Green In The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, describes two different forms of the American dream-- the desire for monetary success which motivates the inhabitants of West Egg and New York City, and the romantic hope that drives Gatsby. Both dreams are represented by the color green: the color of the statue of Liberty, the color of our money, the color of Gatsby's light at the end of the dock. Gatsby’s dream, however, is the original American dream, the dream that pulled the first settlers westward. Through his use of green, Fitzgerald demonstrates that this first American dream has been corrupted by the new, money-driven version.
To Gatsby, the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock is the physical manifestation of his dream. In his first description,

Gatsby is staring out across the bay, trembling and stretching out to the light across the bay. The green light has “colossal significance,” making his dream seem “so close he could hardly fail to grasp it” (Fitzgerald 93, 180). By attaching all of his feelings for Daisy to the light, he makes it a physical representation of his aspirations, giving him a connection to her and his dream. The settlers’ first image of America is as the “fresh, green breast of the new world.” (Fitzgerald 180), and like Gatsby, they are pulled towards their dreams by this greenness. Both Gatsby and the settlers Nick realizes that while the light represents Gatsby’s yearning for Daisy, it also represents the “orgastic future that...recedes before us.” (Fitzgerald 180). The first sight of the continent commensurates the settler’s “capacity for wonder,” the same wonder that Gatsby feels when he “first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock” (Fitzgerald 180). His dream of Daisy is the same pure dream that founded America, the original American dream.
Other uses of green in the book, however, demonstrate how that original pure dream has been corrupted. Now, instead of a yearning for nature, the “American dream” is the desire for monetary success. This new, corrupted form of the American dream is characterized by grand expressions of wealth. Gatsby’s car is a representation his success in this regard, of his having “made it” financially. Nick describes the car as “splendid,” and as “a sort of green leather conservatory” (Fitzgerald 69, 64). The extravagance of his automobile is a show of his money and his success, unlike the green light, which represents his love for Daisy. Green appears again in “the soft rich heap” of Gatsby’s “coral and apple-green” shirts (Fitzgerald 92). Here as well, the color green correlates to a display of affluence, instead of a display of love or in nature. Green also appears during one of Gatsby’s extravagant parties, when Daisy declares that if anyone wishes to kiss her, they must “present a green card” (Fitzgerald 104). In contrast to the original American dream, all of these uses of the color green describe objects or events connected to money and displays of wealth. CONCLUSION OF THIS PARAGRAPH
Nature itself is stripped of it’s original fresh greenness which draws the first settlers to the West.

Fitzgerald never describes nature using the color green, except when describing the original settlers’ vision of America. Instead, trees have “vanished,” having “made way for Gatsby's house” (Fitzgerald 180). The trees that do remain are “black” and “knotted,” or “white,” or “yellowing” (Fitzgerald 88, 107, 161). All of the traces of the “fresh, green breast of the world” which inspires the original American dream have disappeared (Fitzgerald 180). Even the lawn that Gatsby stands on as he dreams his pure and original American dream is described as “blue” (Fitzgerald 180). The foundation upon which he stands, the viewpoint which allows him to see the physical manifestation of his dream, the green light, has been corrupted. The grass is not green anymore, but blue. Now all that remains is the fading remains of the nature that used to exist. When preparing for tea with Daisy, Nick has to drive “into West Egg Village...to search for...lemons and flowers” (Fitzgerald 84). America is no longer a lush nature-filled paradise, but a place where one has to go actively search and purchase flowers. A disconnect between society and nature has formed. Green nature is not the foundation of the American dream anymore. Instead, green money

is.
Green also appears at the destruction of every dream in the book, further demonstrating how the original American dream has been corrupted. Wilson’s dream-- of striving for success with Myrtle by his side-- is destroyed when he discovers that she is having an affair. When Tom and Nick visit him shortly after, Nick remarks that “in the sunlight” Wilson’s “face was green” (Fitzgerald 123). In contrast to Gatsby’s green light, which provides a physical symbol for his aspirations, green appears for Wilson after his dream is gone. The color green is a symbol for the death of a dream rather than the dream itself. When describing Gatsby’s car after Myrtle’s death, Michaelis tells “the first policeman that it was light green” (Fitzgerald 137). Both Gatsby and Myrtle’s dreams are destroyed in this instant. Myrtle loses her life and her dream of social advancement, and Gatsby loses Daisy completely when he later decides to lie about driving the car. A green car, the symbol of the new American dream of financial success, destroys two dreams in one stroke, one of which was Gatsby’s. The original American dream has been eradicated by the new idea of success.
Green symbolizes both the original American dream and the new, corrupted American dream, and appears at the destruction of both. Any dream in the book is destined to be destroyed by itself. By choosing green to represent both incarnations of the American dream, as well as their destruction, Fitzgerald suggests that the American dream does not exist or cannot be successful. This suggestion raises the question of whether not having dreams at all is better than striving for something that is doomed to fail.