Question Response:
Symbol:
Gatsby looks for Daisy in the green light at the end of her dock. Does any one in the story truly know Daisy? Does the light becomes a symbol for something else?
---No, there is nobody in the story truly know Daisy. The green light not only represents Daisy as a person ,but it also symbolizes a dream, an unattainable dream for Gatsby. And the dream just like his elusive future. As Nick states at the end of this novel, "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 futher... And one fine morning-..."(pg.171)
Nick describes that Gatsby had created an illusion of "colossal vitality." Taking Nick's point of view, what has Daisy come to represent? Why has Gatsby created such a "colossal" illusion?
---I think Daisy may represent the motivity for Gatsby to live up to Daisy's ideal. He tries his best to give Daisy more and protect her, even after Daisy's careless drive has killed Myrtle, he still worries about her and be afraid of that she may be harmed by others. The reason why he created such a "colossal" illusion is he really loves Daisy deeply.
3. How might the novel symbolize the American Dream? How might the novel, or the characters within the novel, fail to capture the American Dream?
--- One of the most important themes for this book is about the American Dream. In particular, Gatsby himself is a good example of a man becomes successful through the American Dream. This novel uses the character Gatsby to reveal how the American Dream works and Gatsby also symbolizes the American Dream, but the death of him symbolizes that the American Dream is not so realistic and people often fail to capture it. For Gatsby, the power for him to chase the American Dream is his goal of reclaiming Daisy, but in the end his dream doesn't come true, and even himself ends up having a tragic death....