Great Gatsby and the Green Light
In Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby,” the recurring theme throughout is the American Dream during the 1920‘s, both the decline during that time and the continued optimism to find that dream in the face of rampant greed, materialism and cold, selfish emotions. One of the symbols of this dream was the green light at the end of Daisy Buchanan’s dock on the East Egg. The light symbolizes different ideas, depending on who was looking at it. Through Jay Gatsby’s eyes, the light was his dream of Daisy, but by the end through Nick Carraway’s matured eyes, the light is a symbol of what the American Dream meant to the first explorers of this country and the continued optimism in it. For Gatsby, his dream was Daisy. The light was his opportunity toward recreating his past with Daisy. ... She had a chance to be with Gatsby but turned him away because he didn’t have the money to could support her material desires.