Owl-Eyes
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- "He took off his glasses and wiped them again, outside and in" (175).
- Some can see clearly like Owl-Eyes - he notices how no one came to Gatsby's funeral, though "they used to go [to his parties] by the hundreds" (175).
- Owl-Eyes is the only former guest to attend Gatsby's funeral (besides Nick) - appreciates the truth about Gatsby shown in that he had real books
East vs. West
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- "I see now that this has been a story of the West, after all—Tom and Gatsby, Daisy and Jordan and I, were all Westerners, and perhaps we possessed some deficiency in common which made us subtly unadaptable to Eastern life" (176).
- Nick ponders on this idea of geography being an important factor in the novel, and ends off the motif of geography with this quote
- Contrast: East vs. West (crumbling moral values vs. traditional moral values)
- Nick believes that the past determines who we become
Weather (Pathetic Fallacy)
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- During the funeral, they were "all wet to the skin" (174).
- Rain affects the mood in a somber way
Gatsby
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- In the end, Gatsby symbolizes the death of the American Dream
- American Dream is unrealistic for most people
- Hard work and ambition can't lead you towards this dream because it's all about the past that shapes who we are today
Colour Blue - "Blue Lawn"
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- "He had come a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it" (180).
- It seems like Gatsby has reached his ideal life, but the blue suggest illusions that only mask the reality.
Sailboat
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- "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past" (180).
- Represents the attempt to reach for your dreams
- But the current is more powerful than your own strength - the sailboat gets drifted away
- In the end, we know that dreams are unrealistic, seen in Gatsby's case.
- This is a statement of the American Dream - like the Dutch Sailors, Gatsby came to West Egg, New York to fulfill their dreams <-- both their dreams have failed
- "I became aware of the old island here that flowered once for Dutch sailors' eyes = a fresh, green breast of the new world" (180).
Light - Moonlight
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- Fitzergald uses light throughout the book to change our perception of things
- In the moonlight, there is a sense that the fairyland and the real world are both present at the same time
- At end of novel, there is illumination from the moonlight - the conclusion is filled in this mysterious kind of light