Fitzgerald, a literary king, incorporated writing into his everyday life in order to become an expert and he definitely has. Symbols in English are small things that have a big meaning and the letter “Y” is one of them in The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald didn't show us what he was doing with the letter “Y”, but he sure did hint it. I believe the letter “Y” is an underlying theme in The Great Gatsby. In order to break down how he uses it, we first need to describe the construction of the letter “Y”. It begins at its base like a stem that begins to grow, then the stem breaks off into two distinct directions and goes farther and farther apart, to its end, like a line segment in Geometry. However, in The Great Gatsby, it represents life experiences. Significantly, it is not likely coincidental that Fitzgerald chose names with the letter ”Y” for characters who experienced one …show more content…
Jay Gatsby’s original name was James Gatz, he changed it to match the identity of his new lifestyle. Gatsby and Daisy met when Gatz prepared for war and while his name was still James Gatz. This represents the stem of the letter “Y”; essentially, the build up. The “Y” met its vertex when Gatz went to war and Daisy lost the one who she actually loved, and married Tom. Gatz and Daisy both lost something at this moment. Gatz changes his name to Gatsby because he lost something once so close to him- Daisy. Another character whose name signifies the importance of the letter “Y” is Myrtle's who was tragically killed. “Myrtle Wilson, her life violently extinguished, knelt in the road and mingled her thick, dark blood with the dust” (F. Scott Fitzgerald pg 147). At this time, Myrtle lost everything; therefore, the line segment in the “Y” came to an end, signifying the expiration of her life. This quote takes place when Daisy is driving Gatsby and Myrtle runs out into the road and gets hit by