Symbol

There are many meaningful symbols throughout the novel, including those that pertain to gender. Such symbols include phallic and yonic symbols. These symbols are commonly associated with human sexuality. While phallic symbols describe male dominance, a yonic symbol suggests the allure of females.

Fitzgerald makes use of the flower as an example of a yonic symbol throughout the text. The main female character in this story is named after a flower. The daisy represents love and beauty which can also be associated with the character. Also, the daisy peddles are white which represents insolence, ironically like the colour of the clothing she wears. “His heart beat faster and faster as Daisy’s white face came up to his own. He knew that when he kissed this girl, and forever wed his unutterable visions to her perishable breath, his mind would never romp again like the mind of God. So he waited, listening for a moment longer to the tuning-fork that had been struck upon a star. Then he kissed her. At his lips’ touch she blossomed for him like a flower and the incarnation was complete.” (Fitzgerald  p.119). Fitzgerald uses a flower and the traits that it represents to imply these feminine traits onto Daisy such as how often she is associated with love in this story.

Flowers are also used in a romantic, yonic way by men with the intention to obtain the woman’s love. Flowers are often considered female and are associated with romance or romantic couples. Gatsby makes use of flowers during his first time meeting Daisy after many years. "The flowers were unnecessary, for at two o’clock a greenhouse arrived from Gatsby’s, with innumerable receptacles to contain it.”(Fitzgerald p.90) He decorates a house that is not even his with many flowers with the intent of setting a romantic atmosphere all to allure Daisy.