Prompt 4: Symbolism Often Americans have an American dream they idolize, American fantasies like wealth, social status, and love take the form of a variety of idealist figures like a person, property, title ext… In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gatsby views his American dream in the form of a person, Daisy. Themes such as memory, class, wealth, and deception are prevalent In Gatsby’s pursuit of daisy, with light foreshadowing the impossibility of their love throughout their relationship. Fitzgerald shows the futility of Gatsby’s dream to recapture and recreate the young love he once had with Daisy by having light, an intangible, symbolize his quest. The green light symbolizes Gatby’s dream to recapture daisy and the futility of their relationship. The green light on Daisy’s dock symbolizes Gatsby’s all-consuming obsession with …show more content…
When Gatsby’s house is exuding light, he is in pursuit of attracting Daisy. Nick describes Gatsby’s failed attempts of using light to gain Daisy's attention saying the whole East Egg glowed from Gatsby’s house being lit from tower to cellar which fell unreal on the shrubbery (81). The light fell unreal on the shrubbery because Gatsby’s attempts attracted the people from east egg and beyond, but never successfully attracted the person he wanted to attract, Daisy, furthering the use of symbolizing light to prove Gatsby’s dream was futile. Only when Gatsby’s house no longer exudes light, does he achieve his dream of recapturing Daisy’s attention. Nick describes the loss of light with the tangibility of Daisy by writing “It was when curiosity about Gatsby was at its highest that the lights failed to go on” (113). Gatsby turned off the lights when Daisy started coming over because he no longer had to try to get her attention. The loss vs use of light lets the reader know where gatsby is on his quest to recreate the young love he once had with