Great Gatsby

             Throughout novels there are recurring elements and literary devices that are known as motifs. Motifs are integral to a novel for they help to develop the novel's major theme. Weather is a motif that can be frequently and fundamentally used over the course of a novel. In many instances, weather can be a pace setter for the emotional tone of a certain time, such as on a rainy day the mood may be melancholy. Weather may also be used as a metaphor. Weather is used as a motif in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. Throughout The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses the weather to set the emotional tone of the novel and as a metaphor.
             In The Great Gatsby, when the climactic confrontation between Tom and Gatsby occurs on the hottest day of the year, weather is used to set the emotional tone for this particular time. The conflict is perpetuated by the heat which symbolizes the confusion and tension of that time. One particular scene that illustrates the heat perpetuating the confusion of the time is when Daisy says " 'But it's so hot,' ... 'And everything's so confused'"(125). Daisy is attributing the heat to her current confusion about whether or not to go to town. On a deeper meaning she was portraying the heat as her current stressful situation with Gatsby and Tom. This illustrates heats integral role in setting the pace of the novel. Also, when Tom, Daisy, Gatsby, Nick, and Jordan arrive in their suite in New York, the current situation was summed up by the line, "the room was large and stifling..."(133).
             This statement regarding the room's climate directly reflects the current argument. At this time, the conflict was brewing and stifling just like that of the room. This illustrates the value of weather, by using the term stifling, as a motif throughout the novel. Weather was used to set the emotional tone in the confrontation between Tom and Gatsby, but weat...

More Essays:

APA     MLA     Chicago
Great Gatsby. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 05:23, March 28, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/82541.html