Motifs in The Great Gatsby

Parties:

Gatsby throws excessively huge parties as evidenced by the number of guests, the lights, the food and the entertainment. 

The reason Gatsby throws these huge, flashy parties is all part of his attempt to catch Daisy’s attention.

However even with the grand scale of his parties, none of his guests seem to know who Gatsby is and did not mind it.

Most of these guests are simply there to enjoy the glamour which they believe to be the American Dream.

Cars:

The American Dream involves people trying to gain wealth and status. Cars were seen as a status of wealth and a sense of new found freedom. 

In the novel, Gatsby possesses countless cars, one of them being the Rolls-Royce. “It was a rich cream color, bright and there in it’s monstrous length with triumphant hat-boxes and supper-boxes and tool-boxes, and terraced with a labyrinth of wind-shields that mirrored a dozen suns.” (pg.33) 

Actually Jay Gatsby did not care about the quality of his car. He choose yellow car to attract Daisy and to display his achievement of wealthy status.

Cheating:

In Great Gatsby we see wealthy people who live their life in luxury. First, their life seems to be very entertaining and full of happiness because they can travel everywhere, reach everything and they can do whatever they want. However, through the novel we saw that their life is not the same with we imagined.

All of the main characters had an affair with somebody else, with cheating they think they can cover their emptiness in their mind also they can satisfy their boredom. 

However, cheating is not limited to solely the rich class, as it is present in all social classes. All the relationships in the novel contain a motive or purpose. 

Tom has an affair to satisfy his boredom, and escape from his relationship at home.

On the other hand, Myrtle uses Tom in order to escape the Valley of Ashes and to use him as her path to the wealthy, luxury life.
Daisy cheats in order to receive the attention and admiration Tom has been neglecting her of.
Jay Gatsby wants Daisy in order to fulfill his dream.

The Valley of Ashes:

“This is a valley of ashes – a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of ash-grey men, who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air. (Pg.26)

Valley of Ashes represents absolute poverty and hopelessness.

The lower classes who inhibit this region all want to leave but cannot. This illustrates how the American Dream is impossible to achieve. 

It shows the difference between the rich and poor. 

The Green Light - Minute and Far Away -

The green light at the end of Daisy’s dock represents his dream, which is Daisy. To attain her would be completing Gatsby’s American Dream. 

The green light is described as ‘minute and far away’ which makes it appear impossible to reach. 

The green light also represents society’s desire and the seeming impossibility of achieving the materialistic American Dream.