The Great Gatsby Past Quotes

Behind Gatsby’s mansion there is a barely visible green light that always shines. This green light is at the end of Daisy’s dock across the Sound. Almost every night, “[Gatsby] stretche[s] out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way...trembling… [there is] nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock” (25-26). Here Fitzgerald paints a picture of Gatsby shaking in his back yard trying to reach something that is obviously too far to grasp, Gatsby is yearning for the chance to be able to hold this light in his hand. This light is not just any green light; this is the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock, Gatsby’s long lost love that he

Since the light at the end of the dock is green it gives the perception to go or move forward as you would when a traffic light turned green. In psychology, the color green is referred to as the color of stability, harmony, and growth. For instance, in spring all things begin a new cycle of life by blossoming and regrowing. The green light on the end of Daisy’s dock give Jay Gatsby the sense that it does not matter where he came from as long as he can prove he is worthy to the people he truly idolizes, which are the people of the higher

Gatsby and Daisy had met years prior, but ended up going their separate ways. However, Gatsby remained in love with Daisy and longed for her affection. The two reconcile, and Daisy starts seeing Gatsby outside of her marriage with Tom. In this, Daisy is leading Gatsby on by making him believe he will attain his ultimate dream: a life with her. However, Daisy knows deep down she will not leave Tom for Gatsby. This is proven when a confrontation about the affair sparks between Tom and Gatsby, and Daisy attempts to defend Gatsby and stick up to Tom, but ultimately fails and retreats back to her husband. “Her frightened eyes told that whatever intentions, whatever courage she had had, were definitely gone” (Fitzgerald 135). Daisy’s carelessness shines through in leading Gatsby to believe she would abandon Tom for him, but fails to follow through. She recklessly broke the heart of the man who had been in love with her for many

Gatsby had not achieved his goal and dream to win Daisy’s heart and have her fall for him again, in order to “fix everything just the way it was before” (The Great Gatsby, p.110), despite the fact that he had won Daisy’s heart back, it wasn’t the Daisy that Gatsby wanted. Gatsby had worked all his life to impress Daisy and meet her standard for wealth, not because he is tremendously attracted towards Daisy, but more because of the idea of having Daisy.

The green light at the end of daisy's dock is the symbol of gatsby's hopes and dreams. It represents everything that haunts and beckons Gatsby: the physical and emotional distance between him and Daisy, the gap between the past and the present, the promises of the future, and the powerful lure of that other green stuff he craves money. The light is something that is a key part of gatsby's character, even the very first time the books protagonist nick sees gatsby he is down at his dock staring at the light. “He stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. 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.” and even nick comes to realize this lights significance , “ And 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 breast of the new world.... And as I sat there, brooding on the old, unknown world, I thought of Gatsby's wonder when he first picked out Daisy's light at the end of his dock. He had come such a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close he could hardly fail to grasp it. But what he did not know was that it was already behind him, somewhere in the vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled on

In The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gatsby’s hold of the past and his pursuance of his own American Dream ends in certain death. Throughout the story, Gatsby believes that his passion can sway Daisy to leave Tom. These events lead him to relentlessly chase wealth in order to gain social status that is worthy of Daisy. However, the story does not end according to Gatsby’s ideals. Fitzgerald utilizes symbolism to demonstrate Gatsby’s tragic flaw, his chasing of a dream that is already dead.

One of the major symbols is part of the extract above: the green light. The color green symbolizes hope. The green light at the end of Daisy’s dock is a significant symbol within the book. To Gatsby, it represents his “dream”, which is Daisy. To attain her would be completing his American Dream. “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” This describes Gatsby’s inability to move on from the past. Everything he does in the novel is to surpass and exhilarate his past. In the metaphor used above which is also the quote from the extract , Gatsby tries to goes against the currents—or time—to reach the green light or his dream. And as in the quote, the green light which represents his dream, ‘recedes’ like waves year by

In this way, Daisy rebels against Tom’s infidelity by using Gatsby to get back at him. However, Daisy has never considered leaving Tom, even though all this time she knows that Tom has been having an affair with another woman. The main reason why is because Daisy longs for the love, financial stability, and the practicality that Tom can provide for her, and she knows that Tom would never leave her for the simple reason that they complete each other, with Daisy giving Tom increased social status by being from the higher class and an attractive wife, while Tom gives Daisy the stability that she needs in her life.

On one hand, the two men may have something in common, but on the other hand, Tom displays the true horror of human beings who purposely allow innocent men to suffer the consequence of a murder they did not commit, yet the book counters his darkness with the light of Jay Gatsby’s genuine kindness towards people.

The green light is the most significant use of symbolism in The Great Gatsby. The green light represents various aspects of life which include: Hope, unattainable dreams, freedom and the American Dream. In chapter one Nick states “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" (Fitzgerald 152). The explanation of this quote is Nick seeing Gatsby reaching his arms out towards the green light at the end of the deck which represents that Gatsby is trying to grasp and gets a hold of his hopes and dreams, which is Daisy, but at that moment Gatsby is unsuccessful in doing so. The green light’s meaning is also that a person cannot live their lives in the past, but instead should look ahead towards the future. In chapter 9 Nick also states "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 barely 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" (Fitzgerald 149). For Gatsby, the green light represents his American dream and Daisy. He wanted to continue his life with Daisy by his side, but sadly his dreams were short-lived.

From early on in the novel, Jay Gatsby is portrayed as a mysterious, wealthy and extravagant man; he lives in an ostentatious mansion and showcases his successes at the lavish parties he hosts. However, it is evident that this perplexing character, despite all of his wealth and successes, continues to yearn for even more. At the beginning of The Great Gatsby, Nick observes of Gatsby, “...he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and far as I was from him I could have sworn he was trembling. 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” (Fitzgerald 26). It is later revealed that Daisy, who Gatsby loves and hopes to reunite with, lives at the house at the end of the dock with the green light. Ultimately, Daisy and the green light are motivations for Gatsby that recur throughout the novel. This single green light that Gatsby reached out to with quivering arms represents the American dream that drove the goals and hopes of Americans during this time.

"I love you now—isn't that enough? I can't help what's past." She began to sob helplessly. "I did love him once—but I loved you too." (84) Gatsby's obsession with her seems shockingly unilateral, and it is clear to the reader that she will not leave Tom for him. You can also see why this confession is a blow to Gatsby. He has dreamed of Daisy for years and sees her as his one true love, while she not even can marshal her love of Gatsby over her love for Tom. Gatsby is too desperate and obsessed, and does not understand that he must move on as it is impossible to get back Daisy. This can also be explained by Daisy’s as we get an insight at her real feelings. As she sad in the quote, she loved them both, and to her those were equal loves. But, she has not put that initial love with Gatsby on a pedestal the way Gatsby has. Unlike Gatsby, Daisy is more tragic, a loving woman who has been corrupted by greed. She chooses the security of money and comfort over real love, and therefore he will never get back

Gatsby has always been in love with Daisy. Since the day he met her, roughly five years ago from where the book starts. He fell in love and Daisy promised that she would wait for Gatsby to return from war, and that they would reunite and love happily together. Gatsby’s goal is getting Daisy back. Not just getting her back and going from where their lives both were, but getting the Daisy back from five years ago, with no recollection of Tom

Gatsby’s was just looking to take what he could get (Fitzgerald 149) with Daisy but ended up falling in love with her. When he returned from the war he knew that he needed to have money if he was ever going to be with Daisy again. So Gatsby became a bootlegger and created the house and life that he had imagined for him and Daisy. She loved the extravagant life that he had built for himself but it still wasn’t enough for her to leave her life with Tom. Daisy knew that she could never be with a bootlegger, and ended up fleeing town with Tom, without even saying goodbye. Daisy cares more about what others think of her than about how she feels.

F. Scott Fitzgerald demonstrates various themes in his novel, The Great Gatsby. One of the themes is old memories never fade. This theme is developed throughout the book by his use of the motif of Gatsby’s elaborate parties. The motif of parties compares Gatsby’s extravagant parties to Daisy’s high class parties. This motif represents the need for Gatsby to see Daisy because old memories never fade away.