Symbolism & Motifs Flashcards
What types of symbolism/motifs do we see in The Great Gatsby?
- Light/dark imagery (the Green light)
- Time
- Eyes/sight
- The pearl necklace
- Clothing
- Excess (shirts,food,cars)
- Natural vs artificial imagery
- Daisy’s voice
- Heat/seasonal motifs
- Careless driving
Motif of clothing
“two young women…
“Two young women were buoyed up as though upon an anchored balloon. They were both in white, and their dressed were rippling and fluttering” CH1 about Daisy and Jordan
Dr T.J Eckleburg advertisement
“we walked back…
“we walked back a hundred yards along the road under Doctor Eckleburg’s persistant stare” CH2
Motif of clothing
“Mrs Wilson had changed her… CH2
“Mrs Wilson ahd changed her constume some time before and was now attired in an elaborate afternoon dress of cream coloured chiffon, which gave out a continual rustle as she swept around the room” CH2
Motif of clothing
George vs Tom and motif of advertising
“He had on a dress suit and…
“ He borrowed…CH2
“he had on a dress suit and patent leather shows… everytime he looked at me I had to pretend to be looking at the advertisement over his head”
“He borrowed somebody’s best suit to get married in” CH2
Motif of excess
“Every Friday five crates of… CH3
“Every Friday five crates of oranges and lemons arrived from a frutier in New York- every Monday these same oranges and lemons left his back door in a pyramid of pulpless halves” CH3
Motif of green light
“He stretched out his arms towards… CH1
[H]e stretched out his arms toward the dark water. Involuntarily I glanced seaward—and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away
The pearl necklace
“he gave her a string of pearls valued…
“ the pearls were around… CH4
“he gave her a string of pearls valued at three hundred and fifty thousand dollars”
“ the pearls were around her neck and the incident was over” CH4
Gatsby’s house
“the whole corner of the peninsula was… CH5
“the whole corner of the peninsula was blazing with light, which fell unreal on the shrubbery” CH5
pathetic fallacy CH5
“The day agreed upon…
“The day agreed upon was pouring rain” CH5
Motif of time
“his head leaned back so far… CH5
“his head leaned back so far that it rested against the face of a defunct mantelpiece clock” CH5
Motif of time
“the clock took this moment to… CH5
“the clock took this moment to tilt dangerously at the pressure of his head, wherupon he turned and caught it with trembling fingers, and set it back in place” CH5
light imagery
“He literally… CH5
“He literally glowed…he smiled like a weather man” CH5
Motif of shirts
“Daisy bent her head into the shirts… CH5
“Daisy bent her head her head into the shirts and cried stormily” CH5
Motif of time
“he was running down… CH5
“he was running down like an over-wound clock” CH5
