The Houses of The Great Gatsby Functional and Symbolic Essay

The Houses of The Great Gatsby: Functional and Symbolic Present within many novels that deal with class are intricate descriptions of the homes, the grounds, and even the neighborhoods that the characters live in and aspire to live within. While the descriptions are often lyrical their presence is far from superfluous. The estates in such novels nearly always have specific functions that are integral to the narrative and just as often serve a symbolic purpose. The novels we considered this semester are not exempt from this assertion, in fact, one illustrates the principle precisely. The novel that exemplifies the concept is The Great Gatsby. F. Scott Fitzgerald gives us exhaustive descriptions of the dwellings of nearly every character†¦show more content†¦Isnt that just as their home is described? (Even the word home seems too warm a descriptor to use surrounding the Buchanans). A lawn, lush and manicured (especially in the summer), that begins at the beach and is spotted w ith ornamentation and molded into areas for leisure may have visual appeal but is in no way organic or natural. Their house: Georgian; classical, but the many windows only reflect the golden sunshine of the outdoors. They are not transparent and the implication is that there is nothing behind them of substance to see anyway, if they were. As we come to know, within the Buchanans house (or within the Buchanans themselves) there is no substantive warmth, love or familial relationships which one might expect to see evidence of upon peering through the windows of a home. In describing their estate, Fitzgerald alerts the reader early on seamlessly, subtly, completely incorporated within the plot and structure, to the true character of the Buchanans. Additionally, the house is a symbol of the Buchanans social standing. Its location in East Egg (the more fashionable and old monied side of the bay) and the fact that even for East Egg it is expansive and impressive speaks to the high social standing Tom and Daisy BuchananShow MoreRelated The Valley of Ashes as Metaphor in The Great Gatsby Essay1969 Words   |  8 PagesThe Valley of Ashes as Metaphor in The Great Gatsby      Ã‚  Ã‚   Throughout F. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby, location is a critical motif. The contrasts between East and West, East Egg and West Egg, and the two Eggs and New York serve important thematic roles and provide the backdrops for the main conflict. Yet, there needs to be a middle ground between each of these sites, a buffer zone, as it were; there is the great distance that separates East from West; there is the bay that separatesRead MoreThe American Dream as Shown Through Jay Gatsby Essay2729 Words   |  11 Pages Jay Gatsby becomes so enthralled in his American Dream and the immoral means that he would use to obtain it, however, that he could not see foreboding events around him. He acts in a manner of obliviousness when many of the people whom he associates with mock him, such as when and an unnamed woman in Gatsby’s house in Chapter VI gives an insincere invitation for Gatsby to come to dinner and, after Gatsby naively accepts the invitation, Tom ridicules him by asking Nick, â€Å"Doesn’t he know she doesn’tRead MoreANALIZ TEXT INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS28843 Words   |  116 Pagesthe text reveals under close examination. Any literary work is unique. It is created by the author in accordance with his vision and is permeated with his idea of the world. The reader’s interpretation is also highly individual and depends to a great extent on his knowledge and personal experience. That’s why one cannot lay down a fixed â€Å"model† for a piece of critical appreciation. Nevertheless, one can give information and suggestions that may prove helpful. PLOT The Elements of Plot When weRead MoreCohesion in Short Story17921 Words   |  72 Pageswhat kind of types and functions of grammatical and lexical cohesion. 4. Finally, the writer analyzes all chosen data clearly. 1.8 Population and Sample 1.9.2 Population The population of this research is the short story â€Å"The Great Stone Face by Nathaniel Hawthorne.† The short story has a six parts. 1.9.3 Sample The writer chooses part one until part four as sample in this research. The research will be too large in describing the characteristic of population without