The Green Light
Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. -Nick Carraway
Gatsby and the Green Light, The Great Gatsby (2013)
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The green light: hope… envy… money… motivation… All of these aforementioned aspects are infused within this symbol. Seen as a beacon of light in the midst of a dark night, this symbol plays out as one of the most important images.
For this case, the symbol with be represented as both light and the color green. |
Throughout the Novel...
"Involuntarily I glanced seaward — and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock." (21)
“'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.'" (92) |
The Green Light, The Great Gatsby (2013)
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"Possibly it had occurred to him that the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever. Compared to the great distance that had separated him from Daisy it 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." (93)
"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 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, somewhere back in that vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the night.
Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us." (180)
"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 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, somewhere back in that vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the night.
Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us." (180)
Relevance
Green. As the color of multiple things (money, envy), green can be seen as one of the most important colors against the blues, golds, and reds in the novel. The green light at the end of Daisy's dock is Gatsby's hope. He looks out to the dock and wants Daisy. Daisy, symbolizing money, is also Gatsby's desire. Coming from a penniless beginning, Gatsby wanted money, and he found it in human form. The green color is also symbolic of envy, which Gatsby has for Tom, since Tom is Daisy's husband. Since Daisy and Tom live together at the other end of the dock, the color is a reminder that Gatsby in envious of the relationship.
As mentioned, the light is symbolic of hope. However, light itself symbolizes reality. The reality of the light is that it is across the bay and Gatsby cannot reach it. He looks toward it hoping to reach it one day, yet once he dies, he never truly had the light for himself.
As mentioned, the light is symbolic of hope. However, light itself symbolizes reality. The reality of the light is that it is across the bay and Gatsby cannot reach it. He looks toward it hoping to reach it one day, yet once he dies, he never truly had the light for himself.
Reference (Pre-1925)
Iago:
O, beware, my lord, of jealousy;
It is the green-ey'd monster, which doth mock
The meat it feeds on. That cuckold lives in bliss,
Who, certain of his fate, loves not his wronger:
But O, what damnèd minutes tells he o'er
Who dotes, yet doubts, suspects, yet strongly loves!
(Othello 3.3.165-171, William Shakespeare)
Romeo:
He jests at scars that never felt a wound.
[JULIET appears above at a window]
But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.
(Romeo and Juliet 2.2.1-3, William Shakespeare)
O, beware, my lord, of jealousy;
It is the green-ey'd monster, which doth mock
The meat it feeds on. That cuckold lives in bliss,
Who, certain of his fate, loves not his wronger:
But O, what damnèd minutes tells he o'er
Who dotes, yet doubts, suspects, yet strongly loves!
(Othello 3.3.165-171, William Shakespeare)
Romeo:
He jests at scars that never felt a wound.
[JULIET appears above at a window]
But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.
(Romeo and Juliet 2.2.1-3, William Shakespeare)