Gatsby & Daisy

“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.” (Fitzgerald)

          This is the last line of The Great Gatsby and it symbolizes Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship. Gatsby spent many nights staring across the bay toward a green light. The green light can be seen as Daisy’s love for Gatsby and how he it is something that he will never be able to obtain. All Gatsby sees is this light, but it is always across the bay and therefore unobtainable. He describes the light as orgastic to show that it is the climax of his desires and passions. Daisy eluded Gatsby then, and he is still trying to reach it thinking that if he runs faster with stretched out arms he might one day get to her. ‘Running faster’ and ‘stretched out arms’ are symbolic of material wealth as well as how Gatsby is chasing his dreams. Gatsby thinks that if he gets wealthier Daisy will love him. And so Gatsby continues to fight for her without realizing that this dream is a delusion. The last line states, “We beat on, boats against the current”. Boats against the current is a metaphor for how futile Gatsby dream is. His dream is a boat sailing against the current; the current always wins. Not only is his dream of Daisy’s love futile but detrimental as well. He is “borne back ceaselessly into the past” in which he has nothing. He came from a poor family with nothing and now, although he has all this material wealth, he still has nothing. All his efforts were for naught and his dream running ahead with out-stretched is actually dragging him backwards. 

West vs East in The Great Gatsby

          What is the significance of the two primary location throughout the book, West Egg and East Egg? The type of people who live in West Egg are like Nick Caraway and Jay Gatsby. Although initially they seem like complete opposites, they are quite similar. It appears as though Nick Caraway is humble and a simple man and Jay Gatsby is the opposite, throwing lavish parties in his a mansion every day. The book opens with Nick talking about his father’s advice, Nick himself saying that he lives in the less fashionable area and his house rents for eighty dollars whereas his neighbor’s houses rent for fifteen thousand dollars a season. This gives the impression that Nick is the average guy. By the end we find out that Nick isn’t humble at all. He has all these connections through his schooling at Yale and constantly refers to himself as honest and judgement free when that is exactly what he is doing for the whole book, judging people. He has this background commentary going on each of his “friends”. Nick Caraway does all this just to fit in with his East Egg buddies, he is trying to be liked by Daisy, Tom and especially Jordan. This sounds exactly like what Jay Gatsby is trying to do throughout the whole book. He throws parties that he himself doesn’t attend and portrays himself as an entrepreneur when in reality he is knee deep in illegal activity. He is trying to fit in with the kind of people in East Egg. So that’s West Egg, actors playing the part of East Egg individuals.

          East Egg, on the other hand, is portrayed like utopia. Everyone is rich, careless, judgmental, and dishonest and no one bats an eye. People do what they want and it’s all good. Tom is cheating on Daisy and she is for the most part fine with it. East Egg is shown as the desire of all other people, the elite class. However, as shown by Nick’s observations, East Egg is rotten to the core. All in all, West Egg is a stepping stone toward East Egg.