In a dream, the dreamer believes in the existence of a limitless realm. In a dream, there is an endless sense of hope and everything in the dream seems to be attainable. In The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby is a dreamer, but his dreams are full of "foul dust" (Fitzgerald 2). Fitzgerald alludes to the Heart of Darkness's character, Kurtz, whose one-minded goal is empty and ultimately leads to his downfall. Therefore, through Fitzgerald's allusion, he is saying that Gatsby's dream of being happy with Daisy is purely imaginative and has no substance to it. The "green light," signifying Gatsby's false hopes and dreams, enables him to believe he can repeat the past, blinding him to reality.
Although his dream is unattainable, Gatsby is willing to give up anything for even the slightest hope of achieving it. Gatsby's father gives Nick a book with a strict schedule written in the back of it that Gatsby had when he was a boy and "it just shows you" his focus at a young age to be successful (Fitzgerald 173).
The narrator gives the reader this schedule to show how Gatsby is willing to do anything his mind is set upon. The flamboyant lifestyle Gatsby displays, such as his fancy clothing, the lavish parties, and the Rolls Royce, is in hopes of one day impressing Daisy with his successes. Gatsby does not really care for any of these material things, as his small and simple bedroom shows, but they are all there in order to attain the "green light." Fitzgerald first introduces the reader to the character, Jay Gatsby, when Nick walks outside one night to see him stretch "out his arms towardâ¦a single green light" (20-21). This "green light" that Gatsby reaches out to is the light...