Essay Sample on The Green Light in The Great Gatsby

Being able to live out hopes and dreams is something that makes America so appealing to incoming immigrants. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby hopes and dreams are symbolized by a green light that Jay Gatsby stares at every day. To Gatsby, the light represents his dream of finally being with Daisy Buchanan. The theme of the novel includes the American dream which is also what the green light symbolizes. The green light represents hopes, dreams, and new beginnings, but over the course of the novel, it starts to represent running away from your past.

The green light is located on the Buchanan's dock and can be seen from Gatsby’s house. For Gatsby, the light symbolizes longing and something that he cannot have. Gatsby’s desire is to be with Daisy. In one of his first meetings with Daisy after she is married Gatsby explains that “‘If it wasn’t for the mist we could see your home across the bay,’ ‘you have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock’” (Fitzgerald 92). By saying this Gatsby is reaching out for Daisy. He thinks Daisy is still in love with him and is not embarrassed by admitting that he often stares at her house. The light is something that Gatsby sees as the idea that Daisy is still out there for him and he just has to work hard enough to get her. Gatsby confides in Nick saying that all the parties and money were just to impress Daisy and to prove to her that he can support her and her lifestyle. Gatsby made most of his life centered around Daisy and winning her back the green light is just something that reminds him that she is not with him yet. The meaning of the green light however changes for Gatsby. After finally being close to Daisy his past starts to catch up with him. Nick observes that by being close to Daisy that “Now it was again a green light on a dock. [Gatsby’s] count of enchanted objects had diminished by one” (Fitzgerald 93). While the green light was a beacon of hope for Gatsby after achieving his dream it did not hold as much importance to him. Instead, Gatsby tries to keep running away from his past only this time with Daisy. Unfortunately for Gatsby he was not fast enough, and not only did Daisy leave him once again for his past, but he also lost his life. 

The theme of the novel is hopes and dreams and the green light represents that. Over time however this meaning changed, the green light became a symbol of running from your past. Many characters in the novel have something to run from and they believe that focusing on the future instead of the past will help them. Nick realizes that “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us” (Fitzgerald 180). Gatsby had a very poor childhood and to earn his wealth did some things he is not proud of, but he keeps focused on the green light and the future. When Nick returns to his past instead of running away he thinks about “Gatsby’s wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock” (Fitzgerald 180). The green light to Gatsby means hope that all of his hard work might finally mean something. To Nick, the light helps to explain why Gatsby was always so frustrated that Daisy was just out of his reach. This is the start of the change in the meaning of the green light. Gatsby was frustrated because after all the work of hiding his past nothing came from it Daisy still was not his. Other characters such as the Buchanans also changed the meaning of what the green light represents. It is implied that trouble seems to follow the Buchanan family, and instead of staying where they are to fix their mess they instead run to another part of the country and towards the future. Myrtle Wilson is another example of this. She was unhappy about who she decided to marry in her past and how that caused her life to play out today. She has an affair with a very wealthy man in hopes of fixing her mistakes from the past instead of trying to help her current husband become more wealthy.

Hopes and dreams. Hopes and dreams make the world go round. The hopes and dreams in The Great Gatsby are all shown by a green light. Even though the meaning of the green light shifts over the course of the novel it did once represent the hopes and dreams of the main characters. The characters, like many people in the real world, were running towards a new life for themselves but was it the new life they wanted, or did they just want to get away from their old one the green light represents all of their runnings. 

Works Cited 

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. Scribner, 1925.