What Does Green Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

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People may strive all their lives to achieve a goal that is unrealistic. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, the struggles of his characters show that the lavish lifestyle of America in the 1920’s is ultimately disappointing. Wealth is displayed as both the ultimate ideal for finding happiness and the enabler of corruption in society. The characters will not experience the realization of their far-fetched dreams, but still work to do so because they believe their dreams will eventually be satisfied. Through the symbols of the colors yellow and green, it is established that people will never lead truly fulfilling lives through wealth or the American Dream,but they will still try in vain to make impossible expectations a reality. …show more content…

Gatsby works tirelessly to reunite with his beloved Daisy, ”stretch[ing] out his arms toward the dark water” that separates his and Daisy’s homes, “trembling... [towards] a single green light, minute and far away” at the dock at the end of her house (Fitzgerald 24). Gatsby regards the light with a reverence, the green coming from Daisy’s home and in a way Daisy herself. He stretches himself toward the light, but it is too far to reach, symbolizing how Gatsby can never be with Daisy like he imagines. It also symbolizes how what he wants from Daisy is much more than she can give, he has built her up in his mind so much that the version of her he idolizes is an illusion. Outside Gatsby’s house Nick envisions a time when explorers encountered the “green breast of the new world” when visiting there and how “the trees that had made way for Gatsby’s house... pandered ...to the last and greatest of all human dreams...with something commensurate to capacity for wonder”(Fitzgerald 192). This explains that Gatsby’s intense pursuit of an idealized Daisy destroyed his ability to appease his wishes. It reflects that the ability of humans to appreciate their lives the way they are was lost to the ambitious expectations and immorality of a wealth driven American society. Nick recognizes that the green light to Gatsby stands for “the orgastic future that year by year recedes,” and that even if it “elude[s one]… it’s no matter—tomorrow [they] will run faster, stretch out [their] arms farther,” in an endless attempt to reach their goals (Fitzgerald 193). Gatsby truly wants to turn back the clock to a time when he was happy, but he does not accept that it is impossible. This suggests that people are living in the past and no amount of riches or distractions will give them the feeling they have lost. The color green in the novel shows how true

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