Great Gatsby

Kristina Ehmen

Mr. Gould

English III

15 May 2014

Symbolism

In literature, symbols are used to add deeper meaning to the story or hint at an emotion or attitude towards something without directly stating it. Many great novels include symbolism to enhance a scene or to foreshadow a significant event. In the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald uses many symbols throughout the novel to highlight key ideas; in which, some are more obvious than others. Fitzgerald also uses symbolism to demonstrate man’s struggle in the search to fulfill dreams and to connect the idea of immorality and greed within the characters.

Primarily, in The Great Gatsby, the green light is a symbol within the novel because it’s an aspect of the book that ends the first chapter without giving a full explanation about what exactly it is and leaving the reader confused. The green light symbolizes Gatsby’s hopes and dreams to get Daisy back. When Nick arrives home from the Buchanan’s, he sees Gatsby at the end of the dock, reaching out. Nick narrates:

-he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward-and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far way, 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 unquiet darkness. (21)

This reveals that as Gatsby was reaching out towards the water, Nick knew something was up and that he needed to find out exactly what that green light was and why Gatsby seemed so interested into it. The green light was referenced again when Nick visited Gatsby’s house for the last time just before he left to go back to West Egg. Nick says

And as I sat there brooding on the old, unknown world, 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...