Literary Devices in The Great Gatsby Essay Example

Literary devices such as symbols, irony, and contrast are frequently used in literature to both enhance and develop a theme. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby demonstrates how one can become so engrossed in the American dream and the idea of wealth that they lose sight of the more important things in life. This leads to immoral behaviour in a society that is blinded by greed and is overall left dissatisfied. This theme is revealed by the author, through the use of symbolism, irony, as well as contrast. Firstly, the colour yellow mentioned several times throughout the novel represents both the wealth around society as well as the corruption and rottenness of the characters within the society. Jordan Baker and Pammy Buchanan’s characters are both prime examples of rottenness and growing up in a rotten family. In addition, irony is used to foreshadow the novel's characters' immoral actions, as well as the idea that everyone is left unsatisfied at the end. The deaths of Myrtle and Gatsby are ironic in both their timing and the people who were involved. Furthermore, contrast is incorporated throughout the novel to unveil that, in the end, wealth and greed will triumph over the more important aspects of life. This is demonstrated by the contrast between Gatsby's party and his funeral. Therefore, symbols, irony and contrast, are integrated within The Great Gatsby novel to develop the theme.  

To begin, the colour yellow is used throughout the novel to symbolize the materialism and greed present in society. It is used to demonstrate the idea that with too much money people tend to forget the values of life and act immorally which not only impacts that person but also the people around them. Jordan Baker, through her actions and character traits, serves as an ongoing representation of the colour yellow in the novel. Jordan is referred to as having a “golden arm” when Nick states, “With Jordan’s slender golden arm resting in mine [...]”(Fitzgerald 47). Jordan Baker is what is known as “old money,” as she grew up in wealth rather than working hard to receive her wealth. She is constantly shown as being arrogant and always wanting more. The “golden arm”(47) is referring to her as a golf champion but in reality, it is representing her rottenness as she cheated in her golf tournament to win. This is one of her many immoral acts that represent how she does whatever she can to get more without ever considering the moral aspects, or impacts her actions have on others. She may seem to be wealthy and upper class to everyone but under all that facade there is a rotten core full of greed. This greed is represented throughout the novel by the colour yellow. In Addition, while Jordan Baker is a real-life example of rottenness, Pammy Buchanan the daughter of Tom and Daisy is an example of the impact of the rottenness around her. As Pammy is introduced in the novel Daisy introduces her to Nick and Gatsby: “[...] Did mother get powder on your old yellowy hair [...]” (124). The white powder in Pammy’s hair portrays the wealth and upper elite class that runs in their family but is also seen as a cover-up for the old yellow hair underneath. This represents that while Pammy is still a young and innocent child her future will not be the same. Her yellow hair depicts the rotten and cowardly traits of her parents who will soon reflect onto her. It is foreshadowing that she will be an impact of her parents' greed and their old money values, which will lead to her turning out to be just like them. Her parent’s actions and traits will sooner or later lead to a negative outcome for her. Therefore, both Jordan and Pammy demonstrate the symbolism of the colour yellow throughout the novel, and how greed can lead to immoral actions which impact everyone.

Moreover, the author excellently uses Myrtle and Gatsby’s deaths as irony to depict the idea that those who are attached to the idea of wealth and greed will forget about the more important things in life which result in immoral actions where everyone is left unsatisfied. At the beginning of the novel, it is discovered that there is an affair going on between Tom and his mistress Myrtle. While Daisy is aware of some sort of adultery, she is unaware of who this woman is. Later in the novel Daisy ends up being the one who kills Myrtle, her husband's mistress, in a car accident without even knowing who she was. Even though Daisy was the one who killed Myrtle, Gatsby decided to take the blame when he told Nick that “Yes, but of course I'll say I was”(154) after Nick asked him if Daisy was driving. Daisy’s immoral action of killing Myrtle is very iconic as she is the killer of her husband's mistress without knowing it. Her actions once again were immoral. Allowing Gatsby to take the blame, showed her true colours and how her selfishness and greed overpowered her so-called “love” for Gatsby. It was not him whom she loved but his wealth. To add, Gatsby’s death, while tragic, was also very ironic in its timing. Within this novel, the season and timing of Gatsby’s death were extremely important details. Before Gatsby’s death, Jordan said, “[...] Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall [...]” (126). Ironically as the weather began to change and the beginning of fall came around Gatsby was killed. Throughout the novel, Gatsby’s hopes and dreams were to win Daisy back and continue where they left off. He was so attached to this dream that he was completely blinded by the reality of their situation and the barriers between them. By this point in time Daisy was married and had a child, which only made Gatsby's dream that much harder to achieve. His “love” for Daisy held him back from more important aspects of life and not only was he left unsatisfied when he could not have Daisy, but he also lost his life because of her immoral actions. The ironic deaths of Myrtle and Gatsby were a clear representation of how people can be so blinded by the idea of the American Dream as well as wealth and can end up going to such lengths which in the end leave them unsatisfied.

Furthermore, the contrast between Gatsby’s party and funeral is used to uncover the fact that people care so much about money and wealth that they are willing to completely overlook making real-life relationships and focusing on the important aspects of life. At the beginning of the novel, Gatsby is known as this famous wealthy person who throws enormous parties to impress his guests. In reality, no one in these parties knew who Gatsby was and never cared to get to know him. Nick mentions that “Sometimes they came and went without having met Gatsby at all, came for the party with a simplicity of heart that was its own ticket of admission” (45). Gatsby spent all this money to impress people and was known for his great party-throwing but instead of being thanked, his guests were constantly gossiping about him. By the end of the novel when it came to Gatsby’s funeral there is a great contrast between his party and funeral. One would expect that his funeral would be as extravagant as his parties, filled with people, but instead it was the complete opposite. No one but Nick, Henry C. Gatz, and Owl eyes showed up at Gatsby’s funeral. Nick expressed his confusion “[n]obody came ''(185) when reflecting on Gatsby's funeral. People were so quick to attend Gatsby's parties but could not even bother showing up to his funeral. Gatsby spent his whole life trying to please others, but never realized he was simply being used by the reckless people around him for his wealth, including Daisy. In the end, he was left unsatisfied while everyone used him for their personal gains. This demonstrates the idea that society can become so immoral when they are blinded by greed and money that they are willing to sacrifice the important things in life just for a moment of wealth. 

All in all, Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby skillfully utilizes symbols, irony as well as contrast to reveal that one’s attachment to money and wealth can lead to them being blinded from the important aspects of life. This results in immorality and overall dissatisfaction. Jordan Baker and Pammy Buchanan are examples of the symbolism in the colour yellow and demonstrate immorality and rottenness in society. Moreover, Myrtle and Gatsby’s ironic deaths depict the idea that with so much wealth people are always left dissatisfied which leads them to act immorally without thinking of the impacts. Finally, the contrast between Gatsby’s party and funeral represents the idea that one can get caught up in the so-called “American dream”  as well as the idea of wealth that they are ultimately left unsatisfied. The over-attachment to money in a society affects everyone and destroys morals and values, leaving everyone full of greed and wanting more.