Significance Of The Green Light In The Great Gatsby

During the time of the 1920’s, America projected an image of social decay and a lack of moral behavior. In the The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author utilizes universal themes that incorporate that same image into the character’s lives. The narrator, Nick Carraway, makes the decision to move from Minnesota to New York in 1922 in hopes of learning about the bond business. There, he rents a house in the fictional district of West Egg in real life Long Island. His neighbor, Jay Gatsby, throws extravagant parties every Saturday night in hopes of his true love coming back to him. Daisy, Nick’s cousin and Gatsby's love, lives in East Egg with her husband Tom Buchanan. However, Tom cheats on his wife with Myrtle Wilson and according to

Jordan, “everyone” knows about the scandal. Gatsby sees this as an opportunity to pull Daisy towards him, but Tom’s security and wealth will always surpass her old love for Gatsby. Fitzgerald deftly uses the billboard, the green light, the valley of ashes and the differentiation between East and West Egg as symbols to advance his plot and enhance the quality of the novel.
The author uses the billboard overlooking the Valley of Ashes as a symbol for many themes to advance the plot and enhance the quality of the novel. The image on the billboard depicts the eyes of Dr. T.J Eckleburg. As as ad for an optometrist, “the eyes of Doctor T.J Eckleburg are blue and gigantic” and “form a pair of enormous yellow spectacles which pass over a nonexistent nose” (Fitzgerald 27). The color of the billboard contrasts with the gray monochrome surroundings of the Valley of Ashes. Nick first notices the billboard and describes it as an objective observer of the world below. George Wilson, the garage owner and the husband of Tom’s mistress, creates the idea of a watchful God. The billboard represents God staring down and judging America as a moral wasteland. In order to survive, the author conveys the idea that people must do whatever in order to achieve what they desire. However, the eyes of T.J Eckleburg act as an external motivator for the characters to slightly contemplate the morality of their decisions. Since organizations commonly use billboards for advertising purposes, the doctor’s billboard reflects the capitalist control in the character’s lives. The doctor intended the billboard to bring in more patients, meaning he would bring in more revenue. In the novel, even the closest thing to a religious figure still searches for more money. The eyes of Dr. T.J Eckleburg appear again in chapter seven when Tom, Nick, and Jordan stop at Wilson’s garage for gas. Nick interprets the eyes as a signal to stop for gas, but “after a moment.. other eyes were regarding us with peculiar intensity from less than twenty feet away,” hinting that Wilson has found out about his wife’s affair (Fitzgerald 131).
In referring to Gatsby for a large portion of the novel, the green light also has great significance in The Great Gatsby.

However, over the course of the novel, the meaning slowly changes and develops. At the beginning of the novel, the green light at the edge of Daisy’s East Egg dock stands for Gatsby’s hopes and dreams of reconciling his love with Daisy after five years. This positive association connects with the color green because the color green signifies the action of starting a new life. In terms of the dock light, Daisy represents a beacon that Gatsby continuously attempts to reach in the distance. In the middle of the novel, Gatsby’s delusional idea of rekindling his love with Daisy collapses. Gatsby realizes that his love for her can only take form in a questionable affair, which causes the green light to lose its symbolic meaning in the novel. However, the meaning of the green light shifts from Gatsby’s love to a universal meaning at the end of the novel. The green light now stands for the unreachable American dream the people have created. Nick sees life as a battle between past experiences, mistakes, and the sense of reality. In this sense, the green light represents the unrealistic dream to succeed and perform better each day. Each day the people attempt to grab onto this light, but it continues to move farther and farther away from the hands of greedy Americans. Whereas the color green first represented the idea of rebirth, it now represents the greed running throughout the nation. The reader first encounters the green light in chapter one where Nick watches Gatsby reach out “toward the dark water in a curious way” and explains that as “far as I was from him I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward--and distinguished nothing except a green light” (Fitzgerald 25-26). At the end of the novel, Nick no longer resides on Long Island, Gatsby has passed away, and Daisy has not been heard from. Nick thinks back to the green

light at the edge of the dock and remembers that “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us” (Fitzgerald 189).
The Valley of Ashes dividing East and West Egg also plays a symbolic role in The Great Gatsby. Between East and West Egg lies a long road running through an area covered by dust from the nearby factories. The road creates a means of transportation for those looking to head to New York. Since the valley comes across as dirty and run down, the Valley of Ashes stands for the forgotten lower class who allow the wealthy to live the way they do. The poor factory workers that live and work in the valley guarantee wealth to those living in West Egg. In addition, the valley represents a place of hopelessness and loss. When traveling through, Nick states that “we drove on toward death through the cooling twilight” (Fitzgerald 143). Whereas the ashes do not signify a higher authority, the ashes do represent the advance towards death. George Wilson aligns with the Valley of Ashes because not only does he live and work there, he also lacks ambition. In society, the area signifies that getting ahead and moving out of a desolate area stands above all. In terms of the fictional districts, West Egg represents new money and East Egg represents old money.
Fitzgerald uses symbolism to incorporate the lack of morals among American citizens living in the 1920s. The billboard represents the onlooking of a higher being. For Wilson, the eyes of Doctor T.J Eckleburg represent God silently judging America as a moral wasteland. At first, the green light represents Gatsby's hopes and dreams for the future, especially with Daisy. The lack of color presented in the novel signifies the lack of happiness among the people. In the novel, Daisy sacrifices her happiness and only looks for ways to get ahead, especially when it comes to wealth and social status. The sad, desolate road dividing the two wealthy districts of West and East Egg signifies the poor factory workers in New York and how they lack representation. Throughout the novel, Nick portrays the time period he lives in as a decaying society that establishes wealth and greed as the two most important factors to achieve ultimate success and happiness.