The Great Gatsby Group

Question:

wii
wii
Student
High School - 12th Grade

In Chapter 6, what is the meaning of the ladder that Gatsby imagines he sees in the blocks of the sidewalk?

Rate question:

Posted by wii on Thursday January 17, 2008 at 4:45 PM and tagged with chapter 6, gatsby, ladder, the great gatsby, theme.

Answers:


  1. sagetrieb Teacher
    Doctorate

    The “ladder” signifies success.  Even in the 1920s when Fitzgerald wrote the novel, the American Dream embodied the metaphor of a ladder, which signified possibility:  success was available for those willing to make the climb “the ladder of success.” “Ladder” necessarily involves a vertical climb, and so it is interesting Gatsby imaginatively transforms the pattern of a horizontal sidewalk  into this vision. Significantly, Daisy helps to create this vision, indicating the ways in which Fitzgerald weaves together the myth of success with the myth of the ideal woman, so that gaining the latter enables gaining the former as well.  One does not have full meaning without the other.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/great-gatsby

    Rate answer:

    Posted by sagetrieb on Friday January 18, 2008 at 3:55 AM