"[H]e stretched out his arms toward the dark water. . . . I . . . distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far way. . . . When I looked once more for Gatsby he had vanished. . . . " (Page 19).
"Why they came East I don’t know. . . . I had no sight into Daisy’s heart, but I felt that Tom would drift on forever seeking, a little wistfully, for the dramatic turbulence of some irrecoverable football game" (Page 8).
"We drew in deep breaths . . . as we walked back . . . through the cold vestibules, unutterably aware of our identity with this country for one strange hour, before we melted indistinguishably into it again" (Page 134).
The American Dream
Most Americans cherish the American Dream, regardless of our socioeconomic status and the circumstances and families we are bon into. Each American citizen has their own vision of success in which upward mobility and attainment is possible through diligence, sacrifice, and judicious risk taking. Chance and luck factor in to. Even with residual concerns about Covid, a crumbling economy, an inflationary environment, high gasoline prices, many of us are still willing to gamble on attaining the American Dream.
The Great Gatsby is a novel about the American Dream, albeit Gatsby's version of that dream is recreating his past and fulfilling his fascination with Daisy, creating some colossal imaginary, idealized construct about a future with Daisy, and then falling short of his dreams.
"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. When I looked once more for Gatsby he had vanished, and I was alone again in the unquiet darkness" (Page 19).
The Green Light for Gatsby at the end of Daisy's dock represents his version of the American Dream, which is being reunited with Daisy. His love for Daisy is immense, and the green light us a recurring symbol in the novel.