Seasons In The Great Gatsby

Buddha once said, “Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.” In others words, if one spends too much time thinking about what happened or will happen, good or bad, they will miss out on what the present holds out for them. So don’t focus on changing the past but instead live in the present to create the future. This quote directly relates to Gatsby’s mindset of constantly trying to recreate his past. F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author of The Great Gatsby, establishes in his novel, the notion of not being able to repeat the past through means of symbols of the passage of time; Symbols such as seasons, the green light, and Nick’s clock.

At the beginning of The Great Gatsby, Gatsby stares

Throughout the novel Fitzgerald has used seasons as a tool to demonstration the mood of the novel. The story begins in late spring/early summer. The season is typically symbolic of renewal or rebirth, when nature seems to come to life. “After a half an hour, the sun shone again…’what do you think of that? It stopped raining.’ ’I’m glad Jay.’ Her throat full of joy” (Fitzgerald, 89). This season is reflective of the hope Gatsby has for the future in his attempt to recreate the past and develop a relationship with Daisy. Summer is when the earth is in full bloom and nature comes to

Seasons of the year, the green light, and Nicks clock are all instruments that denote Gatsby’s refusal to accept that he cannot change the past. His focus on the past represents everything Buddha warned of. The present bears a new start and opportunity to change the future. Gatsby could be with Daisy if he had wanted. Gatsby had her, but he didn’t want to be with present Daisy; he wanted to be with the Daisy he knew five years before and as a result, lost