How Is the East-West Antithesis Motif and the Symbol of the Green Light and Dust Developed in the Novel “the Great Gatsby”?

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At first glance, the Great Gatsby appears to be a book based on the hindered relationship between two lovers, however when one analyses the motifs and underlying symbols of the novel it portray ideas deeper than this. The Great Gatsby has symbols which portray the traits of 1920’s America: the corruption, the wealth, the illusion, the social differences and the restlessness. A major theme in this novel is the colossal dream which Gatsby desires. Fitzgerald embodies this dream through the symbol of the green light at the end of the Buchanan’s dock; however this dream remains unreachable because of the separation and the stark opposition between the East Egg and the West Egg, an antithesis that is built upon as the novel progresses. East to west is represented as a continuous journey, like that of life to death, forever taking Gatsby away from the past and his dream. The preposterous amount of corruption in society and the end of dreams and life is symbolised by dust. This corruption is what eventually brings Gatsby to his tragic death. Although East Egg and West Egg are separated “only by a courtesy bay” they have “dissimilarity in every particular except shape and size (p.10).” The west is home to Gatsby and the nouveau rich. The West Eggers seek to tastelessly imitate the East. This is shown through the vulgarity of Gatsby’s house, “an imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy. (p.11)” Although it is luxurious and impressive, it lacks any heritage and is essentially an imitation like Gatsby. West Egg is associated with being wild and restless, partially due to never being fully satisfied in the East. At Gatsby’s party people “conducted themselves according to the rules of behaviour associated with an amusement park (p.43)” and “an evening was hurried from phase to phase towards its close, in

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