The green light has a many different symbolic meaning that what first comes to thought. Gatsby would often reach towards or look at the light. Also, Gatsby built his house across from Daisy and used the light to feel closer to Daisy. When the green light is first introduced to the book, it seems very miniscule in the grand scheme of things, but when further looked into, the role of the light is revealed as a important symbol to the story.
The most obvious symbol of the green light is Gatsby’s desire and hope to be with Daisy once more. In chapter one Gatsby is at his dock looking longingly towards Daisy’s dock with the green light. Then later on in chapter five Gatsby is caught reaching towards the green light as if he expects Daisy’s hand to be next to his.
Gatsby has a sense of hope when looking at the light. That hope is carried on throughout the book. He believes that it is his way of staying connected to Daisy and hope to be reunited once again with her. He hopes that Daisy will learn to love him like she once did, and things would go back to like they were before. Daisy, of course, can’t bring herself to leave Tom for Gatsby. Gatsby continues in his hopeful fantasy of the past. He becomes overly consumed by his fantasies that his thought process in the present is manipulated into thinking that are just simply not reality. Its a dream that Gatsby strives for, and will go to any lengths to get it.
When Gatsby realizes at the hotel that Daisy also shares love for Tom, Gatsby’s hope wavers a bit. The lost hope causes Gatsby to lose control at the hotel and go back to his non-gentleman ways. At the hotel we get a strong sense that Gatsby is so consumed by the past and his hope for Daisy.
The strive for the “American Dream” is an undeniable symbol of the green light. It is Gatsby's inspiration as he aspires toward his unattainable dream. The American Dream is defined as the ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative.
When he was poor, Daisy could not marry him, so he worked hard and achieved what he thought was the perfect example of the American Dream. He recreated himself from nothing, he made a lot of money (through illegal means), and he surrounded himself with the material possessions which he thinks will attract Daisy to be with him. To me, Gatsby is the perfect example of the American Dream, while Daisy and Tom are not.
The green light is such a perfect symbol of the “American Dream” because to society in that time era the definition of the American Dream differs than what it would be today. Daisy and Tom did have the ultimate American Dream because they were born into their money and didn’t work for anything. While Gatsby had to work for his fortune, setting him apart from people like Tom and Daisy.
The green light is important to what Francis Scott Fitzgerald was trying to portray what the American Dream was like in that time period. The light was perched on Daisy and Tom’s dock and Gatsby would often look towards the light. The placement of the light on Tom’s dock shows how Tom had the American Dream, while Gatsby even in his wealth, would never obtain his dream of Daisy and having the perfect life.
Fitzgerald uses the color green from the light to represent a few things. The most obvious one he uses is to represent new money which would be dollar bills. Old money would be considered gold coins. The new money would be in relation with Gatsby, while Tom and Daisy would be in relation to old money. Tom will only recognize Gatsby's money as worthless because he wasn’t born into it. There is a constant struggle of money in the book between Tom and Gatsby’s money.
Green also represent envy. Envy plays into the role of Gatsby. He is envious of Tom and his rich life with Daisy. Gatsby wants to be able to show Daisy that he is no longer poor and prove that he can provide the life that she wants. Gatsby has loved Daisy, and only Daisy, since they first met. She was also in love with Gatsby, but when he left for the war, Daisy married Tom. When Gatsby finds out she once loved Tom as well, he become so consumed in envy and he loses his newly found self. He wants her to only love him because he has always loved her and believe he is the better man for her.
Envy also has a role in Tom’s character. Tom is envious of the relationship Gatsby and Daisy had before and how Daisy has loved Gatsby. Tom’s character is filled with irony. He is okay to cheat on Daisy, and she can’t do a thing about it, but as soon Daisy is with Gatsby again he is overcome with envy because of Gatsby.
Green can be perceived as a spring-like color. Some people see it as a refreshing color that reminds them of a spring renewal with the new grass and plants that blossom. It’s used in the book to symbolize the renewal of Gatsby as a person in general, and his relationship as well. Gatsby has completely changed his legacy, by going from a dirt-poor farm boy to a rich, magnificent man. He built up his own life based purely on childhood dream and the desire to be with Daisy again. His relationship with Daisy has also had a renewal, just not one Gatsby would hope for. At first, their relationship is easy and filled with love. Then Gatsby leaves and Daisy is tired of waiting. After Gatsby returns we see their relationship was still filled with so much love for each other but things soon become very difficult. Gatsby is not fully truthful with Daisy on how exactly he has obtained his fortune. He is secretive about his businesses and his past and Daisy starts mistrusting him because of it. This is the point where the renewal of their relationship turns for the worst and their relationship declines.
Near the end of the book, the green light is turned off. Fitzgerald strongly symbolizes the death of the relationship through turning the light off and the importance of it is belittled. The light no longer needs to be on, the strive for Gatsby’s dream is completed. He has sort of obtained Daisy for a time and the green light no longer serve its role in the book.
The light turned off is also a foreshadow of the relationship will not work and Gatsby’s ultimate demise. Since the light no longer remains on, Gatsby’s dream to have the perfect “American Dream” with Daisy is shattered. The death of the green light is the death of hope. This proves the recklessness of the higher class and the death of the american dream. By Daisy turning off the light, it was a slap right to Gatsby’s face. It was like he telling him to get out her life and that she was done with him.
There are so many symbols of the green light. Some of the most prominent ones are about having hope and losing it. Gatsby’s intentions were harmless and he proved it through the green light and how he strived to be with Daisy. He worked hard to be with her and she let him fall.
Like Nick Carraway said “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy – they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made” This was the prime of the corruption of the american dream. It was something Gatsby hoped for so much, and Daisy played with him.
For such a small part in the book, the green light had such a huge symbolic influence on the characters and the readers as well. Mostly to Gatsby, the green light was so important, but the light also had meaning tied with other characters. The influence by the light was arguably one of the most important symbols of the book.