The Great Gatsby Quote Analysis

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Scott Fitzgerald once said "America's great promise is that something is going to happen, and after a while you get tired of waiting because nothing happens to people except that they grow old and nothing happens to American art because America is the story of the moon that never rose...". The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald connects to this quote and portrays a strong demand for the American Dream that seems to only cause dissatisfaction. Jay Gatsby has struggled to reach and grasp the dream he wishes for and can't accept what is really going on in his life. His dream contains wealth and high standard living to get with Daisy Buchanan who he claims to be his true love throughout the novel. Every part of Gatsby's dream is symbolized by the green light on the dock of Daisy's home. Fitzgerald uses the green light to show Gatsby's inability to capture his dream that he has prolonged for, even though the light is introduced as something Gatsby and Nick only …show more content…

Gatsby had been reaching for the green light on Daisy's dock and Nick describes it to be "...minute and far away..."(21). This part of the book connects to a later scene where Nick is alone and thinks about all that has been going on with Gatsby's eluding to the green light, while also acknowledging Gatsby's dream knowing that for Gatsby it had " seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him"(180). Gatsby had such a want for his dream to where he never recognized that it had already been passed behind him and unattainable. Gatsby hoped he could portray enough wealth to Daisy so he could amaze her into being with him again, yet that is truly the illusion of the green light which Gatsby can't