Symbolism

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” is without doubt a novel with plenty of symbols. They can be find in colors as well as in objects and characters. One of the symbols we found in the novel was the New York apartment that Tom hides for his mistress. This represented cheating, which not only applied to their case but did to other characters as well.

The apartment can also symbolize Tom´s personality. As written by Fitzgerald: “The apartment was on the top floor — a small living-room, a small dining-room, a small bedroom, and a bath. The living-room was crowded to the doors with a set of tapestried furniture entirely too large for it, so that to move about was to stumble continually over scenes of ladies swinging in the gardens of Versailles”. - Chapter 2

The apartment being on the top floor, symbolizes Tom´s desire to be at the top of everything. Even though he had a penthouse (which is usually the biggest apartment in the building), it had small rooms inside. It was a normal apartment with just the right space, then why did he have furniture that where quite big for the space provided? This is a way in which Tom wanted to show he had everything; a full apartment. The lack of room could demonstrate his “wealth” and the little space demonstrates he can fill it up quickly and isn´t use to be alone or empty. Another interesting fact about this passage is how it relates the apartment to a scene of ladies swinging in the gardens of Versailles- this garden referring to the garden of Adam and Eve, where it symbolizes sin.