What Does The Green Light Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

Authors use symbolism in their stories in order to make a certain theme prominent to the reader. The use of symbolism in a story allows the reader to make assumptions about what the symbols mean, which in turn, makes the read a more interesting experience. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, was an instant success, due to the mass amount of symbolism he used. This makes the reader engage in the story more than ever before. Without the symbolism he used, the theme of the crashing American Dream would not have seemed so interesting, and the book never would have taken off, because it would have been just like every other book. The main symbols are the green light, Gatsby’s shirts, and the Valley of Ashes.

When the reader gets their first glimpse of Gatsby, he had his arms outstretched toward “a single green …show more content…
The reader does not yet know where this green light is coming from, but soon finds out, that the green light that he wants so badly is on the dock of Daisy Buchanan. Earlier in Gatsby’s life, he knew Daisy very well, and wanted to be with her forever. The problem was, that he went away to fight in the war. When he arrived home, Daisy was already married to a very wealthy man by the name of Tom Buchanan. Gatsby came up with the plan, that the only way to win Daisy back from Tom was to become wealthy as well. He soon found a way to make all the money he needed, and purchased the house directly across from the house with the green light. The green light becomes a symbol of Daisy throughout the novel. Gatsby ends up being so intrigued by the green light, that it is was almost more important to him than Daisy. She becomes a dream that Gatsby has in the green light itself. He finally realizes this when he is with Daisy at his house, he is staring at