Gatsby Automobile Essay Essay

There are many different themes, images, and symbols in Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby that render great importance to the development of the story. One particular image and symbol seen throughout Fitzgerald’s novel that acts as a major contributor to the plot is the automobile. The image of the automobile can be seen in relation with any of the characters in the novel who involve themselves in with driving an automobile or even simply talking about an automobile. Two characters in the novel that Fitzgerald uses to portray the images and symbols of the automobile are Tom Buchannan and Jay Gatsby. These two automobile owners are created into the strongest conductors of Fitzgerald’s imagery and symbolism throughout the novel. The automobile can be seen as representing a few different types of images and symbols. A possible symbol of the automobile may stand for the respective automobile owner’s status in society. Almost all automobiles in the nineteen-twenties were black and just about as plain as could be. These black automobiles were owned by all those who could just barely afford an automobile, to those who were average, middle class people, to the extremely wealthy who could easily afford three or four automobiles. What makes this piece of history so important is the fact that Fitzgerald gives both Tom and Gatsby brightly colored automobiles. The personalities of these two characters effortlessly magnifies the showiness and in Gatsby’s case, gaudiness. Gatsby’s absolutely obnoxious Rolls Royce is â€Å"a rich cream color, bright with nickel, swollen here and there in its monstrous length with triumphant hat-boxes and supper-boxes and tool-boxes, and terraced with a labyrinth of windshields that mirrored a dozen suns. † No one in the nineteen-twenties had such an untasteful looking automobile that Gatsby. One obvious and straightforward possible explanation for Gatsby’s hideous automobile is that he wants to show off his wealth, status, and â€Å"success† in his many trades. Another not so obvious reason for this hideous yellow automobile could be an image produced by Fitzgerald to try to illustrate Gatsby’s need to reach out and grasp Daisy’s attention. Unfortunately, because Gatsby was formerly a much lower class man, living on a farm out west with his family, his wealth and riches cannot buy him any class or style. A very similar situation can be seen with Tom Buchannan and his automobiles. He too, is very showy and flashy in his actions to show the world his possessions. Tom, like Gatsby, has an unusual colored car. This blue automobile is a symbol of wealth, status, and riches, just like Gatsby, but it can represent another image. Every single time Tom heads over to Wilson’s Garage for some gas or to see Myrtle, Wilson asks Tom about purchasing his old automobile. Tom plainly and seemingly without thinking puts the topic off to the side as if it wasn’t important and he didn’t want to talk about it. Sadly for Wilson, the automobile in a sense symbolizes Myrtle. Tom pushes the car aside as if it didn’t matter much at all to him, just like he uses Myrtle and makes all those empty promises to her about trying to divorce Daisy and being together forever. The images and symbols throughout The Great Gatsby create many dimensions to such a superb plot and character development. These amazing images set up by Fitzgerald give the novel a complete feel of full development. Fitzgerald ties in all the different elements of the story by using the one simple entity of the automobile.