By F.Scott Fitzgerald
Blog Post #2
Symbol – The Significance of The Green Light
The symbol I chose to analyze is the green light outside of Daisy’s house. I believe that it is the most important symbol in this book. The green light shows up three times in the book, and each time, it has a different meaning.
The first time it appears is when Nick saw Mr.Gatsby outside of his mansion.
“[H]e stretched out his arms towards the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. 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 darkness(Fitzgerald 22-23).”
Nick does not know the exact the position of the green light, but simply observes that Gatsby stretches his arms to the light and begins to tremble. It shows that the light is meaningful to him and he is eager to reach the light. Therefore, the light can be interpreted to represent Gatsby’s dream, or a goal he has worked for. However, the green light is “minute and far away”, indicating that his dream is faraway and difficult to reach. Likewise, it represents the American Dream to Americans in 1920s; people can see it, but it is very hard to achieve. The author also mentions that the green light is the only object Nick can see, and in this regard, foreshadows Gatsby’s downfall as well. In this way, the green light can be seen to represent Daisy and surrounding darkness that could exist in his life without her.
The green light materializes the second time when Gatsby brings Daisy to his house.
“‘If it wasn’t for the mist we could see your home across the bay,’ said Gatsby. ‘You always have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock.’
Daisy put her arm through his abruptly, but he seemed absorbed in what he has just said. Possibly it had occurred to him that the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever…Now it was again a green light on the dock. His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one (Fitzgerald 99).”
This time, the author points out the position of the green light—at Daisy’s dock. It clearly reveals that the goal Gatsby had chased for years is Daisy. More so, the light is hidden in mist, which represents Gatsby already noticing that Daisy has changed during the years he left. Gatsby, in this instance, realizes that the meaning of the light has “vanished” because Daisy is now with him. Through Gatsby, the author reveals the Americans in 1920s. They chase the American dreams like Gatsby does, and they would find out their dreams are meaningless too.
The third time the green light shows up is at the end of the book.
“I thought of Gatsby’s wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock. He had come a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him…Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us (Fitzgerald 192).”
The author reinforces the significance of the dream of the green light. Gatsby has never stopped chasing his dream, but it is the “dream” which changed. The dream was “behind him”. In 1920s, people are all like Gatsby, looking for the imaginary American dream. People seek for a life of pleasure, and the American dream is just simplified as “money”. So seeking American dream like that is certainly not going to have a good ending. As a spectator, Nick knows that what Gatsby chased is “already behind him”. His time with Daisy is in just the past, and he will not find that in the future. Therefore, the green light is nothing but just a light, and what Gatsby believed in for years is nothingness. That is the greatest tragedy in this book, and a irony to the American society in 1920s.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Penguin Group, 2013. Print.
Bruce's blog 
I strongly agree with your opinions of green light, and how you suggest the Gatsby as the general Americans who were chasing the “American dream”. The green light actually stands for the dream of Gatsby in the book, it is also the source of his power. “He stretched out his arms towards the dark water in a curious way” (Fitzgerald 22-23). I really like the quote, because this action obviously notices readers, he is doing a ceremony and worshiping toward the green light. We can catch a vision of eager from his face although the book doesn’t exactly demonstrate the expression of Gatsby. Gatsby and the Americans spend their entire life to seek the green light, but is the green light only represents the ultimate target of any dreamer? This green light is like the moon, hanging high on the sky also never attain, navigating the lost one among the darkness and lighting the ground where people currently settle down. Everyone includes Gatsby used to immerse in it.
What I personally don’t like, is “what Gatsby believed in for years is nothingness”. Because nothingness is the final consequence he deserves instead of the essence of green light. Gatsby was stimulated by the light then attempt the most ambitious career in his life. Same to all of the contemporaries, it gathers individuals who pursue the same dream together, to advance more and thirst for more. This is the fountain of every advancement.
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Hi Bruce! I like the style of your blog, picture, and font. First, I agree with you that the green light is one of the most important symbols throughout the novel. I definitely approve that green light symbol relates to the American Dream. Your blog is very easy to follow and I like that you use chronological order which is the same as what happened in the novel. In the first paragraph, I think that you can expand more on how the green light represents the American Dream. Does it mean that the American Dream is impossible to achieve? Or you could also talk about how it is achievable but it depends on the person because we all have our own goals in life, or we have our own definition of “American Dream”. For the second one, I found it interesting that we thought of the same meaning of this scenario. I also think that in this scene, Gatsby realizes that his dream Daisy is not the same as the real Daisy. I think that this is like the American Dream. We think of the American Dream as a good opportunity to all citizens around the world but the problem is that we don’t realize that this will be hard to achieve. Lastly, when you say, “ People seek for a life of pleasure, and the American dream is just simplified as ‘money’’ Can you elaborate more about this? How come it is simplified to money? At this point, I think you could talk about Gatsby, who has everything he wanted but still fails to win back Daisy.
I think that in the beginning, the green light represents a plan, desire, and dream. Gatsby dedicates his entire life pursuing Daisy. However, he finds out that his imaginary Daisy is not the same as reality. American Dream is similar to what Gatsby thinks of Daisy. Gatsby’s dedication, loyalty, and faithfulness are insignificant in accomplishing his goal. In conclusion, Gatsby fails to achieve his American Dream which is to rekindle the love in their hearts. I suggest that you should focus more on your spelling, punctuation, and grammar. Before you submit your work, make sure that you read over your blog in order to avoid those mistakes. But overall, I like your blog! Great Work! 🙂
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Hi, thank you for your comment! At the first paragraph, I did say that the green light is small and far means Gatsby’s dream is hard to achieve which represents the American dream is far away from people. I think that kind of answered your question of does it almost impossible to achieve. I think I should focus on the green light, if I talk more about why is American dream is hard to achieve, it would be a digression. For last paragraph, by “American dream is just simplified a s money”, I did not mean Gatsby. I was talking about the American society in 1920s. Everyone were seeking and worshiping money. They want life of pleasure, like Daisy and Tom, which made the meaning of American dream has been changed. So it is not going to end good by chasing this kind of American dream. Gatsby is the only exception because he never give up his goal. But he ended up miserable, that is the author’s irony to the american society.
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