Heat as a symbol in The Great Gatsby Symbolism plays an important role in any novel of literary value. In his novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald shows superior use of symbols such as color, light, and heat. Fitzgerald's superior use of heat as a symbol is the focus of this essay. “When F. Scott Fitzgerald turns up the heat in Gatsby, he amplifies a single detail into an element of function and emphasis that transforms neutral landscapes into oppressive prisms” (Dyson 116). Through these prisms, which distort and color the lives of Fitzgerald's characters, we see why human euphoria is, as Nick Carraway describes it, "short of breath." Warmth is the antithesis of Jay Gatsby. It is symptomatic of his downfall, his nemesis. As he adjusted to his aloof demeanor time and time again, perhaps we should have imagined that his coolly methodical plan to restore the past would end, in the boiling heat of a showdown, “as useless as one of the spent matchheads.” Daisy throws so carelessly after lighting a cigarette” (Dyson 121). From mid-afternoon at Buchanan's mansion to dusk at the Plaza Hotel, Fitzgerald's emphasis on the oppressive heat stands out as clearly as Gatsby's pink suit against Daisy's crimson carpet. It is an emphasis that has the cumulative effect of placing the characters in an environment from which they cannot escape and in a situation that reflects their internal discomfort. The plot heats up as the setting heats up, heightening the suspense and placing the untested characters in such simmering heat that their lives can only find expression in explosive release or resignation. Their tempers flare when the temperature rises, and only when they lose their composure does something begin to cool. I… halfway through the paper… finished once Daisy and Gatsby left the Plaza. For the fair-weather princess, their passions had become too heated. After all, theirs was an early summer love, and the good weather was no longer there. Works cited and consulted Bewley, Marius. "Scott Fitzgerald's Critique of America." Modern Critical Interpretations: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986. 11-27. Dyson, A.E. "The Great Gatsby: Thirty-Six Years Later." Mizener 112-24.Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. England: Penguin, 1990. Hobsbawm, Eric. The era of extremes. New York: Pantheon, 1994. Tanner, Tony. "Introduction." The Great Gatsby. Author F. Scott Fitzgerald. England: Penguin, 1990. vii-lvi.Way, Brian. "The Great Gatsby." Modern critical interpretations. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986. 87-108.