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Irony
Definition of Metaphor
A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two different things by saying that one thing is the other. The comparison in a metaphor can be stated explicitly, as... read full definition
A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two different things by saying that one thing is the other. The comparison in a metaphor... read full definition
A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two different things by saying that one thing is the other... read full definition
Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis—Eggs and Barnyard:
Early in the novel, Nick uses metaphors to compare Long Island’s two northern peninsulas to eggs and Long Island Sound to a barnyard:
Twenty miles from the city a pair of enormous eggs, identical in contour and separated only by a courtesy bay, jut out into the most domesticated body of salt water in the Western hemisphere, the great wet barnyard of Long Island Sound.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Nibbling on Stale Ideas:
Nick’s thoughts during his first dinner with the Buchanans contain an implied metaphor comparing Tom to an animal nibbling on stale food:
Unlock with LitCharts A+As for Tom, the fact that he “had some woman in New York” was really less surprising than that he had been depressed by a book. Something was making him nibble at the edge of stale ideas as if his sturdy physical egotism no longer nourished his peremptory heart.
Related Themes:
Chapter 9
Explanation and Analysis—Boats Borne Back:
The Great Gatsby’s famous last line is an example of both metaphor and alliteration:
Unlock with LitCharts A+So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.
Related Themes:
