Essay On The Green Light In The Great Gatsby

The green light is one of the most symbolic aspects of the novel The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It is far beyond simply a green light, there is an entire story behind it. In both the novel and the film of The Great Gatsby the green light can be interpreted quite distinctly. Why was the light green, and what was it? Is an extensive and uneasy question to answer. There is so much symbolism behind the simplicity of the green light. The green light can be interpreted in several ways, although the ultimate one would be that the green light symbolized a major goal of Gatsby. He tries to reach out to it but it always too far to reach, as are his goals. The color green was an interesting choice made by the author of the novel, as it means wealth and jealousy; two of which Gatsby had plenty of. In both the novel and the film the end goal of using

In the novel the green light is seen as less than what it is in the film as there are no visuals and the author relies strictly on imagery through the writing to thoroughly demonstrate the significance behind the green light. The light was placed at the end of Daisy’s dock purposely to show the readers that the light could be related back towards Daisy. The green light represented Gatsby’s dreams, the dream of having Daisy to himself, the dream of a better life than what he had; all which was simply unattainable for him to reach. As it is shown in the novel Gatsby is never able to reach the green light as it is far to distant from his reach. In the following quote it is clear in the novel that Gatsby is not able to reach out to the green light ; ‘’...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.