F. Scott Fitzgerald s The Great Gatsby - 1408 Words

Maxim Sivolella The Great Gatsby Essay Symbolism In The Great Gatsby The Great Gatsby written in 1925 by American author F. Scott Fitzgerald follows a young man named Nick Carraway who has just moved to Long Island, New York. As the narrator of the novel, Nick recounts the summer he spent there in 1922 and the events that took place, especially his encounter with the young, rich, mysterious and extravagant Jay Gatsby. As Nick spends more time with Gatsby he learns that Gatsby has a romantically idealistic, yet unrealistic passion and infatuation for his beautiful cousin Daisy Buchanan. Widely regarded as Fitzgerald’s greatest work, the novel explores the ideas of blind idealism, excessive decadence and the moral decay of the 1920’s,†¦show more content†¦Eckleburg which are actually a pair of eyes painted on a billboard which hangs above the Valley of Ashes. They signify the eyes of god looking down and judging American society as it turns into an ethical and moral wasteland. The green light represents Gatsby’s idealistic hope for the future which can be associated as a parallel to the American dream. Just as Gatsby longs to recreate the past so do the American people who futilely attempt to relive a time where their dreams had value and when they could strive for a better future. The light is first mentioned early in the novel when Nick sees the figure of Gatsby reaching out across the bay towards the green, glowing light. For Gatsby, the light represents the future, a future where he and Daisy live together just like it was back in Louisville. Nick mentions that for Gatsby, â€Å"the dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it.† However, in reality the green light represents the youthful joy of the past, like the green of a budding flower. Gatsby fails to recognize this as he desperately and blindly strives towards a single unobtainable goal, highlighted by the fact that when Nick tells him he can’t repeat the past he responds by stubbornly and naively sayin g, â€Å"Why of course you can.† This parallels the American dream as originally America was about individualism, the motto of hard work breeds success, and the pursuit of happiness. However easy money, moral decay,