The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald was written in the twentieth century, during the "Jazz Age" of American literature. The author examines a number of morally and socially significant subjects in the novel, such as love, friendship, class differences, and riches. However, the main theme of the book deals with a less emotive and relatively larger subject. Although The Great Gatsby is set in a restricted geographic area near Long Island, New York, and spans only a few months in the summer of 1922, it is a profoundly symbolic reflection on America in the 1920s, particularly on the fall of the American dream in the midst of an unprecedented age of material excess and prosperity. Scott Fitzgerald's text explores the theme of the quest for the …show more content…
Although Jay Gatsby was born into poverty, he was determined to fulfill the American Dream in the only manner he knew how and by using whatever means necessary to gain tremendous wealth. The narrator says, "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"(Fitzgerald 178). Nick returns to the theme of the significance of the past and aspirations for the future, using the green light as a symbol. The green light is a symbol of the idea of achieving the American dream or Gatsby's aspirations and dreams, which include amassing wealth and winning Daisy's affection. The rich symbolism in the form of the green light makes the reader deeply involved. One of the most poignant lines in the whole book is when Nick says, "We beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past," revealing the vanity and total futility, in his opinion, of this "American Dream" (Fitzgerald 180). Here, Nick exposes the challenges associated with pursuing the American dream, which includes societal experiences and past