The Great Gatsby

773 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Relationships on the great gatsby

Everyone has a dream of what they want their future to entitle, one thing that would make them happy that they do not currently have. In the novel The Great Gatsby, Scott Fitzgerald illustrates Gatsby, a wealthy man, as a character whose only dream is to be reunited with the love of his life. Gatsby is controlled, and later destroyed, by a green light that symbolizes his yearning for something he can no longer have.
At the beginning, the green light illustrates the great distance between Gatsby and Daisy, and also his hope to be with her again. Nick spotted Gatsby as, “He stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward – and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far way, that might have been the end of a dock” (21). In this quote, Gatsby is actually physically reaching his arms across the bay, towards Daisy, at the green light and shows the symbolism between the green light and Daisy for the first time. The color green is often associated with envy showing Gatsby’s lust and envy to relive the past and be with her once again. Later on in the novel, we find out that "Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay" (149). This quote shows that the only reason Gatsby purchased that house was to be able to see Daisy and in hope for them to be together once again. Gatsby threw extravagant parties only inspite of his optimism that Daisy would one day wonder in and they would be reunited once again. Every decision and move that Gatsbys makes is for a reason; everything that Gatsby does is to regain his relationship with Daisy.
In the middle of the novel, the green light symbolized how...

... middle of paper ...

...t our arms farther…. And one fine morning —” (180). Gatsby chased illusions and ignored reality, leading to the downfall of all he ever wanted, Daisy’s love. Gatsby’s optimism that he could overpower time and re-create the past in the present was destroyed by Daisy’s rejection of him due to his suspicious past. Gatsby was not left with the love of his live, nor the green light to imagine her, but rather Gatsby was left with nothing. Gatsby was left with death.
The symbolism of the green light may change over time, but always has some time towards the love of Gatsby’s life—Daisy. This is made apparent throughout the novel. It starts off with Gatsby reminiscing on the past, reaching for Daisy. Then the space between them vanishes and they’re reunited once again. Lastly, not only does Gatsby not have the green light to reminisce Daisy, but he is also left shot dead.mgc

Show More
Related

  • What Does The Color Green Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

    1216 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us”(Fitzgerald 171). Whenever Gatsby looks at Daisy’s green light, he thinks of a bright future with his love of his life. The color green symbolizes Gatsby’s desire for a future with Daisy. Green also symbolizes Gatsby’s desire for great wealth. Nick describes Gatsby’s car as a “green leather conservatory” because the interior is green (Fitzgerald 64).

    Read More

  • The American Dream In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

    1522 Words  | 4 Pages

    The green light represents Gatsby’s own dream throughout the novel; to be with Daisy, but at this moment when he’s reaching for his dream he is depicting the drive and struggle within anyone who has attempted to achieve the American dream. The metaphorical and in this instant literal reaching for the dream that is so close you could nearly touch it if you reached far enough. Fitzgerald uses Gatsby’s reaching for the green light to symbolize the need to obtain each person’s own dream, the dream that is said to be easily obtained with hard work and determination. Later Nick finds himself at a party at Gatsby’s, one that only he has been invited to despite the hundreds of guests, he is taken aback by the fact that Gatsby is nowhere to be found. One day Nick and Gatsby are invited to lunch with Daisy and Tom and the group end up going to the city to escape the bore of the incredible August heat.

    Read More

  • The Objectification of the American Dream in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

    843 Words  | 2 Pages

    The American Dream is a major in American Literature. According to James Truslow Adams, in his book Epic of America, this dream promises a brighter and more successful future, coupled with a vision based on everybody being equal irrespective of their gender, caste and race. It emphasizes that everyone is innately capable of achieving his or her dreams with hard work. In F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby, the American Dream is portrayed by Jay Gatsby's vision of attaining the social status he desires. Gatsby can achieve his dream once he marries Daisy Buchannan, a young woman he met in Louisville, where he falls in love with the opulence that surrounds her. Throughout the book, the motifs of the green light and fake facade are used to signify Gatsby's hope and never ending lust for status respectively. Gatsby's obsession with restructuring his past leads to his failure. Fitzgerald uses these motifs of the green light, fake facade and past to showcase Gatsby's objectification of his American Dream.

    Read More

  • the great gatsby

    708 Words  | 2 Pages

    that he always observed Daisy from his house but all that he could see was the green light. He could only hope and dream about having Daisy by his side. This is before Gatsby finally met Daisy. When, at last, he met Daisy in Nick’s house, it seems that “the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever” (Fitzgerald 90). He had Daisy next by his side therefore “his count of enchanted objects had diminished by one.” (Fitzgerald 90). Not only does the green light represent Gatsby...

    Read More

  • Essay On The Great Gatsby

    733 Words  | 2 Pages

    one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest

    Read More

  • The Great Gatsby Response

    685 Words  | 2 Pages

    There is no scarcity of opportunity to make a living at what you love; there’s only scarcity of resolve to make it happen. ~Wayne Dyer

    Read More

  • The Great Gatsby

    562 Words  | 2 Pages

    Jay Gatsby is a mysterious businessman from the nineteen twenties that is an ideal example of the American Dream. He falls in love with a young and vibrant woman by the name of Daisy Buchannan. Their admiration for each other enforces a luminous spark of determination upon themselves. This subsidizes their relationship under struggling circumstances, and changed their lives for the better. Daisy and Gatsby are the only two that truly prospered from their “American Dream” in this novel.

    Read More

  • Symbolism in The Great Gatsby

    737 Words  | 2 Pages

    The green light at the end of the dock has symbolized a hope that Gatsby had. The green light was a light at the end of Daisy’s dock. In the beginning of the book, Gatsby was shown staring at the light with a longing expression. It shows that the green light is a symbol of Gatsby’s hope that Daisy is still available. The green li...

    Read More

  • The Great Gatsby

    526 Words  | 2 Pages

    The second character Fitzgerald analyzes is Daisy Buchanan. Daisy is married to Tom Buchanan. Daisy is the definition of a dream girl, she is smart, gorgeous, and just an ideal woman to be around, and the relationship between her and Tom is quite odd (Baker). Daisy and Tom move to the fashionable East Egg from Chigaco (11). Daisy has everything a woman could wish for, a wealthy husband and an immaculate house. Daisy does not know that Tom is having an affair with Myrtle Wilson. Nick Carraway plays a major role in Daisy’s love life in The Great Gatsby. Nick is Daisy’s second cousin and he knew Tom from college (11). Daisy invites Nick over for dinner one evening and that is how she relearns about Jay Gatsby (11-17). Daisy met Gatsby at a dance in Louisville. They used to be madly in love with one another when he was in the army (). They had plans of always being together and being married in Louisville at Daisy’s home (118). Later in the story, Daisy was invited to go have tea at Nick’s house, but what she did not know is that it was all Gatsby’s idea to get them to rekindle their rel...

    Read More

  • The Great Gatsby

    903 Words  | 2 Pages

    In life, we ask ourselves the question what we are? In addition, we also ask ourselves how our perspectives allow us to see this world? These questions are an opening idea’s, which requires the person answering it, to be fully aware of his or her life, and then have the ability to judge it without any personal bias. This is why, in the book that was and is in a sense is still talked about in class, The Great Gatsby, which is a book that follows a plethora of charters all being narrated by, Nick Caraway, a character of the book The Great Gatsby. Nick Caraway is the character in the book which judges and describes his and other character’s actions and virtues. Now we speak of a character whose name is Jay Gatsby or other whys known as James Gatz, which is one of the characters that Mr. Caraway, seems to be infatuated with from the start of the book. This character Jay Gatsby develops a perspective, which in his view seems to justify his actions by the way that he saw the world that he was living in. In this essay, I will explain why the ambitions of a person, can lead them to do things that are beyond there normal character.

    Read More

  • The Great Gatsby

    661 Words  | 2 Pages

    Symbolism is the use of giving objects a representative meaning or to represent something other than what it truly is. In F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby we meet Nick Carroway, the novel's narrator. The novel describes the life of Jay Gatsby when Nick meets him. Daisy, Nick's cousin, is married to Tom Buchanan but is the love interest of Gatsby. Tom, though he claims to love his wife, has a mistress Myrtle. Myrtle and her Husband George Wilson live in the valley of ashes. The novel analyzes the life of Americans, Jay Gatsby in particular, in the 1920's. Many of the items in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby represent something other than what it is.

    Read More

  • Free Essays - The Mirage in The Great Gatsby

    906 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a book of love and tragedy that all leads back to dreams and ideas, but never reality. Gatsby is a man of great wealth and is truly rich. Or is he? The Great Gatsby has many disguises that play a major role in several characters' lives, but mostly Gatsby's'. Gatsby believes that he will be very successful and get what he wants, including Daisy, if he is rich. He succeeded in getting money and living a life of luxury, but is never truly rich. He is always so set on the future and what things could be if this, or if that happens, that he never lives in the present. Because Gatsby never lives in the present, he ends up doing that permanently, and by the end of the book, he lives no more. When Gatsby was alive, he seemed never to be happy, because he was never satisfied with himself; Gatsby tried to change himself. He always tried to reach for his vision, which is represented by the green light, but never seemed to achieve it because he didn't ever live in the life he had; Gatsby lived in the life he wanted. F. Scott Fitzgerald uses green light to represent the unreachable dream in the future that is always being sought after and wanted by Gatsby, but never obtained.

    Read More

  • The Great Gatsby

    1937 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a known piece of classic literature. It is often referred to as a “Great American Novel” by many people. And following closely in its path, only the way to becoming a classic, is the novel Atonement, by Ian McEwan. To become a real classic piece of literature there are some criteria a novel must meet. A novel must use effective language. It must also have a universal appeal. Finally a classic novel must be timeless. These are all criteria that I will use to argue why the novel Atonement, by McEwan, is a classic just like The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald.

    Read More

  • The Great Gatsby

    1119 Words  | 3 Pages

    room, the one in which the most time was to be spent, was the least

    Read More

  • The Great Gatsby

    413 Words  | 1 Pages

    In all human life relationships are very important, and this is shown in many different aspects of human life . Relationships are so significant that Authors often use them as the revolving point of their stories. Such as in The Great Gatsby the author F. Scott Fitzgerald uses the different relationships as the revolving point in his story. Fitzgerald shows how the relationships between the couples in The Great Gatsby are similar in many different ways. The couples in The Great Gatsby are Gatsby and Daisy, Tom and Myrtle, and Myrtle and her husband. Each couple in this play has a dishonest relationship in which one or both are Unfaithful to their significant other.

    Read More

More about The Great Gatsby

Open Document