An Introduction to the Symbolism in the Great Gatsby

徐水乃

F. S. Fitzgerald， who wrote the novels of the Jazz Age， with his best fiction-The Great Gatsby leading himself to be the pioneer and poet laureate of the Jazz Age. According to many critics， it is the authors skilful using of symbolism that makes this work a masterpiece of Jazz Age. Fitzgerald believed that the fascination for wealth corrupted American values and led one to existential emptiness.

In The Great Gatsby， Fitzgerald skillfully uses symbolism to present implied meanings. The author of this thesis will explore adequate symbolic meanings in this work from three aspects： objects， colors and figures.

The Great Gatsby was considered to be his best novel， was a great success and received favorable comments. Throughout these years， critics usually explore the usage of symbolism in The Great Gatsby from three aspects： objects， colors and figures， trying to understand the authors writing purpose and its social significance. According to Aryn Baker， he thinks that in The Great Gatsby， F. Scott Fitzgerald uses various colors， articles， and figures as symbols to portray the lack of moral and spiritual values of people and the different aspects of society in the 1920s. The colors which are spread throughout the novel are green， white， yellow， and red. These colors provide readers with good evidence of symbolic meaning. More over， there are other symbols the author used to better convey the deep meaning of this novel， which seems like a great picture consisting of beautiful scenery as well as good humanity.

What is symbolism？ Symbolism as defined in Webster： “As a literary technique， symbolism can be defined as the art of expressing ideas and emotions not by describing them directly， nor by defining them through comparison with concrete images， but by suggesting what these ideas and emotions are by recreating them in the mind of the reader through the use of unexplained symbols.”（Rubinstein， 1988）

All in all， the author of this thesis will analyze symbolism in The Great Gatsby through three aspects and fully illustrate the symbolic meaning of this novel。This thesis analyze how does the writer skillfully use symbolism to convey the deep meaning of colors， articles， and figures， as well as have a clear mind of the agonic meaning of the novel itself.

Bibliography：

[1]朱立元.當代西方文藝理論[M].華東師范大學出版社.2003

[2]F. Scott.Fitzgerald. The Great Gatsby [M].New York： Burt Franklin.1978

（作者單位：廣東科技學院）