Characters Who Are Represented By Animals In The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald is a novel set in the 1920s. It describes the life of Jay Gatsby and the events surrounding him through Nick Carraway, his neighbor. The animals in the great Gatsby represent character traits of Tom, Gatsby, and the man in Gatsby's library.
Tom is represented by a dog. He is possessive of what he considers to be his. He is possessive of Daisy, like a dog is possessive of its favorite toy. Tom also does not take responsibility for his actions. An example of this is when Nick accuses Tom of not caring after he contributed to Gatsby's death, he replies that he has suffered. He says, '"And if you think I didn't have my share of suffering look here, when I went to give up that flat and saw that damn box of dog biscuits sitting there on the sideboard, I sat down and cried like a baby."' (98) He is trying to make Nick feel sorry for accusing him of not caring, when Tom knows that how he acted was wrong.
Gatsby is represented by a bug. He is tolerated by the other wealthy because he does something they like; throwing parties. Nick describes how he will even provide his guests with a way home. "'On week−ends his Rolls−Royce became an omnibus, bearing parties to and from the city between nine in the morning and long past midnight, while his station wagon scampered like a brisk yellow bug to meet all trains.'"(21) The other wealthy people will enjoy his parties but still talk about Gatsby behind his back even though all he is trying to do is impress people. Humans tolerate certain animals around them because the animals do something humans want or find useful. When he is murdered, everyone who once came to his parties is disgusted with what he supposedly did, and do not show up to his funeral. Similarly, when someone find a dead bug they are disgusted.
The man is Gatsby's library is represented by an owl. Nick describes the man coming to the funeral. "'It was the man with owl−eyed glasses whom I had found marvelling over Gatsby's books in the library one night three months before."'(96) He is the only person that attended Gatsby's parties to show up at his funeral. Owls are used to represent being wise, suggesting that he knew Gatsby was innocent even when the others didn't believe so.
Some of the animals in The Great Gatsby represent characters in the novel. A dog represents Tom, a bug represents Gatsby, and the man in Gatsby's library is represented by an owl. These animals represent their characters traits.
