#1 Dust in the Great Gatsby

1. pg. 2- Foul Dust in the wake of Gatsby's dream
-Foul dust represents what "haunts" Gastby.
-Foul means old, bad smelling, etc.
-Foul dust is what is keeping Gatsby from achieving his dream
-Foul dust could represent money because it corrupts him
-Daisy could represent Gatsby's dream because that is who Gatsby longs for and "dreams" for
2. pg. 27- White ashen dust on Wilson's suit
-Ashes represent death and Wilson ends up dying in the end
-White ashen dust- old (white hair)
-Dust on his suit means he was working hard
-Dust could also mean that he never wears the suit (not fancy)
3. pg. 66- Sawdust of Gatsby's statements
-Leaking sawdust at every pore- Nick is saying that Gatsby's statements are obvious lies.
-Gatsby is "full of sawdust" meaning he is full of deceit
-Nick describes that Gatsby's lies are equivalent to a turbaned "character" which represents Gatsby as trying to be someone that he isn't. (He's covering up his true identity)
4. pg. 151- Dust in the house of Daisy's youth
-"Shining dust" is an oxymoron because dust is dull and not shiny.
-Shining dust could be glitter on the floor
-Shining dust represents a fairytale archetype (fairy dust)
-The slippers were "shuffling the shining dust" which could represent Daisy shuffling with men because she started having half a dozen dates a day.
5. pg. 116- Dust from Daisy falls on daughter
-The powder from Daisy's face falls onto her daughter's hair and later Daisy says that the girl looks like her and "has her hair and the shape of her face"
-Powder is used to cover up imperfections and that may represent the daughter
-Daisy doesn't really have a relationship with her daughter
-Daisy's daughter getting the powder on her represents the little girl gaining Daisy's personality and qualities
6. pg. 137- Myrtle's blood mixed with dust
-The dust is from the car stirring up dirt on the road
-Daisy was driving the car that killed Myrtle
-Dust represents decomposition of the human body, which will happen to Myrtle's body soon.
-Dark blood mixing with the dust represents dirty blood and Myrtle was filled with dirty (evil) blood because she was unfaithful to Mr. Wilson
-"Extinguished" is a word associated with putting out fires and fires produce dust, or ashes
7. pg. 148- Dust in Gatsby's house
- The dust in Gatsby's house appeared after Daisy had left him and she was considered his "light"
-All of the important servants had been fired and the new ones did not care enough to clean the house well
-The dust represents the deadness of Daisy and Gatsby's relationship.
-The dust appeared after Gatsby stopped having his parties
-The dust gathering in his house shows how enormous his house is, but it is empty and nobody ever cares enough to clean it up. This scenario represents Gatsby's life because he is alone and Daisy came into his life and made a mess out of Gatsby's heart and life but didn't care enough to fix it.