The Great Gatsby Symbolism Of Houses And

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The Great Gatsby: Symbolism Of Houses And Cars Essay, Research Paper Francis Scott Fitzgerald?s novel, The Great Gatsby, is full of symbolism, which is portrayed by the houses and cars in an array of ways. One of the more important qualities of symbolism within The Great Gatsby is the way in which it is so completely incorporated into the plot and structure. Symbols, such as Gatsby?s house and car, symbolize material wealth. Gatsby?s house ?[is] a factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy? which contains ?a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy? is a symbol of Gatsby?s large illegal income(Fitzgerald 9)(9). Gatsby?s large income isn?t enough to keep him happy. He needs ?The house he feels he needs in order to win happiness? and it is also

the perfect symbol of carelessness with money which is a major part of his personality (Bewley 24). Gatsby?s house like his car symbolizes his vulgar and excessive trait of getting attention. Gatz?s house is a mixture of different styles and periods which symbolizes an owner who does not know their true identity. The Buchanan?s house is symbolic of their ideals. East Egg is home to the more prominent established wealth families. Tom?s and Daisy?s home is on the East Egg. Their house, a ?red and white Georgian Colonial mansion overlooking the bay? with its ?wine-colored rug[s]? is just as impressive as Gatsby?s house but much more low-key (Fitzgerald 11)(13). East egg and Tom?s home represents the established wealth and traditions. Their stable wealth, although lacking the

vulgarity of new wealth, is symbolic of their empty future and now purposelessness lives together. The House also has a cold sense to it according to Nick. This sense symbolizes Tom?s brutality, and as Perkins’s says in his manuscript to Fitzgerald ?I would know…Buchanan if I met him and would avoid him,? because Tom is so cold and brute (Perkins 199). Nick lives in West Egg in a rented house that ?[is] a small eye-sore? and ?had been overlooked?(Fitzgerald 10). Nick lives in a new-rich West Egg because he is not wealthy enough to afford a house in the more prominent East Egg. His house symbolizes himself shy and overlooked. Nick is the Narrator and also the ?trust worthy reporter and, …judge? that has ties to both the East and West Egg crowd(Bruccoli xii). Nick comes from

a ?prominent, well-to-do [family]? acts like the established rich down-played, but he is trying to make it on his own and his house located in West Egg symbolizes this(Fitzgerald 7). Another person who lives on the nouveau-rich West Egg is Gatsby. Wilson ?a blonde, spiritless man? lives in his ?unprosperous and bare? garage(Fitzgerald 29)(29). His home symbolizes what he is, a mechanic, and is located in the valley of ashes overlooked by the eyes of Dr. Eckleburg. The eyes of Dr. Eckleburg ?brood on over the solemn dumping ground? of Wilson?s house (28). The valley of ashes in which Wilson?s house is located in symbolizes the moral decay that hides behind the facade of wealth and happiness. The valley is home of Tom?s mistress, ?Myrtle Wilson, the wife of the owner of a garage in

the ash heaps that lie along the road about halfway between West Egg and Manhattan,? and is incidentally fitting(Bruccoli 10). The eyes that look over Wilson?s home also have a symbolic meaning. They symbolically sit in judgment on all the sleaze displayed by the inhabitants of East and West egg who pass through the valley of ashes. The car plays a major role that makes a regular appearance in the story. In the American Society the car is always seen as a symbol of status. Gatsby?s car is an embodiment of his wealth. His car is symbolic of many things, among them the ?disillusioned, reckless, frenetic spirit of [the youthful]? owner(Rudin 160). His car symbolizes his vulgar materialism and conveys his newborn affluence. Gatsby?s car is ?a rich cream color, bright with nickel,