How Do the Details of the Bay Play a Large Role in the Phases of Jay and Daisy’s Relationship?
In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald uses details of water and the bay to be focal points in the rise, climax, and fall of Jay and Daisy’s relationship. However, the story begins with the narrator foreshadowing a depiction of the protagonist Jay Gatsby and in the very beginning of the book, Nick Caraway first speaks of Gatsby and mentions a wake of water, saying that “Gatsby turned out all right at the end; it is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and short-winded elations of men.” The depressing tone of this depiction, expressed through …show more content…
Fitzgerald uses Nick Caraway’s first encounter with Jay Gatsby to provide knowledge on how profoundly Gatsby loves the woman who lives across the bay from him, and how deeply Gatsby wishes to have her. These emotions are expressed when
“he [Gatsby] 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 away, that might have been the end of a dock.” In this early scene of Nick meeting Gatsby, Fitzgerald informs that the bay acts as a separation, keeping Gatsby’s house from Daisy. The narrator provides an image of Gatsby stretching out his arms in extension towards his dream, Daisy. Despite the water serving as an obstacle, Gatsby still desires to possess Daisy in his arms. Gatsby is aware of where to extend his arm, due to the bright green light noticeable on Daisy’s dock. In this initial scene, Fitzgerald draws attention to the important role that the dream of being with Daisy plays in mind of Jay Gatsby. Physically, the bay keeps the two characters apart but this does not prevent Gatsby from desperately reaching out towards the woman, whose placement is made clear by the green …show more content…
Fitzgerald informs that due to the bay’s mist, Daisy’s house is not visible. A detail that is significant because it means that once being reunited with Gatsby, Daisy can no longer view her house with her husband and child inside, she is only capable of seeing Jay Gatsby. In the beginning of the novel, when Gatsby stretched out his arm towards the other side of the bay, he was reaching for his dream. Now with Daisy finally near him; his desire is fulfilled as their two arms intertwine. It was previously acknowledged that Daisy is “distinguished nothing except a single green light,” and once the climax of the relationship is reached, since Gatsby’s has succeeded his mission of physically being with Daisy; “the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever.” Fitzgerald creates this correlation to inform that the green light is no longer necessary to Gatsby since he no longer needs it to find Daisy, she is right beside him. Since the bay, a distance that was previously described as “minute and far away,” in the scene where Gatsby is on the dock, is no longer an obstacle, a climax is reached, since Gatsby and Daisy are finally
In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald uses details of water and the bay to be focal points in the rise, climax, and fall of Jay and Daisy’s relationship. However, the story begins with the narrator foreshadowing a depiction of the protagonist Jay Gatsby and in the very beginning of the book, Nick Caraway first speaks of Gatsby and mentions a wake of water, saying that “Gatsby turned out all right at the end; it is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and short-winded elations of men.” The depressing tone of this depiction, expressed through …show more content…
Fitzgerald uses Nick Caraway’s first encounter with Jay Gatsby to provide knowledge on how profoundly Gatsby loves the woman who lives across the bay from him, and how deeply Gatsby wishes to have her. These emotions are expressed when
“he [Gatsby] 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 away, that might have been the end of a dock.” In this early scene of Nick meeting Gatsby, Fitzgerald informs that the bay acts as a separation, keeping Gatsby’s house from Daisy. The narrator provides an image of Gatsby stretching out his arms in extension towards his dream, Daisy. Despite the water serving as an obstacle, Gatsby still desires to possess Daisy in his arms. Gatsby is aware of where to extend his arm, due to the bright green light noticeable on Daisy’s dock. In this initial scene, Fitzgerald draws attention to the important role that the dream of being with Daisy plays in mind of Jay Gatsby. Physically, the bay keeps the two characters apart but this does not prevent Gatsby from desperately reaching out towards the woman, whose placement is made clear by the green …show more content…
Fitzgerald informs that due to the bay’s mist, Daisy’s house is not visible. A detail that is significant because it means that once being reunited with Gatsby, Daisy can no longer view her house with her husband and child inside, she is only capable of seeing Jay Gatsby. In the beginning of the novel, when Gatsby stretched out his arm towards the other side of the bay, he was reaching for his dream. Now with Daisy finally near him; his desire is fulfilled as their two arms intertwine. It was previously acknowledged that Daisy is “distinguished nothing except a single green light,” and once the climax of the relationship is reached, since Gatsby’s has succeeded his mission of physically being with Daisy; “the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever.” Fitzgerald creates this correlation to inform that the green light is no longer necessary to Gatsby since he no longer needs it to find Daisy, she is right beside him. Since the bay, a distance that was previously described as “minute and far away,” in the scene where Gatsby is on the dock, is no longer an obstacle, a climax is reached, since Gatsby and Daisy are finally