What Does The Green Light Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

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In the Novel The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, there are numerous symbols throughout the story. The color Green is one of the most significant colors in the book and corresponds to the green light at the end of Daisy's dock which happens to be right across the water from Gatsby's mansion. Green symbolizes Gatsby's hopes and dreams for his future with Daisy and Daisy’s dream to be with Gatsby. The first time Nick Carraway has ever seen Gatsby was at the end of chapter one, coincidentally it’s when Gatsby is stretching “his arms toward the dark water” and all that was there was “a single green light” (Fitzgerald, 24). At this point, it is not clear to the reader where and why Gatsby is stretching his arms out and what's significant about the green light. …show more content…

Gatsby had been showing Daisy and Nick around his beautiful and ostentatious mansion and when they get to Gatsby's closet Gatsby starts throwing and showing all of his beautiful luxurious shirts and clothing and suddenly “Daisy bent her head into the shirts and began to cry stormily.” Right after this scene when Daisy is crying “stormily”, it says that “outside Gatsby’s window it began to rain” and then Gatsby says “If it wasn't for the mist we could see your home across the bay, You always have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock” (Fitzgerald, 99). So at this point, the reader could already get a hint of what the green light