Light is a prominent motif in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel The Great Gatsby. Throughout the novel, light represents hope, dreams, and the future. The famous green light at the end of Daisy’s dock is the central symbol of Gatsby’s dream and aspirations. Light is contrasted with darkness, which represents the Valley of Ashes and the moral decay of wealthy East Egg. Overall, light serves as a metaphor for Gatsby’s longing for the past and his unachievable dream.
Gatsby’s Dream and Aspirations
The most iconic use of the light motif in The Great Gatsby is the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock across the bay from Gatsby’s mansion in West Egg. The light is first introduced in Chapter 1 when Nick observes Gatsby reaching towards it:
“…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.”
This green light represents Gatsby’s hopes, dreams and aspirations to reunite with Daisy, his lost love from five years ago. Gatsby associates Daisy with that light and views her as the embodiment of everything he wants – wealth, status, and happiness. The light gives Gatsby something to reach for and strive towards as he plots to win Daisy back. Gatsby’s longing and reaching for the green light symbolizes the American dream itself – the belief that anyone can rise up and achieve anything they want with enough hard work and determination.
Contrast Between Light and Darkness
Light and darkness are juxtaposed throughout the novel. Whereas light symbolizes hopes and dreams, darkness represents the moral decay, emptiness, and despair of the wealthy elite. The Valley of Ashes, situated between West Egg and New York City, is painted as a bleak, gray, ash-covered wasteland devoid of life or color. Fitzgerald writes:
This is a valley of ashes – a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air.
The Valley of Ashes represents the moral decay and hollowness of the rich upper class who inhabit West and East Egg. Although they live privileged lives, they are spiritually empty inside. The dark greyness contrasts sharply with the brightness of the green light – while some like Gatsby have hopes and aspirations, many of the wealthy elite are devoid of dreams or purpose.
Symbolizing the Future and the Past
In addition to dreams, light also symbolizes the future, while darkness represents the past. Gatsby is fixated on repeating and reliving his past with Daisy as they had been five years before. However, that past is gone and cannot be recreated. His insistence on trying to relive it prevents him from living in and enjoying the present. As Nick reflects:
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.
Gatsby continually reaches towards the light and future without realizing it keeps moving further away from him. He is stuck chasing the past instead of living in the present and looking ahead. The light represents the future that he cannot let go of and accept as gone.
East vs. West Egg
The two Eggs on either side of the Valley of Ashes also use light motif to highlight differences in their character. West Egg, where Gatsby lives, is portrayed as brighter, livelier, and more luminescent. Fitzgerald describes:
I lived at West Egg, the – well, the less fashionable of the two, though this is a most superficial tag to express the bizarre and not a little sinister contrast between them. My house was at the very tip of the egg, only fifty yards from the Sound, and squeezed between two huge places that rented for twelve or fifteen thousand a season.
Though less fashionable, West Egg has an energy and vibrancy to it represented by its light. By contrast, East Egg where Daisy, Tom, and the “old money” families live is described as:
Across the courtesy bay the white palaces of fashionable East Egg glittered along the water.
The hard glare of the palaces lacks the liveliness and gaiety of the lights of West Egg. The bright lights of East Egg lack warmth and humanity. This further develops the hollowness of the wealthy elite who inhabit it.
Lights and Parties
Light is also associated with the lavish, vibrant parties that Gatsby throws at his mansion. Fitzgerald devotes lengthy descriptions to Gatsby’s parties, the cars lined up outside, and the hundreds of guests laughing, dancing, and drinking by the glittering lights. For example:
There was music from my neighbor’s house through the summer nights. In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars.
On buffet tables, garnished with glistening hors-d’oeuvre, spiced baked hams crowded against salads of harlequin designs and pastry pigs and turkeys bewitched to a dark gold.
The lights add energy and vibrancy to Gatsby’s parties that attract hundreds of guests reveling in the dream-like atmosphere. However, even these scenes have an artificial, unreal quality, as the light mainly serves to disguise the empty, meaningless nature of these gatherings.
Sun and Moon
The sun and moon also play a role in the light motif. The moon is associated with dreams and the past, appearing often during Gatsby and Daisy’s intimate meetings. Their budding relationship years before was lit beneath the moonlight. The sun, meanwhile, represents harsh reality and the revealing of truth. During the tense scene at the Plaza Hotel between Tom, Daisy, Gatsby and Jordan, Nick observes:
High over the city our line of yellow windows must have contributed their share of human secrecy to the casual watcher in the darkening streets, and I was him too, looking up and wondering. I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.
As daylight starts fading to night, the veneer of their manufactured dream world begins fading too, exposing the ugly reality beneath. Light gives way to dark, and fantasy gives way to truth.
Conclusion
In summary, light is a central motif in The Great Gatsby that symbolizes hopes, dreams, and the future. The famous green light represents Gatsby’s longing for his past with Daisy and the American dream’s promise that anyone can achieve their goals with enough determination. Light contrasts with darkness, which represents the moral emptiness of the wealthy elite. Light is also tied to Gatsby’s lavish parties and the vibrancy of West Egg, compared to the cold glamour of East Egg. And the sun and moon juxtapose harsh reality against romantic dreams and the past. Through its motif of light, The Great Gatsby explores the collision of fantasy and reality, dreams and disillusionment. The green light draws the reader into Gatsby’s vision of the future while exposing the impossibility of ever realizing that dream or turning back time.
| Type of Light | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Green light at Daisy’s dock | Gatsby’s hopes, dreams and aspirations for the future |
| Valley of Ashes darkness | Moral decay and hollowness of the wealthy elite |
| West Egg luminescence | Vibrancy and energy |
| East Egg glittering palaces | Cold, hard glamour and wealth |
| Gatsby’s party lights | Artificial excitement hiding emptiness underneath |
| Moonlight | Dreams and the past |
| Sunlight | Harsh reality and truth |
