Green Light In The Great Gatsby example essay topic

New York City: a place of wonder that people visit just to see anything and everything on any and every day of the week. In our times in New York City a person relieving themselves on the sidewalk or someone stumbling around drunk are both observed and during the 1920's a person could witness the same. During his life as a rich man F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote powerful encounters about life during the 1920's in New York City. His most famous novel, The Great Gatsby is full of symbolism which makes the reader think deeper.

Through the East and West Eggs, the Valley of Ashes and T.J. Eckleburg's eyes, and the green light readers can begin to fully understand Fitzgerald's symbolic meanings behind everything in his novel. The East and West Eggs and the bay between symbolize social class in The Great Gatsby. Characters like Tom and Daisy live in East Egg where they have been born and bred into a world of money and class. By the way Fitzgerald writes about Tom and Daisy of East Egg carelessly using and destroying other people, the reader can infer that Fitzgerald did not approve of his and Zelda's destructive wild life just like the reader and narrator Nick do not approve of Tom and Daisy's destructive behavior. West Egg, Nick and Jay Gatsby are "new money" in the rich society.

People in West Egg have supposedly fulfilled the American dream and while they are rich they still do not have the social class or standing to back up their money. Their names mean nothing to the world, while people like Tom Buchanan could conquer the ancient Roman Empire with their names. By reading about people such as Nick and Gatsby the audience of this novel may begin to believe that Fitzgerald thought his own name had no significance in the world and the only way it had earned significance was through money and wild parties. The bay in between East and West Eggs symbolizes the separation between the two worlds of money. Gatsby longs to have Daisy but they are from two different places in life so he never can have her. New money and old money never mix.

Fitzgerald knew this and wanted to show everyone else why it was to be that way. Old money doesn't want to incorporate new money into their life. New money longs to be old money so it is a never ending cycle. Surely Fitzgerald saw that what his audience saw, that new money will eventually become old money which would make the whole separation pointless. Fitzgerald used the Eggs to symbolize the differences in the social standings of the rich. The Valley of Ashes represents the polluted American society.

The valley of ashes is where all the bad is disposed of by the rich and powerful which is why Fitzgerald says it is always covered with a film of ash. Fitzgerald saw the damage settlers had done to such a beautiful land and he wanted to represent his feelings about ruining the land by having such an awful place like the valley of ashes to represent this destruction. The film of ash represents all the morally unsound realities the rich are throwing away but the poor are left to face. The poor white trash that lives in the valley of ashes worship money. People like Myrtle and Wilson are used to depict just these kinds of people. Myrtle is so caught up in worshiping money she has an affair with Tom and actually thinks he will leave his wife for her because she is so blinded by the money.

Fitzgerald uses Myrtle to show how some people would do anything to be rich, but they could never have the class of the rich. The eyes of a man named T.J. Eckleburg look down upon the valley of ashes and its inhabitants in manner that some people think God looks upon the earth. Fitzgerald placed these eyes just outside Wilson's garage to show us that all of the crimes and morally corrupt actions that went on outside his garage went unpunished and the eyes were there to remind the reader of the guilt that was unspoken and unfelt by the destructive rich characters. The eyes of T.J. Eckleburg look upon the valley of ashes to remind the reader of the moral corruption in American society. The green light in The Great Gatsby represents hope.

Gatsby had many dreams but his main dream and goal was to obtain Daisy. He wanted her more than anything and did almost everything to achieve his dream. He saw a green light flashing from the edge of her dock in East Egg across the bay from his home in West Egg. This light represents his hope and longing for her love.

Fitzgerald saw this hope in himself. He wanted to tell the readers of his novel that this kind of hope was unobtainable. Gatsby had so much money and so many possessions but he was never happy. He never achieved the happiness he wanted so dearly and he never won Daisy's love.

Fitzgerald also wanted to show us that the green light represents all of Gatsby's wants and dreams not just his hope to have Daisy. This green light represents more than just Gatsby's dreams, it represents everyone's dreams. Everyone has one thing that no matter how hard they try for it, they will never attain it. Fitzgerald wanted to show us that everyone has a green light. The green light in The Great Gatsby portrays more than just Gatsby's hope; its everyone's hope. F. Scott Fitzgerald lived during the 1920's and wrote many novels about the events in his glitzy life. His most famous novel, The Great Gatsby, is recognized as being filled with symbolism that goes beyond the outside meanings of each individual and place in the story.

He uses many symbols to show the reader what corruptions have been brought upon this nation.