The Great Gatsby: A Story of Catastrophic Hope
Essential Characters & Plot Points:
Our first-person narrator is Nick Carraway, a Yale graduate who recently began working in bonds in New York City (4). Nick is an all-around pleasant gentleman insistent on maintaining peace with all people, while simultaneously valuing a high moral character (1-2). The hook at the start of the story is that "Gatsby" is apparently the only person who has not revolted Nick, despite Gatsby's abhorrent characteristics, "I wanted the world to be in uniform and at a sort of moral attention forever...only Gatsby...was exempt from my reaction--Gatsby, who represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn"(2). Through the first three chapters, Gatsby is merely a phantom; people talk about him with extravagant awe and disbelief. As we continue to get to know him, we discover that Gatsby is merely a man who loves a woman with unrelenting hope. Daisy, the sole purpose of Gatsby's accomplishments, is already married to a rich athlete. Daisy's husband, Tom Buchanan, is fooling around with Myrtle, the wife of Tom's mechanic, George, who is only a little bit clueless. When George does become aware of the reality of the situation, he turns violent. However, George does not have the whole story, and things are bound to get ugly.
Important Themes and Symbols: The Green Light
Its Purpose in the Novel
There are many intriguing themes throughout the novel, however, one that proves to be essential is the idea of misplaced hope. The symbol used to display this theme is the now-infamous green light, "Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eludes us then, but that's no matter--to-morrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther"(180). At the start of the book, Gatsby reaches out from his dock as if to grab hold of the light, but no matter how far he reaches, the light will always be at the other side of the bay. When Daisy, the true element behind the symbol, finds her way back to Gatsby, the symbol of the green light diminishes, "the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever...now it was just a green light on a dock. His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one"(93). He now has the reality behind the hope, but like every dream, the reality is much more complicated and frustrating.
Its Purpose in Society
The green light stands also for the empty hope of the American Dream. Gatsby then symbolizes the average American searching for their own rags-to-riches victory story. James Gatz, the son of poor farmers, reinvents himself as Jay Gatsby after a string of inexplicable circumstances land him in the right social circles (98). This is the quintessential American mantra, "You can be whoever you want to be as long as you work hard." However, Gatsby's dream is Daisy, and he has not gotten her yet. The green light stays across the bay, reminding him that he has not made it to his goal. This is the dark side to the American Dream. Once Gatsby finally has Daisy on his side of the bay, along with all of his material possessions, he finds that he still has not made it. Now, he has to deal with the fact that Daisy has another life, one that she may not be hasty to give up(93). If that is not enough to draw the connection between the green light and the American Dream, then Fitzgerald spells it out for you at the end of the book, "As the moon rose higher the inessential houses began to melt away until gradually I became aware of the old island here that flowered once for Dutch sailors' eyes--a fresh green beast of the new world"(180). This green light, this "fresh green beast of a new world", is just that, a beast that hold both beauty and terror, both hope and despair.
Our first-person narrator is Nick Carraway, a Yale graduate who recently began working in bonds in New York City (4). Nick is an all-around pleasant gentleman insistent on maintaining peace with all people, while simultaneously valuing a high moral character (1-2). The hook at the start of the story is that "Gatsby" is apparently the only person who has not revolted Nick, despite Gatsby's abhorrent characteristics, "I wanted the world to be in uniform and at a sort of moral attention forever...only Gatsby...was exempt from my reaction--Gatsby, who represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn"(2). Through the first three chapters, Gatsby is merely a phantom; people talk about him with extravagant awe and disbelief. As we continue to get to know him, we discover that Gatsby is merely a man who loves a woman with unrelenting hope. Daisy, the sole purpose of Gatsby's accomplishments, is already married to a rich athlete. Daisy's husband, Tom Buchanan, is fooling around with Myrtle, the wife of Tom's mechanic, George, who is only a little bit clueless. When George does become aware of the reality of the situation, he turns violent. However, George does not have the whole story, and things are bound to get ugly.
Important Themes and Symbols: The Green Light
Its Purpose in the Novel
There are many intriguing themes throughout the novel, however, one that proves to be essential is the idea of misplaced hope. The symbol used to display this theme is the now-infamous green light, "Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eludes us then, but that's no matter--to-morrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther"(180). At the start of the book, Gatsby reaches out from his dock as if to grab hold of the light, but no matter how far he reaches, the light will always be at the other side of the bay. When Daisy, the true element behind the symbol, finds her way back to Gatsby, the symbol of the green light diminishes, "the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever...now it was just a green light on a dock. His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one"(93). He now has the reality behind the hope, but like every dream, the reality is much more complicated and frustrating.
Its Purpose in Society
The green light stands also for the empty hope of the American Dream. Gatsby then symbolizes the average American searching for their own rags-to-riches victory story. James Gatz, the son of poor farmers, reinvents himself as Jay Gatsby after a string of inexplicable circumstances land him in the right social circles (98). This is the quintessential American mantra, "You can be whoever you want to be as long as you work hard." However, Gatsby's dream is Daisy, and he has not gotten her yet. The green light stays across the bay, reminding him that he has not made it to his goal. This is the dark side to the American Dream. Once Gatsby finally has Daisy on his side of the bay, along with all of his material possessions, he finds that he still has not made it. Now, he has to deal with the fact that Daisy has another life, one that she may not be hasty to give up(93). If that is not enough to draw the connection between the green light and the American Dream, then Fitzgerald spells it out for you at the end of the book, "As the moon rose higher the inessential houses began to melt away until gradually I became aware of the old island here that flowered once for Dutch sailors' eyes--a fresh green beast of the new world"(180). This green light, this "fresh green beast of a new world", is just that, a beast that hold both beauty and terror, both hope and despair.