It also represents his nervousness about the present and about how Daisy's attitude toward him may have changed. His inability to go back in time is represented by him knocking over Nick's clock, and symbolises the clumsiness of his attempt to stop time and retrieve the past. In addition, the clock is a symbol of the time that Daisy and Gatsby have lost. Although on one level it is just another awkward incident caused by Gatsby's nervousness, the fact the clock is stopped is significant. In a sense, the clock stopped at a specific point in time, trapped there forever, just as Gatsby's life when he was hit with the realisation that while he could never be with Daisy.
After the altercation Daisy overlooks Jay, and his romanticism, because she cannot live up to his expectations. The last time they both catch sight of each other “she st[ays] there for a minute and then turn[s] out the light.’” (140) The absence of light metaphorically represents the end of their relationship, since their affair thrives in the light, when she turns off the light she is rejecting Gatsby for good. Daisy also makes the conscious decision to disconnect herself from Jay, because it would be irrational for her to ruin the illusion of a perfect family - with her husband, Tom - and run off with Jay to start a brand new life. The Buchanan’s feel that they need to escape the chaos, and “go away” (156) leaving everyone behind to gain a fresh start of achieving her desires. Ultimately, with Jay’s murder, and Daisy’s withhold from telling Jay the truth that their relationship is over, her decision is made for her.
After the altercation Daisy overlooks Jay, and his romanticism, because she cannot live up to his expectations. The last time they both catch sight of each other “she st[ays] there for a minute and then turn[s] out the light.’” (140) The absence of light metaphorically represents the end of their relationship, since their affair thrives in the light, when she turns off the light she is rejecting Gatsby for good. Daisy also makes the conscious decision to disconnect herself from Jay, because it would be irrational for her to ruin the illusion of a perfect family - with her husband, Tom - and run off with Jay to start a brand new life. The Buchanan’s feel that they need to escape the chaos, and “go away” (156) leaving everyone behind to gain a fresh start of achieving her desires. Ultimately, with Jay’s murder, and Daisy’s withhold from telling Jay the truth that their relationship is over, her decision is made for her.
Gatsby is so desperate to relive his past with Daisy that “he looked around him wildly, as if the past were lurking here in the shadow of his house, just out of reach of his hand” (Fitzgerald 110). He desperately wants Daisy back, but the past is in the past and cannot be revived. The author “presents it in Gatsby as a romantic baptism of desire for a reality that stubbornly remains out of his sight.” (Bewley) The reality of the situation is that Daisy has moved on and so should Gatsby. He doesn’t understand that the past cannot be brought back, and Daisy isn’t the same person he fell in love with five years ago. She is now older, and more mature with a daughter and husband.
9) the area where those who had just acquired their new money lived. Daisy, Gatsby’s love interest, deserted him after their past relationship and married Tom while Gatsby was at war. Gatsby’s newly obtained money was still not good enough for Daisy. This type of scenario is still typical today in society. Much of the world today is based on materialism and the worth of one’s fortune is more valuable than their own happiness.
None of which are validated until the truth about his past starts haunting him. As Gatsby’s starts see Daisy, the green light starts to vanish, “Possibly it had occurred to him that the colossal significance of that green light had now vanished forever”(Gatsby, 93). The green light vanishing symbolizes the achievement of his dream. The short lived success of his dream that is killed as Daisy finds out the truth about his
She didn’t like it. She didn’t have a good time” (Fitzgerald 116). This argument repeats the word “she” to signify importance and foreshadows that Gatsby will fail to have Daisy as his wife. Thus, Fitzgerald writes, “W... ... middle of paper ... ... too much. Gatsby had this illusion to have a perfect relationship with Daisy.
“Those green symbols along with the green light at the end of the Buchanan’s dock are merely smaller and later versions of the Emerald City--full of promise and meaning but ultimately deceptive.” (Barrett 1) Gatsby often looks at the light when thinking of his goals in life. For Gatsby the light is everything he has ever wanted, everything he has ever needed, and the only reason that he is who he is now. “…the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever. Compared to the great distance that had separated him form Daisy it had seemed very near to her, almost touching her. ... ... middle of paper ...
This excerpt from Nick Carraway about the green light focuses on the past since the future is too sinister to imagine. All hope is lost, but one day the dream might be obtained, everyone has something they long for that is just off in the distance. Gatsby moves to the East in search for Daisy; while doing so, he acquires the willingness for money, success and acceptance. It is evident in the fact that he is in need of all these traits before he can successfully reach Daisy and that is all he wants them for... ... middle of paper ... ...shed up things and creatures and then retreated to their money or vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together and let other people clean up the mess they made…” (Fitzgerald 187-88). Class and social structure symbolize the physical make up of the Eggs.
Gatsby’s longed desperately for the green light and confined in it his hopes and his dreams. One night Nick curiously observe Gatsby reach out to the green light at the end of a dock. Nick states, “--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” (25-26). It can be argued that the green light represents the color of money, and he is reaching out to it in hopes of grasping riches. However, the reader later finds out that this is not just any dock;