Symbolism, imagery, and allegory are literary devices, but they get their own page because they're the workhorses of literary meaning. So saddle up and get ready to see the main tourist attractions of The Great Gatsby. Plus, once you've got these common Great Gatsby references in your arsenal, you'll be able to shoot the breeze with literary nerds everywhere. (And let's not forget how impressed your teacher will be when you casually drop an interpretation of a major symbol in your essay!)
Gatsby's Books
(Click the symbolism infographic to download.)
An owl-eyed man at a Gatsby party sits in awe in the library, murmuring with amazement that all the books on Gatsby's shelves are "real books":"See!"...
The Owl-Eyed Man
(Click the symbolism infographic to download.)Speaking of those books, what's up with that guy in the library? We did list the owl-eyed man as a character, but we're not so sure that he really qual...
T. J. Eckleburg
(Click the symbolism infographic to download.)The first time we see the eyes of T.J. Eckleburg, they're looming over the valley of ashes, which Nick and the others have to pass through any time the...
The Green Light
(Click the symbolism infographic to download.)Green Means GoWe hate to think about the amount of ink that's been spilled writing about the green light in Gatsby. This is a grade-A, prime-cut symbol...
Colors
(Click the symbolism infographic to download.)Somewhere Over the RainbowThe green light isn't the only symbolic color in Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald uses color like a preschooler let loose with temper...