Besides being a great novel, The Great Gatsby is a very symbolic book, not to
             mention it's many themes and meanings. This paper will discuss three of the major
             themes as well as some of the symbols, and try to explain the ending of the book.
             One of the first themes that comes to mind when one reads this book is the
             theme of position. This includes class, wealth and social standing. It is apparent that
             position is a large factor in this novel and time period within the first few chapters of
             the book. Nick is a middle class mid-westerner who moves to West Egg. Gatsby is
             rich, but he is only "new money" and also lives in East Egg. There is a position that
             he strives for and he wil do almost anything to achieve this. The Buchanans and
             however live in West Egg and are "old money". Even though they may have less
             money than Gatsby they have a better social standing. East and West Egg , as well as
             the water that seperates it are symbols in this book which strenghten this theme. The
             water seperates East and West Egg and creates a barrier between them much like social
             standing and wealth creates a barrier for the charachters in this book.
             Another theme of the novel is the theme of carelessness. Nick refers to
             Jordan, Tom and Daisy as careless. They are careless people who do careless acts, they
             live an irresponsible lifestyle and consequence is only an after thought. "They were
             careless people, Tom and Daisy-they smashed up things and creatures and then
             retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness..." One example of this
             carelessness is when Jordan is driving Nick through the city, and another is when Daisy
             and Gatsby don't stop after they kill Myrtle. Jordan and Tom also display carelessness
             when they flee the city after the murder. These people do not care about paying for
             their actions and basically do as they please. Tom...