Change in "The Great Gatsby"

All the symbols in "The Great Gatsby" - the green light, the ash heap, and the east and west - have one thing in common: change. Change is apparent in both the action and the underlying meaning and symbols of the novel. From the basic storyline, we find three major instances of change. First, all major characters change where they live, with Tom and Daisy a prime example - moving frequently from place to place throughout their life before arriving at East Egg. Also, Gatsby changes his name, which allows him to start his life from scratch and make it more like that of God - all in the ultimate goal of attaining Daisy. And finally we have the changing of the seasons, which symbolically correspond to changes in thestoryline during The Great Gatsby. On one level, Fitzgerald writes these elements of change in the action of the novel, but on another level, he hints at change symbolically. The green light is a symbol for hope and promise - a hope that the "ash heap" of the present will change to that of a great future, where dreams come true and the American Dream is realized. Overlooking this ash heap of the present are the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg, which change in meaning throughout the novel. In chapter two, they symbolize materialism and advertising gone mad, showing how corrupt the American Dream and American idealism have become. However, later in the novel his eyes are compared to those of God - changing their meaning to a more spiritual one - symbolizing how American spirituality has been corrupted by our quest for wealth and material possessions. We also see a change in travel in Gatsby - from the traditional east-west direction to the opposite movement from west to east - which symbolizes the corruption in America today. People now move from stable, moral environments in the west to the lavish, highly superficial wealth of the east - an east which is characterized by Fitzgerald as the ash heap of civilization. With all this change in The Great Gatsby, only one character changes throughout the course of the novel: Nick. Gatsby cannot change because his life is based on a dream he set for himself as a youth and Tom and Daisy cannot develop because their life is one big advertisement, living in eternal youth, beauty, and wealth. Nick however, changes a great deal throughout the novel - which we see most prominently in two statements he makes. At the end of chapter three, Nick states:

"Everyone suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known." (39)

He later corrects this statement, during a conversation with Jordan Baker, saying: "I'm thirty. I'm five years too old to lie to myself and call it honour" (113). He develops enough in this story to realize that he is not above the rest of the characters, and is capable of lies and superficiality as well. What saves, or sets Nick apart from the rest, however, may have been his realization of his thirtieth birthday. At the climax of the novel, Nick kind of awkwardly throws in the fact (right in the middle of the big argument) that it's his thirtieth birthday. However, this is actually a relevant detail for the conversation. The age of thirty is symbolic for the passing of youth - or the passing of innocence. Hence, the turning point in Nick's life occurs simultaneously with the turning point in Gatsby's - the termination of his youthful dream. Some could even say that Nick's character develops in that statement on that day alone - with his passing of youth. It is fitting that Nick be the only character that Fitzgerald develops in The Great Gatsby, because as the narrator, Nick uses symbols of change to correspond to his own character development.

All the following symbols in The Great Gatsby, when put together, give us the main theme or point that Fitzgerald is trying to make - that American idealism and spirituality have been corrupted by material possessions and wealth. Gatsby's dream fails because of his material wealth he must possess to accomplish it. In this respect, Gatsby fails before he even begins - showing the unforgiving nature of a land characterized by Fitzgerald as a wasteland of ashes. This "ash heap" is the present, the terrible time where The Great Gatsby takes place - a time which all hope is lost for the future, and Gatsby's sacred green light becomes nothing more than just a light at the end of Daisy's dock.

Millett