Green Light
Transcript: The Green Light Theme: No matter what one achieves, there will always be something else that he or she continues to chase, even it eludes him or her for a lifetime. The color green symbolizes money, and in the 1920s money was viewed as the key to a happy life. But I didn’t call to him, for he gave a sudden intimation that he was content to be alone — 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. “You always have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock.” At every point in the novel, the green light symbolizes hope. However, no matter what is achieved, the green light still exists. Daisy put her arm through his abruptly, but he seemed absorbed in what he had just said. Possibly it had occurred to him that the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever. Compared to the great distance that had separated him from Daisy it had seemed very near to her, almost touching her. It had seemed as close as a star to the moon. Now it was again a green light on a dock. His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one. The fact that the significance of the green light may have disappeared for Gatsby after reuniting with Daisy shows the shallowness of 1920s culture. It also shows how much Gatsby cares about Daisy. “If you want to kiss me any time during the evening, Nick, just let me know and I’ll be glad to arrange it for you. Just mention my name. Or present a green card. I’m giving out green ——” All of the references to the green light suggest that Gatsby longs for Daisy. However, once she was in his life, nothing was as special as it had been. For Gatsby, the hunt was better than the kill. Although the green light initially represented Daisy, its significance became more universal as the story progressed. Everybody is always longing for something or someone, and it is hard to put an end to this sense of longing. And as I sat there brooding on the old, unknown world, 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 hardly 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. 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 faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . . And one fine morning —— So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past. ❦
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