Examples Of Green Light In The Great Gatsby

Many problems faced America during the 1920’s. One major issue was the social aspect of things. People who were rich during this time were extremely rich. These people only made up about five percent of America. Forty-two percent of Americans lived under the poverty line.Throughout the novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby faced social problems himself. This problem, along with others, is represented by a green light. The color green represents money or wealth and a light is something only to be looked at and can never be held. In The Great Gatsby, the green light represents hope and opportunity; symbolizing The American Dream. Although The American Dream is not mentioned by name during the book, Fitzgerald uses the green light as a metaphor for it. Everyone has their own American Dream but in general it is about achieving happiness. Fitzgerald also briefly
Involuntarily [Nick] glanced seaward-and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away” (Fitzgerald 26). A light bulb illuminates its surroundings. The green light on Daisy’s dock is doing just that. The real world use of a light on a dock is to guide boats toward it so they don’t crash into shore. In The Great Gatsby, Gatsby is a boat and Daisy is the light guiding him towards her. The distance between Gatsby and the green light represents the past. Gatsby is longing to reach the light, to reach Daisy, but he is so stuck in the past that he will never reach it. In addition, a light is not something that can be physically held; it is only there for looks. Even if Gatsby somehow reached the green light he could never get a grasp on it. Fitzgerald uses the green light to symbolise Daisy and to explain to the reader that even if Gatsby got close enough to Daisy that he could touch her, she will always slip right through his fingers because she is represented as a mere light on her