In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Nick Carraway moves to West Egg and meets Jay Gatsby, a multi-millionaire with a mysterious past. Through a few extravagant parties hosted by Gatsby himself, Nick learns that Gatsby is in love with his married cousin, Daisy. Nick notices that Jay longingly stares at a green light across the bay at night--and realizes that he is staring directly into Daisy’s dock. The symbolism of the green light reflects Gatsby’s unattainable desires that is focused on the American Dream as well as on the past, therefore creating an unrealistic present.
Every American strives for the American Dream, and Gatsby is no different. From his poor upbringings to his significant financial success, Gatsby is delusional of the …show more content…
In the novel, Gatsby is often shown staring earnestly or even reaching for the light because of his everlasting goal- Daisy. Using this symbol, Gatsby keeps his strength and hope from it by believing that it always shines for his Dream, and that his dream shines brightly and will ultimately, in his eyes, come true. “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us.” (Fitzgerald 180). Gatsby, despite his dream, believed in the Green Light and chased his goal so far that he became withdrawn to the fact that his dream is exactly what it is; a dream. Gatsby used the Green Light as his own symbol of optimism and conceived the goal he had been seeking was conclusively set to be achieved. “The reality, however, is grounded in Gatsby’s experience with the Buchanans and others. It lies in the tragedy if his never knowing that Daisy, the “green light”, the green money, the “voice full of money” that Gatsby pursues is not the ideal that he imagines.” (John. A Pidgeon, 3) Gatsby never succeeds in seeing through the corruption of the Green Light and his inability to grasp the Green Light which holds his ultimate
Every American strives for the American Dream, and Gatsby is no different. From his poor upbringings to his significant financial success, Gatsby is delusional of the …show more content…
In the novel, Gatsby is often shown staring earnestly or even reaching for the light because of his everlasting goal- Daisy. Using this symbol, Gatsby keeps his strength and hope from it by believing that it always shines for his Dream, and that his dream shines brightly and will ultimately, in his eyes, come true. “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us.” (Fitzgerald 180). Gatsby, despite his dream, believed in the Green Light and chased his goal so far that he became withdrawn to the fact that his dream is exactly what it is; a dream. Gatsby used the Green Light as his own symbol of optimism and conceived the goal he had been seeking was conclusively set to be achieved. “The reality, however, is grounded in Gatsby’s experience with the Buchanans and others. It lies in the tragedy if his never knowing that Daisy, the “green light”, the green money, the “voice full of money” that Gatsby pursues is not the ideal that he imagines.” (John. A Pidgeon, 3) Gatsby never succeeds in seeing through the corruption of the Green Light and his inability to grasp the Green Light which holds his ultimate