1、Ar tic le ID:1671-4067(200703-0075-03Sy m bolis m i n The Grea t Ga tsbyYANG X icun1HUANG X i aoch eng2(11F oreig n A ffa irs Office,Lanz hou P etroche m ica l College of Technology,Lanz hou730060,Ch i na;2.P etro Ch i na the Seco nd Constrctio n Co mpany,Lanzho u730060,ChinaA bstra ct:The G reat Ga

2、tsby,is a work w ith strong practica l si g n ificance and tragic flavor.This paper,thr ough extracti n g and ana l y zing t h e sk illf ul e mploy ment of sy mbolis m i n aspects of characters and colors i n the nove,l d iscusses the deep connotation that is i m parted to these sy mbolic entities b

3、y the novelist and explains the decisi v e role of the sy mbolis m i n the nove l in shaping the fi g ures,deve l o ping the plot of the story,and deepen i n g the t h e me of the work.K ey words:sy mbolis m;characters;colorsCLC num ber:I042Docum en t Code:A1In troducti onF.Scott Fitz gera l d,a fa

4、mous A m er i c an nove li s,t essayis,t screen writer and dra matis,t is a writer ver y much of h is o wn ti m e.H is masterp iece Th e Grea t Ga tsby published i n1925i s a tragic novel vi v idly te ll2 i n g a story about a young man,seeking f or his drea m after retur n i n g to h is motherland

5、fro m the European battlefi e l d.H e was f ro m having nothing to own i n g wealth,and then was dead.The novel is successf ul f or its narrative sk il,l gracef ul and de licate prose styl e, and the e mploy m ent of sy mbolis m.No doubt the last one contributes much to it f or the depth and broadne

6、ss of the novel's the me.In a certain degree,sy mbolis m runs thr ough the whole story.The i m ages,the charac2 ters,and the col o rs are a ll sy mbols and f ull of sy mbolic mean i n gs.Th is paper,thr ough ana l y zi n g t h e sk illf ul e mploy men t of sy mbolis m i n aspects of characters a

7、nd colors in the nove,l discusses t h e deep connotation that is i m parted these sy mbolic entiti e s by t h e nove li s t and expla i n s the decisive role of the sy mbolis m in the novel i n shaping the fi g ures,developi n g the p l o t of the story, and deepen i n g t h e the mes of the work.2S

8、y m bolis m i n The Grea t Ga tsbyR ecei ved D ate:2007-05-23Bi ogr ap hy:Yang X i cun(1973-,m al e,born i n Gan s u,lect u rer 2.1The D efi n ition and Fun ction of Sy m bol/In literature a sy mbol is a thing that refers or suggests more than its litera l mean i n g.0(袁憲軍, 2004:229It is an objec,t

9、ani m ate or inani m ate,which goes beyond the ob jecti v e ref erent by evok i n g or sug2 gesting to the reader a meani n g on another leve,l a meaning beyond itsel.f It goes beyond what the sign re2 presen ts because it expresses a vast range of f eelings and meanings.Generally speak i n g,a lite

10、rar y sy mbol does not have a co mmon soc ial acceptance;it is a sy m2 bol the w riter adopts f or the purpose of h is wor ks,and it is to be understood on l y i n the context of that work. By using sy mbols the w riter conveys his mean i n gs in a spec i a lway that w ill a llure the senses and e m

11、oti o ns of the readers.2.2Sym bo lic Chara cter s in The Grea t Ga tsbyI n1920s,A m er i c a is i n the age of ostentatious co m f or.t/American drea m0beca m e a k i n d of be li e f and a pursuit of happi n ess.A m ericans believe that ever yone has equa l chance i n America,can beco me a m illio

12、naire,and o wn happ i n ess.H o wever,Fitz gera l d pours cold water on the drea m1In the novel the author caref ully characterizes a group of vivi d and lif elike characters,and gi v es the characters deep sy mbolized, connotati v e meanings.Thr ough understanding and ex2 pla i n i n g the sy mbols

13、 h i d den beh i n d the characters,we can see G atsbys'noth i n gness and vu l g ar drea m,and al2 so see the l o ss ofAmerican va l u e syste m and the d isil2 lusion ofAmerican drea m.Gatsby as the her o i n the book is a tragic charac2ter.H e is f u ll of aff ecti o n bu t not f a m iliar wi

14、th the ways of the world,not satisfied w ith t h at he is on l y a poor young m an1Thinking t h at money can buy the whole worl d and the drea m of h is l o ver Daisy,he takes his whole lif e f or pursuing h is drea m-materia l co m f ort and D aisy.H e tries by hook or by crook to take illegal acti

15、 v ities,and then ear ns great wealth and realizes h i s drea m.H e l o ves Daisy ver y much,but when Da isy fi2 nally co mes and when h is drea m nearly beco m es true, he d i s covers that Da isy is a girl o wning char m i n g ap2 pearance but shallo w nature.H is drea m beco mes f ar a2 way,and t

16、he rea lity is crue.lGatsby has the rare dign ity and i n nocence of the i g norant moder n people.This illusion is moving,be2 cause h i s ideal is based on the purely i m aginary sky. The a i m of h is pursu it is a k i n d of broad,vu l g ar,su2 perficial beauty.G atsby's experience is the rea

17、listic picture of every society a t that ti m e,and represents t h at young generation suff eri n g f ro m physical and m etal scar in European battle fie l d.H is fail u re represents the disillusionment ofAmerican drea m.Daisy,as the heroi n e i n the novel is the social butterfl y co m i n g fro

18、m the upper c lass.She has nob le wealthy bor n and char m i n g appearance,bu t those can t' cover her selfishness,van ity,greed and col d-heart2 edness.The world/Daisy0m eans/L i k e the flo wers0.I n Gatsby s'opinion,Da isy represen ts a ll the good as2 pects in the upper class of A m eri

19、ca l o ve and happ i2 ness.The beautif u l girl beco mes Gatsby's idea,l and her char m i n g appearance and noble born give her i m2 age the col o r of beauty,innocence,wealt h,and ro2 mance.In fac,t she is,a selfish,greedy gir.l The deep reason that she is attracting Gatsby is that the backgro

20、und and soc i a l re lationsh i p of Daisy have be2 co me a real ideal sy mbol f or Gatsby and even beco me a myth out of rea lity.There f o re,he can neglect her dark aspects.Da isy s'char m ing appearance and f alse pr o m2 ise are on l y a beautif ul trap,and lures Gatsby i n to i.t W hen Ga

21、tsby is dead f or her,she is lack of the m i n i2 mum hones.t A ll of her e motion has turned to the mon2 ey.Daisy sy mbolizes the superfic ial A m er i c an drea m, which has infi n ite attracti n g po wer,and can make the drea mers d isill u sioned and dead1To m,contrasted w ith Gatsby's i d e

22、a lis m,is the representa ti v e ofmorality and values of the estab lished rich classwho are col d-b l o oded and do har m to others to benefit the mselves.H e stands f or the corr upted east2 er n aristocra.t H e succeeds in a world in wh ich i d ea l2 is m is i m possi b le and i n tegrity is out

23、of date.A t the end of the story,Gatsby d ies and N ick returns to the M i d dleW es.t Only To m survives t h e moral waste land .A ll To m's f ee li n gs and actions are se lf-directed.This is the typica l character of his class.N ick,t h e narrator of the story,i s a young man fr o m the A m e

24、rican M idwest.H e has the relationsh i p w ith other characters in the nove.l H e is a friend and neighbor of Gatsby,cousin of Daisy,class mate of To m.Through h is quite ph il o soph ica l co mments,we can understand Gatsby's ugli n ess and greatness,and kno w t h e dif ference bet w een Gatsb

25、y and Da isy or To m.H e is the represen tative of perf ect character.And dif2 f erent fro m Gatsby and To m.N ick i s above the m,and he representsmora lity and w it the author pra ises12.3Sym bo lic Color s in The Grea t Ga tsbyCol o r sy mbolis m is rea lly popular i n novels writte n during t h

26、e1920s.There i s much color sy mbolis m i n this nove.l/Green0sho ws many t h oughts,i d eas,attitudes, a nd choices t h at Gatsby has t h roughout the stor y. /White0represents the ster eotypical f acade that ever y c haracter is h i d i n g beh i n d./Yello w0illustrates the greed a nd wealth of t

27、he characters./Gray0a llo ws the reader to notice that t h e drea ms of each char acter are sl o w l y disap2 peari n g./Bl u e0allo ws the reader to add an ele ment of /other worl d li n ess0to the stor y.It shows t h e r eader the drea ms and thoughts of the c haracters of the nove.lThe color/gree

28、n0sy mbolizes d iff erent choices the character,Gatsby,can m ake during h is lif e.The green ele ment i n t h is nove l is taken f ro m the green light at the end of the dock near Da isys'house.The color it2 se lf represents seren ity,as everyt h i n g is perfec.t Another sy mboliz ati o n of th

29、e col o r/green0,wh ic h contradicts the firs,t is the mean i n g/go.0Th i s can be i n terpreted as thatGatsby should go f or h is drea m with2 out hesitation.It i m plies that Gatsby and Daisy are meant to be together and nothi n g should stop Gatsby fr o m his desti n ed happiness and love with D

30、aisy.The last sy mbolic meani n g t h e col o r/gr een0i s an ur ge to stri v e ahead i n lif e,to do better i n lif e a nd succeed.H e i sc onstantly stri v i n g t o be a mor e successf u l fi g ur e i n soci e t y.This col o r sy mbolizes one th i n g,a facade,but it appears i n every c haracter.

31、For exa mp le,Da isy is al2 ways seen i n white,which gi v es her an i n nocen,t na i v e appearance.In reality,she kno ws exactly what she does but just doesn t'care.She uses th is little pri n cess i m age and her money to h i d e her biased,snobb ish, and conce ited vie w of herself and her l

32、if estyle.Another character that h i d es beh i n d the wh ite sy mbolic f acade is Jordan Baker.She is a lso i n wh ite qu ite of ten.She acts as though she is superi o r to every2 one around her.H er posture,her attitude,and even the th i n gs she says i m ply this arrogance./Red0and/wh ite0are th

33、e basic colors of To m#76#蘭州石化職業(yè)技術(shù)學院學報2007年and Da i s y's house.A s/wh ite0sy mbolizes Da isy's character i s tic,/red0is no doubt the perf ect represent2 ative of To m s'selfish,arrogant and cr ucia l characteris2 tic.H is wealthy f a m il y background makes h i m self-i m portant and c

34、onsiders everyone beneath his notice.H e al w ays br utally pushes everyone getti n g i n the way of h i m,so a red reckless bull appears be f o re the readers.A lthough he getsmarri e d w ith Daisy,he of ten makes appoi n t m ents w ith h is lover.A fter sensing the love aff a irs bet w een h is w

35、if e and Gatsby,he unexpect2 edly takes her to Gatsby and satisfies t h at Gatsby can t' hurt h i m.Theref ore we can see his i n si n cere and con2 ce ited characteristic.When he knows his w ife h it h i s lover by car,he has m alicious i n tentions to abet h i s lovers'husband i n k illing Gatsby.F.Scott Fitzgera l d was one of the greatest writers i n A m er ican literature.A classi c of American post-war ficti o n of t h e1920s,The G reatGatsby is regarded as the core of F itz gerald s'artistic achieve men.t I n the area F itzgerald criticizes Amer