Ya Mar

AP Language Literary Analysis A “Dusty” Symbol and The Great Gatsby American literature is often thought out to be depressing, generally harnessing hardships and an array of different emotions circulating amongst different characters within the novel. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, is no exception to this statement. The mournful tale, effectively told by Nick Carraway, entails a varied amount of symbolism that adds to the emotions expressed in the novel. One of the most purposeful of these symbols is the dust described throughout the novel. The dust described in is often associated with failure, but more specifically, the “destruction of the dreams of the common man”(Fraser, 558). This notion is made evident by the description of dust in relations to Myrtle Wilson and Jay Gatsby, as well as in the foreshadowing of Gatsby’s death. Throughout the novel, “Fitzgerald writes of two types of people; those who appear to have the ideal life and those who are still trying to achieve their dreams”(Free-Essays.us,1). Tom and Daisy Buchanan are two characters that appear to have an idealistic lifestyle (a big house, a child, a large amount of money, and a blissful marriage). However, both of the two involved in this union end up having affairs; Tom with Myrtle Wilson, and Daisy with Jay Gatsby. Myrtle Wilson is an example of a character that is still trying to achieve her dreams. When Myrtle and her husband, George Wilson, are first introduced into the novel, her husband is described as having had a “white ashen dust [veil] his dark suit and his pale hair as it veiled everything in the vicinity—except his wife, who moved close to Tom”(Fitzgerald,30). This use of the word dust in reference to Myrtle Wilson infers that unlike her husband who had settled to be a poverty-stricken proprietor of a auto repair shop, she “still had aspirations of living the perfect life”(Free-Essays.us, 1); a life she thought to someday find with Tom. Ironically, Myrtle’s dreams of moving into a higher social class are “extinguished” when Tom’s wife, Daisy, accidentally runs over Myrtle while driving Jay Gatsby’s car, killing her instantly. Myrtle’s body is described to as to have had “knelt in the road and mingled her dark thick blood with the dust”(Fitzgerald, 145). The dust used in reference to Myrtle Wilson at this point stands for the dreams and goals that will never be accomplished due to her untimely demise. Along with the use of Myrtle Wilson to establish the symbolism behind the word dust, Fitzgerald also uses the character Jay Gatsby to establish the symbol. Unlike Tom and Daisy Buchanan, Jay Gatsby is a person similar to Myrtle; a character still trying to achieve his dreams. Although Gatsby had a large amount of money, a big house, and fame, but he was still missing the girl of his dreams (Daisy Buchanan). At one point, Gatsby felt that he had fulfilled his dream, specifically, when Daisy told him that she loved him (Fitzgerald,123). However, this accomplishment proved to be more than transient when Daisy very subtly declined Gatsby’s seductions, and reinitiated her monogamous relationship with Tom. Shortly after this occurrence, Nick visits Gatsby’s house and describes it as having “an inexplicable amount of dust everywhere” (Fitzgerald,154). This dust symbolizes Gatsby’s recognition that Daisy is more than likely no longer going to be involved in his life, or in other words, the “obliterated fantasies”(Fraser, 162) of a common man. Dust makes another appearance in references to Gatsby in terms of “the “foul dust” that stirred in his wake”(Fraser, 560) after George Wilson shot and killed him while he swam in his pool.