The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby
by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Green Light

Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory

The green light on Daisy’s house that Gatsby gazes wistfully at from his own house across the water represents the "unattainable dream." But the green light also represents the hazy future, the future that is forever elusive, as Nick claims in the last page of the novel, "Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter – to-morrow we will run farther, stretch out our arms farther…." The interesting question is, if the green light is the future, how is it so tied up with Daisy and the dreams of the past?

Next Page: Colors
Previous Page: The Eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg and the Valley of Ashes Below Them