Great Gatsby Light
Various literary scholars have explored the role of light in The Great Gatsby. ... ] from light into darkness" (128), and Gatsby himself has been compared to both Apollo (Long 160-61) and Icarus (Wilson 488), mythic figures associated with light and the sun. ... Fitzgerald correlates Daisy with the sun, and although Gatsby vainly attempts to attract her through a dazzling display of artificial light, his eventual failure to hold her love is as inevitable as the waning of sunlight as summer heads toward fall. Almost as soon as we meet Daisy, Fitzgerald associates her affections for Gatsby with sunlight. In the first chapter, Daisy hears Gatsbys name mentioned--apparently the first time she has heard it in years-by Jordan Baker, in a brief snippet which establishes that Gatsby lives nearby. ... " She then goes on talking about the summer solstice, the day of maximum sunlight, at the same time looking at the others "radiantly" (16)--that is, looking as if she herself emits light. And although Gatsby is not mentioned during the rest of the dinner party, the mention of his name has so moved Daisy that she goes into Jordans bedroom later that night, wakes her, and asks her about him (82). Evidently, Daisys radiance on the porch results from her recalling past feelings for Gatsby and realizing that he once again lives close by. At the end of the first chapter, Fitzgerald strengthens the association of light with Daisy as Gatsbys potential lover. At this point we get our first glimpse of Gatsby himself: the famous image in which he stands alone in the darkness, reaching longingly toward a green light that he associates with Daisy (25).