The Great Gatsby Symbols

The Green Light

• represents Gatsby’s hopes and dreams for the future

• Serves as a guiding light toward his goal to reach Daisy

• Symbolizes the American Dream in a more generalized ideal — Nick compares the green light to how America looked for early settlers

The Valley of Ashes

• Long stretch of desolate land

• Represents moral and social decay, and the plight of the poor

Dr T.J Eckleburg

• A pair of fading, bespectacled eyes painted on a billboard who always looks over the Valley of Ashes

• Represents judgement of American society as a moral wasteland

Gatsby’s Mansion

• Represents the grandness and emptiness of the 1920s boom

Gatsby’s Parties

• Represent those seeking to impress people who will never accept him, and the corruption of the American Dream

Dog Collar

• what George Wilson finds and figures that his wife has an affair

• Symbolizes Myrtle’s infidelity, the shattering of Wilson’s trust, and her materialism

Gatsby’s Clock

• the clock Gatsby tries to fix after knocking it over during his reunion with Daisy

• Symbolizes the passage of time and Gatsby’s futile attempt to rewind/recapture the past, particularly his lost love with Daisy