How Does Fitzgerald Use Cars as Symbolism in the Novel So Far?

How does Fitzgerald use cars as symbolism in the novel so far?

One reason Fitzgerald uses cars as symbolism it to show wealth. Gatsby is a very wealthy man who owns very expensive things. Nick describes Gatsby’s house as a “factual imitation of some Hotel De Ville in Normandy, with a marble swimming pool and a large lawn”. With all of this money, you would expect him to have a cool car, which he does. Gatsby’s car was “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 wind-shields that mirrored a dozen suns, sitting down behind many layers of glass in a sort of green leather conservatory” (Fitzgerald 64). Gatsby’s car symbolizes the wealth that Gatsby has come from. Another example of symbolism that the car shows is that the car is yellow instead of the traditional black of the time period. By Gatsby’s car being yellow it shows that he is very flashy with his money and wants people to see that he is rich and can afford nice things. Gatsby’s car symbolizes his wealth and his taste for the finer things in life.

Another example for cars being symbols is when owl eye crashes one of Gatsby’s cars. In this scene Owl Eye steals Gatsby’s car and crashes it when he is drunk and then just walks away. This crash is important because it represents the recklessness people had in the twenties. Back in the twenties and thirties many people were laid back and easy going because they had more money, new technology, and they were still getting alcohol even though it was illegal. So when Owl Eye crashed Gatsby’s car and walked away without a care in the world, it shows how people just lived in the moment and did as they pleased. Gatsby also not mad because he was also easy going and was very wealthy and could afford another car. The destruction of one of his cars did not