The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald.

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        F. Scott Fitzgerald aims to show that the myth of the American dream is fading away. The American values of brotherhood and peace have been eradicated and replaced with ideas of immediate prosperity and wealth. Fitzgerald feels that the dream is no longer experienced and that the dream has been perverted with greed and malice. The Great Gatsby parallels the dreams of America with the dream of Jay Gatsby in order to show the fallacies that lie in both of them. Fitzgerald reveals that both dreams are complete illusions. Those who follow the dream are manipulated into believing that they lead to true happiness when in fact they are lead to their demise. Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald illustrates his main themes through a perpetual use of a series of colors, specifically green. The color green has two main meanings in the novel. Fitzgerald uses the color green to symbolize Gatsby’s hope in his quest to obtain Daisy, but also uses green to symbolize America’s obsession with wealth during the 1920s, and in both examples, the novel illustrates that all the affiliates are lead to their inevitable downfall.

“He [Jay Gatsby] stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and as far as I [Nick Carraway]  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.” Fitzgerald constantly makes allusions to the color green throughout The Great Gatsby in order to insinuate a sentiment of hope that relates to the color especially for Jay Gatsby’s character. The reader is introduced to the green light at the end of chapter one, but is not aware of the relevance of it until later on in the novel when Fitzgerald informs the reader that the green light is associated with the green light of Daisy Buchanan’s dock. “You [Daisy Buchanan] always have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock.” The idea of Gatsby’s love for Daisy is perpetually indicated through the use of the color green. Gatsby’s entire life had a sole purpose which was to obtain Daisy and to have his love returned. Gatsby’s desire and love had hypnotized him into believing an illusion of Daisy that he had concocted in his mind, in which she was portrayed as innocent, virginal, and loving person which was far from reality. “There must have been moments…when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams – not through her own fault but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion.”

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In order to reach the light, Gatsby had to acquire a respected position in society and also he had to acquire money in order to satisfy Daisy’s shallowness and greed. “Rich girls don’t marry poor boys.” “Her [Daisy] voice is full of money.” The color green is also open to represent the money and prosperity, which Gatsby has obtained over the years in order to finally reunite himself with Daisy and win her love, finally fulfilling his life-long agenda. Money rules the lives of all the characters in the story, and more importantly, Fitzgerald also shows money is the sole ...

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