Examples Of Light In The Great Gatsby

The Ever Dimming Light The last few lines of The Great Gatsby are pessimistic in nature, giving the reader a deflated feeling and showing that the American Dream being pursued in this novel is lost and can not be recovered. In addition it captures the idea of a hopeless romantic who constantly tries and yet fails to achieve a goal. The first half of this quote gives it the possibility of being a optimistic quote. Phrases like “the green light” and “orgastic future” provide a foundation upon which one can show that what is being run after, what is having arms stretched out toward it, is a good thing. The green light is synonymous with Daisy, or at least Gatsby’s ideal of Daisy. This in turn is representative of the American Dream. The American dream is often defined as money or success, but in truth it is whatever a person defines it as. For Gatsby, his dream was to be with Daisy. He spent five years of his life trying to reconnect with her, going to extreme lengths such as buying a house across the bay from her and throwing large parties with the hopes that she might come one day. Interestingly though, Daisy is not just

Over time, this makes the past seem like an undeniably pleasant place. Gatsby’s ideal of Daisy shows this. Nick writes, “There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams…” (95) By driving all his energies after her for so long Gatsby redefined that past which he wished to return to. When he finally had it within his own grasp, he found that things were not quite as he remembered. Although the quote says, “And one fine morning—” it also states just a moment later “borne back ceaselessly”. If there is no ceasing to this, then the fine morning can never be reached. No matter how hard Gatsby works or how much money he earns, five years have passed and there is no way to turn those years back and arrive at the American