What Is The Theme Of Love In The Great Gatsby And Their Eyes Were Watching God

To Gatsby, the light represents his hopes and dreams to be reunited with his beloved Daisy, therefore he reaches out to the light trying to hold Daisy and bring her back into his life. Fitzgerald portrays Gatsby as extremely hopeful and optimistic, which causes him to create his own image of Daisy, overemphasizing her importance in his American Dream. Nonetheless, his fantasy is corrupted into his craving for wealth and to belong to the ‘old rich’, which Gatsby believes is a way to bond with Daisy. The colour green, in this case, is used to represent an escape - Gatsby assumes that Daisy could be his oasis, to escape the life he is living. Daisy’s image in Gatsby mind provides him meaning in

The green colour represents Gatsby’s obsession over Daisy, who embodies his TAD as well as his devotion to love. He makes it his life goal to become prosperous and wealthy so he can impress Daisy’s expensive needs and in turn win or buy back her affection. All throughout the story, he gets involved with bootlegging, crime and extravagant parties hoping Daisy will take notice. Gatsby dream eventually comes to a halt when Daisy runs over and kills Myrtle with his car and Gatsby is left to take responsibility. The green colour of the light is replaced with corruption, as Fitzgerald compares it to “a fresh, green breast of the new world” ( pg

Through marriages, relationships, and friendships the author questions rather love itself is unstable or is it the way the characters experience love and desire problematic? I choose to write on this because the way that Frederick Douglass portrays them is a phenomenal complex that will make you reconsider true love. The relationship at the very heart of The Great Gatsby is, of course, Gatsby and Daisy, or more specifically, Gatsby’s tragic love of (or obsession with) Daisy, which is a love that drives the novel’s plot.

In the novels Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, both follow characters throughout their lives. Gatsby dies trying to reach his dream of being with Daisy whom he’s in love with (GG). Janie has her dream taken away from her after the man she’s in love with known as Tea Cake dies from a rabies infection (TEWWG). Both main characters Janie and Gatsby struggle throughout the novels trying to achieve their dream of finding true love, but in the end can’t reach it. While both novels are showing the characters struggle to find true love, Their Eyes Were Watching God shows love as a more of an emotional feeling or urge, but The Great Gatsby shows love as a more of a physical feeling through romantic or memorable symbols and settings.

The green color of the light represents wealth and the start of a new life. Connecting his love for Daisy with the American dream and a better future, he believes Daisy is a beckon that is going to pull him out of darkness into a perfect life. In the beginning of the story, this can be seen when the narrator recounts that “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,” (Fitzgerald, 26). This brings forth the idea that the light or goal is minute and unattainable. Although Gatsby never approaches the light, he continues to reach for it which represents Gatsby’s unattainable dream. As background information is revealed, it becomes evident that Gatsby’s desire for Daisy is one of status. His past reveals that Daisy was desired by many men and to attain her would make one most worthy. “It excited him, too, that many men had already loved Daisy – it increased her value in his eyes” (Fitzgerald,149). This increased value further exploits the classism of this time period through Gatsby, who takes the green light as a signal to keep going. The only judgement of character was one’s social class. However, he does not just desire Daisy but the previous month he had spent with her. This demonstrates Gatsby’s

Topic 1: Within The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald uses The Green Light as a symbol to represent Gatsby’s hopes and dreams. Jay Gatsby was desperate to have Daisy back despite the position in which Daisy was.

The Great Gatsby is a marvelous piece of American literature with many underlying themes. For example, love, wealth, society and class, marriage, lies and deceit, the list could go on. Needless to say, it is a very deep, well thought out storyline. Most of all, love is an extremely prominent factor in this book that needs to brought about and examined. Is there a difference between love and romance? As it seems in this book, the reader may find themselves repeatedly asking some questions that this essay will look further into. The author of this book, F. Scott Fitzgerald makes a point to give this story a twist, which includes: secret lovers, lies, a murder, and unspoken feelings.

Fitzgerald uses green to show hope. On page 21 Fitzgerald wrote down “I glanced seaward-and distinguished nothing except a single green light.” In The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald uses green to show the reader that Gatsby has hope he will see and be with Daisy again. In the book we read that Nick sees Gatsby reaching for a green light we then later find out the light was on a dock at Daisy's house. Green is known around the world to show wealth money and hope. Fitzgerald added this color to show the reader Gatsby was a man of many hopes and

The Green light that is seen in the Great Gatsby symbolizes Gatsby's hope for the future. The light shows that Gatsby will forever be a dreamer. The fact that throughout the entire novel the green light remains constant reinforces Gatsby’s dreamer ways. “ ...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.…” (Fitzgerald 21). The green light is introduced at the beginning of the novel. The light itself is seen by both Gatsby and Nick, when Nick sees Gatsby looking out at the ocean. The light is something that Gatsby focuses on throughout the novel as an anchor. It brings Gatsby hope for what the future will bring to him. “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eludes 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….” (Fitzgerald 180). The green light reminds Gatsby of Daisy, his one “true” love. Daisy is the unchanging obsession in his life. Gatsby always holds out hope that he will one day win her over. The light allows Gatsby, even as a grown man, to reminisce on his younger days and allows him to be a dreamer. Fitzgerald uses the green light as a way for Gatsby to consistently connect to that longing. The need to be the charming rich socialite that throws spectacular parties. The man who fits the bill of the American dream to a T. While Gatsby was always hoping for Daisy, and using the green light as a vessel to not forget his goal, Fitzgerald was reminding us, the readers, that Gatsby is in

To Jay Gatsby, the green light represents Daisy and his hopeful future with her. The first time the green light is mentioned in the novel is also the first time Nick sees Gatsby. Fitzgerald writes, “…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.(26). The green light is a goal that Gatsby want to attain. It is a goal that he wants to reach, yet it is too far away. He wants Daisy in his life and by looking at the green like he can wish for that to happen. The green light represents the future, but Gatsby is living in the past and wants things between he and Daisy to be like they were in the past. Fitzgerald ends the novel by stating, "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 then one fine morning— So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past" (189). Gatsby was so consumed with the past that he could n do anything but try to recreate the

Fitzgerald uses the green light to symbolize Daisy and something that Gatsby can’t have. The first time Nick sees Gatsby, he sees him reaching for something. “He stretched out his arms toward the dark waters in a curious way, and as far as I was from him I could have sworn he was trembling(pg. 26).” Gatsby is reaching for something he can't have, like Daisy.

This light was a very important symbol in this novel. Across the bay from Gatsby’s house there is a bright green light. Gatsby lives on West Egg, and the light is seen on East Egg. This light happens to belong to Daisy, as it is at the end of her dock. Fitzgerald uses this green light to represent Gatsby’s dream. Gatsby’s dream is to be with Daisy. Towards the end of the novel, Gatsby realizes his chance of being with Daisy is gone. “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 is was again a green light on a dock...” (Gatsby 98).

A sense of belonging is not only a want, but a necessity for humans. It is described on “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs”, as feeling loved and accepted in the social world that we live in. Every individual has personal needs that reflect their paradigm of the world they live in. Some display selflessness, through being happy when others are happy. Others will go the extra mile to present their love and desire for another. While a person may appear happy, they may also be acting. Pretending to be someone is an expression of self doubt, and fear of not being accepted. There are numerous ways a person goes about feeling loved and accepted in their environments, and they vary based on self image and which needs they have prioritized.

Perhaps one of the most important, and most known, symbols is the Green Light. The Green Light represents Gatsby’s never-ending love for Daisy, but it also symbolizes how the future is never clear. Fitzgerald may have used the Green Light as foreshadowing the dreary future for all the characters. Gatsby who was so caught up in his attempt to win Daisy back that he was unable to see what was going on around him, the internal battle fought by Daisy while she was trying to rationalize his love; he was so sure that they would end up together again that he overlooked any negative consequences. The Green Light reminds the reader that no one truly knows what is out there or waiting, what the future holds. In contrast, Fitzgerald paints Daisy as the classic damsel in distress. However, he also puts a slight spin on the motif. Daisy desires Gatsby to save her away from her marriage, she claims that she does not love Tom and he does not make her happy. Furthermore she believes she has no power. She tells Gatsby, “‘All right,’ I said, ‘I’m glad it’s a girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool—that’s the best thing a girl can be in the world, a beautiful fool”’(116). However, it becomes evident that she in fact holds all the power and is the driving force behind Gatsby’s actions. If she were to want Gatsby to do anything, he would. Fitzgerald reshapes the motif to show readers that not is all as it

The first time the green light is introduced in the novel is also the first time Nick sees the mysterious Gatsby. Fitzgerald writes “ He stretched out his arm 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 out at the end of the dock” (Fitzgerald 25). The green light represents Gatsby’s dream, which was to be with Daisy. To obtain Daisy would complete Gatsby’s dream. The Green light also represents the social desire to obtain what seems to be