Hope is presented through the form of imagery and symbolism throughout the text which is quickly introduced at the end of Chapter 1 where Nick Carraway catches Jay Gatsby staring out towards East Egg, just were Daisy and tom lived, “I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntary I glanced seaward - and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock”. (pg. 25). The Green Light in the novel represents Gatsby’s dreams and aspirations in hope of his future, in fact, it is Daisy, in which it is so close yet so far to achieve.
Gatsby buys an enormous mansion just across the bay from Daisy 's mansion. Every night he would stand on the bay and stare at a green light coming from Daisy 's porch. The light for him represented not only a connection to Daisy, but also represents money. Once he reconnected with her, that light, which had meant so much for him, had lost all its significance. As Fitzgerald writes, “ Possibly it had occurred to him that the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever.”(Fitzgerald 93).
F. Scott Fitzgerald uses symbolism in The Great Gatsby to contrast the difference of being poor and wealthy. Fitzgerald wants to portray the idea that Gatsby is rich to show how he has acquired a fortune to sweep Daisy off of her feet. Fitzgerald uses a plethora of objects in The Great Gatsby to show wealth. Another main point of interest to Fitzgerald is the American dream, so he uses places and things to display what a typical 1920’s American dream would look like. Cars, parties, large houses, and pools are all typical things that explained what a typical American dreamed of having in the early 20th century.
There are no limits to what someone 's dream could be, and that is the beauty of the American dream. The American dream can be represented by chance/opportunity, wealth/prosperity, and the pursuit of a better life. The American dream is driven by the desire to prosperous and wealthy. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, He writes about a man filled with ideas and dreams that reach for the stars. Wealth and Prosperity can make a man strive to achieve, such as when Nick first makes it to New York and sees all the sights and realizes what he is able to do,”There was too much to read, for one thing, and so much fine wealth to be pulled down out of the young breath giving air”.
An example of how a character will try to achieve a goal with the use of colors is when gatsby is at the end of his dock and he is reaching out for a green light, Nick himself says “He stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way and far as i was from him i could’ve swore he was reaching for a green light”(p. 21). In a more clear explanation Gatsby is reaching for a green light which represents Daisy, and his goal is to conquer her but there are many obstacles in the way,the dark water represents the obstacles that are in his way. Another example of the significance of the green light is when Daisy is at Gatsby’s house and Gatsby himself exclaims “if it wasn 't for the mist we could see you green light at the end of your dock that burns all night”(p.121-122).In a brief explanation Gatsby is used to seeing daisy’s house at the end of the dock but when Daisy is with him it disappears into the mist this shows us that the goal that he was going for is all covered by the mist this shows us that he has finally conquered her. The way F.Scott Fitzgerald uses the green light shows what the green light is and how it 's very important to
Jay Gatsby changed the most as a character because He started the novel as a rich and extravagant man with a mysterious background, but it was revealed that he didn 't start his life this way, James Gatz was a seventeen-year-old fisherman on Lake Superior who had big dreams that he thought he never could make a reality. But he adopted a persona that modelled the ideal person through the eyes of a seventeen-year-old, and met his good companion and friend Mr. Dan Cody. But towards the end of the book the window that is Jay Gatsby is shattered when Gatsby tries to reveal his love for Daisy to Tom, but Tom perseveres, and reveals that he did some research into Gatsby and exposed his shady dealings. This shattered the fragile persona of Jay Gatsby which reduced him, in essence to a very rich James Gatz. Gatsby’s death, even changed his character as his father made an appearance and led him to explain how highly he regarded his son.
The Great Gatsby is a story about the American dream and the people that lived it and those who pursued it. The story consists of the very rich, Tom and Daisy Buchannan, who inherited their wealth and lived in east egg. In the west egg lived, Mr. Gatsby, who it was rumored to have made his money in bootlegging. Also in west egg there was our narrator, Nick Carraway, who moved from the Middle West to learn the bond business. This was very popular at the time, early 1920’s, when the American dream of becoming rich seemed more attainable then it ever had before.
Similarly, the green face could represent greed or maybe envy. James Gatz, other known as Jay Gatsby, in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, encounters many forms of color symbolism through his summer of trying to achieve his dream of marrying the girl of his dreams, Daisy Buchanan. Color symbolism plays an important role throughout the novel. The color gold usually represents wealth and money and in this novel there is no exception. The first example of when the color gold is used in this novel is when Nick, Gatsby’s neighbor, States, “Jordan’s slender golden arm resting in mine” (Fitzgerald 43).
The green light symbolizes Gatsby’s dreams, hopes, and desires to reunite with Daisy. The reader gets introduced to the green light when Nick, the narrator says, “he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. 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. When I looked once more for Gatsby he had vanished, and I was alone again in the unquiet darkness”(19). Jay Gatsby’s life was a clear representation of the American dream.
The Great Gatsby Published in 1926, “The Great Gatsby” written by Francis Scott Fitzgerald is novel that clearly portrays a young millionaire, Jay Gatsby’s destruction caused by unattainable love towards Daisy. This novel contains diverse themes, and two of the main themes are the futile of wealth and the American dream that causes the self-destruction of Gatsby. “The Great Gatsby” presents variety of symbolism through critically analyzing character’s actions and aspects of background. First of all, the green light is the most prominent factor that symbolizes the main protago- nist’s unattainable love towards his lover. As Gatsby ceaselessly ran into the past, the future fade away from him.