Symbolism
Jay Gatsby looked at the green light at the end of the dock as a symbol of immense possibilities. Whichever path that he took, he would succeed. Unfortunately, the realities presented to Gatsby only proved to be temporary, for he held the power to change what he desired. Even with this power that he held, Gatsby was, by some fatalistic nature, a defeatist. He held close to his heart a lost love. He would pursue Daisy Buchanan, denying the futility and accepting inevitable destruction. Gatsby's personality was a creative presence, intentional and deliberate so that he might gain what would otherwise be out of his league, gaining true love as an elite gentleman. This social flaw of being "new money" imprisoned him on an emotional island. The uninvited guests, intrigued by his ostentatious wealth, marched in and out of his home and contributed to his development of a false reality, one that seemed to verify acceptance into the elite society that he so desperately needed. With the neighboring gentleman, Nick Carraway, the wealthy Gatsby takes the approach of using Nick Carraway as a window to that desperately needed green light. Gatsby's hope lay in the green light, which he struggled hungrily to grasp.
As the novel continued to develop Gatsby's character, F. Scott Fitzgerald permits his readers to see the harsh realities of Daisy's life as it is shadowed by Tom, her husband. Tom readily challenges Gatsby's dream to pursue his lost love. Nick emerges to remind him that "You can't repeat the past! You can't repeat the past?" cried Gatsby. "Why of course you can repeat the past!" (152). He looked around wildly, as if the past were lurking in the shadows, just out of reach. It is this attitude which engulfs Gatsby's mind and later leads him done the steps to his destruction. Now considering Daisy's qualities, she becomes a reminder of the 1920s materialism that Fitzgerald wants to reveal. Gatsby does not desire the commodities provide with materialism. Instead he strives for the woman that elitism dared to create. Gatsby's efforts to protect and adore her as a symbol of materialism gives him his reality.
Considering the small portion of Gatsby's pre-war past that Fitzgerald reveals, Gatsby must confront this past and he must realize the effects those experiences have had on his present behavior and personal goals. Yet, he chooses to believe that he must change the past; the inevitable death of Gatsby is sadly clear. Since neither society nor the past can change, Gatsby fails. The green light now may only inhibit and squash Gatsby's dreams. Materialism destroys the emotion that it provoked and stirred.
Book Symbolism
Page last updated on April 14, 1999.
Curator: Justin Patrick