The Great Gatsby / Dorian Gray

Cars in The Great Gatsby:
Cars are typically a symbol of power, and this is closely tied into wealth. Gatsby, The Buchanan's and even Nick have a car, whereas if you compare this to the Wilson's' they desperately try to make a life servicing their cars, and the only one they own in in a dilapidated state of repairs in the garage.
The cars in the novel illustrate how power is misused. When Nickcalls Jordan 'a careless driver' it has a double meaning, the literal, and the more metaphorical that she misuses her power. This is further linked into the fact Jordan tried to cheat in the golf match (misused her talent) and left the car in the rain.
Gatsby had the power to take Daisy and change her life, but as soon as Daisy becomes responsible for her future she is irresponsible. Daisycannot fully wield the power responsibly - after all she gave absolutely no consideration towards her child.

Symbolism in The Great Gatsby

Some important symbols include the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg and the Valley of Ashes located between West Egg and New York City.

The Eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg - The eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckelburg cast an ominous shadow over the goings-on in the novel. Thesymbolism behind the eyes, located on a billboard overlooking the Valley of Ashes, is open to interpretation. George Wilson likens them to the eyes of God. The location of the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg looking down on everything that takes place in the Valley of Ashes may represent God looking down on a morally bankrupt wasteland and doing nothing about it. His empty face may represent themodernist notion that God no longer lived, a symbol of the modernists' distrust of political, religious, and social institutions.
The Valley of Ashes - The Valley of Ashes, located between West Egg and New York city represents the moral decay associated with the uninhibited desire for wealth. It symbolizes societal decay and the plight of the poor, victims of greed and corruption. The valley can also belinked to WWI battlefields, where existed a no man's land--full of barbed wire, shrapnel, unexploded mines, and dead bodies--between opposing trenches. World War I influenced the negativity of modernist writers.

Color Symbolism
Some of the color used in The Great Gatsby includes white, grey, yellow, red, and green

Green - Don't forget that green is the color of money, that Gatsby statesthat Daisy's "voice is full of money" (107), a green light shines at the end of Daisy's dock, and that Jay Gatsby desires wealth as a means to get Daisy. The green light is also associated with the American Dream, something Gatsby cannot achieve.
Grey - Everything in the Valley of Ashes is colored with grey dust. It represents lifelessness and hopelessness (see Valley of Ashes on page 1).
White -White normally symbolizes purity. In The Great Gatsby, it represents false purity. Jordan and Daisy, not exactly moral pillars, often wear white. Gatsby wears white when meeting Daisy for the first time in five years to give the impression that he has been pure and good, doubtful considering his life of organized crime and bootlegging.
Yellow/Gold - Yellow represents corruptness. Gatsby's car isyellow, a product of his corrupt dealings, as are the spectacles of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg. It's probably not a coincidence that the novel's most impure character is named after a yellow flower. Gold has earned its place among the all time symbols of corruption and greed, although most wouldn't mind having more of it.
Blue - Blue represents illusions. The first suit Gatsby wears is blue. His gardensare blue. He is separated from Daisy by blue and even his chauffeur wears blue. The eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckelburg are also blue, Fitzgerald's allusion to the illusion that there was an almighty being watching over everyone, a belief widely attacked by modernist writers. Follow the link for more novel study guides.


Character List

Nick Carraway - The novel’s narrator, Nick is a young man from...