In the Great Gatsby, numbers such as 3 and 5 reoccur. What could these number motifs represent?Quotes: -Dan Cody: The arrangement lasted five...

I have found some of the occurrences of numbers you refer
to above, but also others:

Nick says that his family has
been “prominent and well-to-do” for THREE generations. Daisy’s daughter is THREE years
old. Every Friday, FIVE crates of oranges and lemons are delivered to Gatsby’s house.
Gatsby was in the THIRD division during the war. Nick often walks across 33rd Street in
New York City to go to Penn Station. Nick writes the names of people who came to
Gatsby’s party on July 5th on an old train timetable. The horn on Gatsby’s car sounds
THREE notes. Mr. Wolfsheim tells Nick and Gatsby a story about one night in New York
City when FIVE of his friends were gunned down. Jordan tells Nick that when she and
Daisy were young girls, she once came upon Daisy talking with a handsome young officer
(Gatsby) and Daisy was so engrossed in the conversation that she didn’t even notice
Jordan until she was FIVE feet away. When Gatsby has tea with Daisy at Nick’s house, he
tells them that he and Daisy have not seen each other in FIVE years. Tom shows up in a
riding party of THREE one afternoon at Gatsby’s, on horseback. A man fainted at Daisy’s
wedding and he stayed at her house for THREE weeks afterwards. Gatsby tells Tom he only
stayed at Oxford for FIVE months. At Myrtle Wilson’s funeral, at THREE o’clock her
husband George starts to figure out that it was Gatsby’s car that killed Myrtle. Nick
tries to call Meyer Wolfsheim to tell him about Gatsby’s murder and the operator tells
Nick he has rung the number THREE times. Gatsby’s father sends word to Nick THREE days
after Gatsby’s murder that he is coming to New York. Gatsby’s funeral is at THREE
o’clock. A young Gatsby had written in his journal that he would save THREE dollars each
week. At FIVE o’clock, Gatsby is buried. Nick tells Jordan that he is 30 years old, FIVE
years too old to lie to himself. At the end of the story, Nick runs into Tom walking
down FIFTH Avenue.

Although I don’t believe one can make
this statement with 100% accuracy based on the incidents of the occurrence of the number
3 and 5 as outlined above, it seems as if the number 5 is associated mostly
with negative things, and the number 3 is associated mostly
with positive things. I am not so certain that Fitzgerald intended to use
strong symbolism with these numbers, however. For example, if you do some research into
what numbers stand for, you will find that it depends greatly on your reference point.
For example in Christian-based numerology, the number 3 stands for the Father, Son and
Holy Ghost. Or, this number can stand for stability, as in the 3 sides of a triangle. It
can also represent birth, life, death. The number 5 is often associated with
instability, radical changes, chaos. Both 3 and 5 are odd numbers, so this could be
significant.

Anyway – I have given you something to think
about. So, what do YOU think?