The Great Gatsby The Green Light
The Great Gatsby - The Green LightThe green light is the vision of his goal: to have Daisy. In a world where Gatsby
could essentially obtain anything with his money, Daisy presented a challenge to him,
because even she could not be purchased. But when, at last, Gatsby believes that Daisy is
his, he no longer idolizes her. Now that he realizes he has her, she is no longer desirable.
We come to this presumption when Gatsby states, ” Compared to the great distance that
had separated him from Daisy (the green light) had seemed very near to her, almost
touching her. It had seemed as close as a star to the moon. Now it was again a green
light on a dock. His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one.” Therefore the
green light has no more symbolic meaning to him, and neither does Daisy.
I don’t believe that in our world today that we have an object that universally
symbolizes the same meaning as the green light did. The green light was physically close
to him but he thought he could never actually have it, “it” meaning Daisy. Money could
be viewed in the same sense. In our society money is everywhere, but for most of us it is
difficult to acquire all that is wanted. It is like the saying, “So close but yet so far away.”
There is money everywhere we go, but it’s hard to get it. We can’t just rob a bank, we
have to earn our own assets. And in the same context, Gatsby could not go kidnap Daisy,
he had to woo her and win her love.
Color symbolism is really popular in novels written during the 1920’s. One such example is Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby. There is much color symbolism in this novel, but there are two main colors that stand out more than the others. The colors green and white influence the story greatly. Green shows many thoughts, ideas, attitudes, and choices that Gatsby has throughout the story. White represents the stereotypical façade that every character is hiding behind.
The color green, as it is used in the novel, symbolizes different choices the character, Gatsby, can make during his life. The green element in this novel is taken from the green light at the end of the dock near Daisy’s house. The color itself represents serenity, as in everything is perfect. This warns Gatsby that he should not pursue his dream for getting Daisy back, because his chance has passed and everything is as it should be. This is shown with Nick’s insight, “…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… (Pg.189)”
Another symbolization of the color green, which contradicts the first, is the meaning “go.” As in a traffic light signal, most people associate green with the word and action “go.” This can be interpreted as meaning Gatsby should go for his dream without hesitation....
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