Significance Of The Green Light In The Great Gatsby

Desire is correlated with the green light Gatsby sees at the end of Daisy’s dock. Fitzgerald shows Gatsby engaging with Daisy’s light as if it was a form of mysticism in the way that he completely believes that he is able to succeed in his dream. The light however is described to be minute and intangible demonstrating the unattainability of his own dreams “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” (Fitzgerald 21). . Gatsby’s pursuit of Daisy is revealed by Fitzgerald to be a ruse and is an allegory for an era hellbent on achieving aspirations and fortune. The disillusionment of the symbol of the green light is further cemented when Gatsby

Possibly it had occurred to him that the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever. Compared to the great distance that had separated him from Daisy it had seemed very near to her, almost touching her. It had seemed as close as a star to the moon. Now it was again a green light on a dock. His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one. (5.117-118). Gatsby realizes that Daisy and the green light are no longer illusive losing his sense of discovery towards his goals. Finally the green light takes a shift in symbolic meaning near the end where Nick transitions it from being a personal symbol of Gatsby’ to the American dream Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter--tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . . And one fine morning----(Fitzgerald 152). This change correlates with society in the 20s where the dreams and hopes of the people were destined to inevitably collapse in on

A prime example of this is during the scene when Gatsby showcases his variety of shirts to Daisy “Gatsby brought more and the soft rich heap mounted higher -- shirts with stripes and scrolls and plaids in coral and apple-green and lavender and faint orange” (Fitzgerald 92). Green in this situation is a symbol of wealth highlighting the important aspect of Daisy and Gatsby’s circumstances. For Gatsby he chose to hide under the facade of being rich in order to garner Daisy’s favour, and Daisy has been raised with values based on wealth. Both of these characters place a high emphasis on materialism, and that leaves little to no emotional connection able to be made between the two. This is evident when Daisy chooses her husband Tom over Gatsby at the end. Another symbol of materialism exists in Gatsby’s car “It was a rich cream color, bright with nickel….. Sitting down many layers of glass in a sort of green leather conservatory, we started to town (Fitzgerald 64). Besides being another display of Gatsby’s reflection through his own possessions it resembles his own character. The nickel exterior acts as his mask as it gaudily conveys his wealth, and the inner green leather conservatory shows his yearning to achieve his “American Dream” through Daisy. Fitzgerald thinks of materialism as a futile effort in order to achieve real happiness and connection through