What goes up, must always come down. Jay Gatsby learns this lesson the hard way. The The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, represents the 1920s stock market through the green light’s symbolism, the condition of Gatsby’s house, and the life of Jay Gatsby/James Gatz. The book traces the steady climb to an ultimate peak, then dramatic plummet of the stock market during that time period.
Born into a poverty stricken family, Jay Gatsby works hard to swiftly increase his standard of living. Before transforming into Jay Gatsby, James Gatz lives a life of scarcity and dreams of becoming affluent, “His parents were...unsuccessful farm people...[he] had never really accepted them as his parents,” (Fitzgerald 96). Just as the stock market began low …show more content…
Sitting outside one evening, Nick observes Gatsby for the first time. Nick attempts to interpret Gatsby’s peculiar actions, “he stretched out his arms toward the dark water...I glanced seaward - and distinguished nothing except a single green light,” (Fitzgerald 21). In this moment, Nick has not been acquainted with Gatsby, nor is he aware of Gatsby and Daisy’s past relationship. The green light at the end of daisy’s dock singlehandedly connects Gatsby to Daisy. The longer that he lives there - across the bay from Daisy - the more importance Gatsby places upon that single green light. In the same way that the stock market rises over time, the significance of the green light increases over time. After Gatsby and Daisy reunite, there is a moment where - as Nick speculates - Gatsby feels the importance of the green light dissipate, “Possibly it had occurred to him that the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever,” (Fitzgerald 93). All the importance that Gatsby had built up about that light comes crashing down, leaving him feeling as though he had lost something precious. In a like manner, the prices of stocks built up higher than they had ever before, then suddenly, came tumbling down. People did not know what to do because they lost all of their money rapidly. Likewise, the enchantment of one object Gatsby
Born into a poverty stricken family, Jay Gatsby works hard to swiftly increase his standard of living. Before transforming into Jay Gatsby, James Gatz lives a life of scarcity and dreams of becoming affluent, “His parents were...unsuccessful farm people...[he] had never really accepted them as his parents,” (Fitzgerald 96). Just as the stock market began low …show more content…
Sitting outside one evening, Nick observes Gatsby for the first time. Nick attempts to interpret Gatsby’s peculiar actions, “he stretched out his arms toward the dark water...I glanced seaward - and distinguished nothing except a single green light,” (Fitzgerald 21). In this moment, Nick has not been acquainted with Gatsby, nor is he aware of Gatsby and Daisy’s past relationship. The green light at the end of daisy’s dock singlehandedly connects Gatsby to Daisy. The longer that he lives there - across the bay from Daisy - the more importance Gatsby places upon that single green light. In the same way that the stock market rises over time, the significance of the green light increases over time. After Gatsby and Daisy reunite, there is a moment where - as Nick speculates - Gatsby feels the importance of the green light dissipate, “Possibly it had occurred to him that the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever,” (Fitzgerald 93). All the importance that Gatsby had built up about that light comes crashing down, leaving him feeling as though he had lost something precious. In a like manner, the prices of stocks built up higher than they had ever before, then suddenly, came tumbling down. People did not know what to do because they lost all of their money rapidly. Likewise, the enchantment of one object Gatsby