This Presentation is about What Does The Green Light Mean In The Great Gatsby " Novel ? SEM :- 2

1. Name : Asari Bhavayang.M
Roll no :-3
Enrollment No:-3069206420200002
Course:-M.A (English)Sem2
Subject:-The Twentieth Century Literature: 1900
to World War II
Topic:- What does the Green Light Mean in The
Great Gatsby”Novel ?
Teacher Name :- Dilip Barad sir
Batch :- 2021-2023
Email :- asaribhavyang7874@gmail.com
Department:- Department of English

2. F. Scott Fitzgerald
● He was born at September 24, 1896, St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S and
died December 21, 1940, Hollywood, California.
● American short-story writer and novelist famous for his
depictions of the Jazz Age , his most brilliant novel being The
Great Gatsby (1925).
● His private life, with his wife, Zelda, in both America and France,
became almost as celebrated as his novels.
● F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Important Works :-
1. This Side of Paradise (1920)
2. The Beautiful and Damned and Tales of the Jazz Age (1922)
3. The Great Gatsby (1925)
4. Tender Is the Night (1934)
5. The Crack-Up (1936)
6. The Last Tycoon (1941)

3. The Great Gatsby
● It is set in the Jazz Age, a term popularized by
Fitzgerald.
● It captures the prosperity of a post war America,
filled with jazz music and illegal alcohol.
● A story about the promise and failure of the
American Dream, it centers around the character of
Jay Gatsby, a young man who rises from rags to
riches, and his love for a wealthy young woman.

4. What does the Green Light Mean?
● The green is associated with wealth, growth, Spring etc. It is also used to
convey envy. Gatsby is thus shown to be an envious character as he is
jealous of the fact that Daisy belongs to another man (Tom). Green is also
used to represents the power of money which Gatsby has plenty of.
● In the beginning, the light stands for Gatsby's dreams, hopes, and desires to
reunite with Daisy and recapitulate their love. This positive association
connects with the color green.
● One of the most memorable images in The Great Gatsby is the green light that
Gatsby watches across the water, which simultaneously symbolizes Gatsby’s
love for Daisy, money, and the American Dream.

5. The Green Light in Chapter 1
“...a figure had emerged from the shadow of my neighbor's mansion and
was standing with his hands in his pockets regarding the silver pepper of
the stars. Something in his leisurely movements and the secure position
of his feet upon the lawn suggested that it was Mr. Gatsby himself, come
out to determine what share was his of our local heavens.
...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. When I
looked once more for Gatsby he had vanished, and I was alone again in
the unquiet darkness.
(Free eBooks at Planet eBook.com- page-24,25)

6. The Green Light in Chapter 5
We return to the image of the light exactly halfway through the novel, in the fifth
chapter, when Gatsby is showing Daisy around his mansion after he "accidentally"
runs into her at Nick's house.
"If it wasn't for the mist we could see your home across the bay," said Gatsby. "You
always have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock."
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.
(Free eBooks at Planet eBook.com- page-99,100)

7. This appearance of the green light is important as the first
one, because the way the light is presented now is totally
different than when we first saw it. Instead of the "enchanted"
magical object we first saw, now the light has its symbolic
meaning, removed from it. This is because Gatsby is now
actually standing there and touching Daisy herself, so he no
longer needs to stretch his arms out towards the light or
worry.

8. The Green Light in Chapter 9
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--tomorrow 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.
(Free eBooks at Planet eBook.com- page- 193)

9. ● In chapter 9, Nick brings up Gatsby’s infatuation with the
green light again. He compares it to what America must have
looked like before settlers had tore down the trees and built
cities, just “a fresh, green breast of the new world” .
● Both the green light and the land represent the American
Dream. The green light is Daisy, Gatsby’s American dream,
and new land is the American dream of new settlers, “the
greatest of all human dreams” . This also falls under the
colour symbolism for green, hope and promise, as well as a
new beginning. The green light, in Gatsby’s mind, represents
a new beginning for Gatsby and Daisy, and the green land
represents a new beginning for Dutch sailors.

10. That the American Dream is as unattainable as the green light at
the end of the dock is evidenced by the aftermath of the car
crash that serves as the climax of the novel. As a result of the
crash, the three characters from lower-class backgrounds
(Gatsby, Myrtle, and George) die, while the upper-class
characters of Nick, Daisy, Tom, and Jordan survive. Tom and
Daisy, who were born into privilege, remain insulated from the
negative consequences of their actions.
At the end of the novel, Fitzgerald writes, “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—tomorrow we
will run faster, stretch out our arms farther.

11. References:-
1. F. Scott Fitzgerald “The Great Gatsby ”Planetebook.Com, 2021,
https://www.planetebook.com/free-ebooks/the-great-gatsby.pdf.
2. Mizener, Arthur. "F. Scott Fitzgerald". Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 Jan.
2021, https://www.britannica.com/biography/F-Scott-Fitzgerald.
Accessed 21 June 2021.
3. Wulick, Dr. "Best Analysis: Green Light In The Great Gatsby".
Blog.Prepscholar.Com, 2021, https://blog.prepscholar.com/the-great-
gatsby-green-light-
symbol#:~:text=The%20Meaning%20and%20Significance%20of%20the%
20Green%20Light,beautiful%20month%20of%20love%20from%20five%20
years%20earlier.