novel's themes and analyze the effects of this symbolism on the readers experience. Be sure to include specific details from the text to support your answers. PLEASE HELP ASAP!!

Answer 1

In The Great Gatsby there are multiple different characters with different personalities who symbolize different things. Some of the themes in the novel are greed, power, the American dream, betrayal, evil, justice, etc. Throughout the novel each theme is perceived in a different way, one way being through personality traits of characters. Two characters the fit into the main themes of the novel are Gatsby himself, and Nick Carraway.

The first character – Jay Gatsby – has multiple negative rumors about him spread by people in the novel. These rumors are about the topic of how he got his riches, yet despite seeming extreme, there are truths hidden among the rumors. Jay Gatsby symbolizes most of the themes previously listed, such as greed, evil, power and the American dream. In reality, Jay Gatsby earned his riches from committing crimes, which symbolizes his evil side. However, this was caused by the problems Gatsby faced in his childhood, which drove his greed and thirst for power, and what better way to quench this thirst than with money. With Gatsby’s extreme amounts of money, came the power he was looking for as he joined the social elites of his time.

The opposite of Gatsby, is Nick Carraway. In the novel Carraway symbolizes justice, power and the American dream. Carraway served in World War 1, and is perceived as an honest businessman, which symbolizes justice. Differing from Gatsby, Carraway earned his money through hard work, and without the usage of crime. Carraway, however, much like Gatsby has a good amount of wealth, which symbolizes power as he too is among the social elites of his time. Also similar to Gatsby, Carraway symbolizes the American dream because of his wealth.

In conclusion, Jay Gatsby and Nick Carraway are two characters that symbolize some of the main themes in the novel. In Gatsby’s case, he symbolizes evil, greed, power and the American dream. On the other hand, in Carraway’s case, he symbolizes justice, power and the American dream.

Answer 2

In the Great Gatsby, the characters have a diversity of having their own secrets within themselves. Jay Gatsby, for example, he is a criminal in real life and he does it in order to get things that he wants. Yet in this quote:

See!" he cried triumphantly. "It's a bona-fide piece of printed matter. It fooled me. This fella's a regular Belasco. It's a triumph. What thoroughness! What realism! Knew when to stop, too - didn't cut the pages. But what do you want? What do you expect?"

He describes that he can buy what rich people have, but experience cannot be bought. Which means that there is a central reason on why he does bad things.

Another character, Nick Carraway, is more of a rightful man who has his certain strict morals which described in this quote:

I am still a little afraid of missing something if I forget that, as my father snobbishly suggested, and I snobbishly repeat, a sense of the fundamental decencies is parceled out unequally at birth.Which he implies that he sees the good in people despite the greed of money that has taken over.