1. Brainstorm motifs and symbols, and then analyze the themes developed through each one.

2. Symbols & Motifs Cars & driving—restlessness, recklessness (Theme: Hollowness of society based on material possessions; corrupting influence of wealth) Clothing/Homes/possessions—Gatsby, Myrtle, Wilson (“Clothes make the man…”), Gatsby’s car, books? (Theme: Illusions vs. reality) The Owl-eyed man--Few characters see things clearly... Gatsby’s perception is distorted by his idealism; Tom and Daisy’s by their selfish blindness. (Theme: Illusion vs. reality)

3. Symbols & Motifs East vs. Midwest (Theme: Loss of traditional values and corrupting influence of wealth—think of Nick’s move back to the Midwest) Valley of Ashes (Theme: the moral decay of America—withering of the American Dream) Geography--West Egg has replaced an “old fishing village”; the Valley of the Ashes stands where the “fresh green of the new world” once shined for Dutch sailors’ eyes (Theme: corruption of the pure American vision)

4. Symbols & Motifs The green light AND the “fresh, green breast of the new world… its vanished trees, the trees that made way for Gatsby’s house…”-- represent the unattainable ideal (Theme: hope and idealism tarnished by corruption of the pure American dream) The eyes of T.J. Eckleburg—(Theme: loss of religious faith/traditional values/meaning in the wake of unbridled prosperity and greed) Rampant violence (Theme: American dream corrupted by greed and immorality)

5. Symbols & Motifs Symbols of time and the past--sundials, clock on mantelpiece, p. 97 “overwound clock”, p. 116 (Theme: Fleetingness of time & fragility of romantic visions of the past) Gatsby’s death—Theme: death of the original American dream (blind pursuit of wealth has replaced the optimism and ideals of early America)