The Great Gatsby

The thing that struck me most about The Great Gatsby was the melancholy tone and pessimistic symbolism. The symbolism that I focused most on was the green light (page 26 & 189). In the end, Nick, the narrator mentions that the green light signifies the future, but I think the green light symbolizes the whole book; the unattainable hope that the book will have a "fairy-tale ending" and that Daisy will leave Tom and go with Gatsby.

It is funny, because even though I would think the book would be unoriginal if Daisy left Tom, I still desperately wished for it to happen. The reason I liked the book was because of this longing that provoked me to identify and understand the characters(I annotated in the text-to-self way). Yet it made me so mad in the end when I didn't hear anything about Daisy!

It was the only part of the book I thought hated! This may sound bad, but I wanted to read about how Daisy came back and was devastated...she hated herself for not being with Gatsby...she lived the rest of her life in misery, losing the love of her life...

But then I understood that this is not what would of happened with Daisy...

I disliked Daisy from the start. She was an airhead, shallow and annoying. I did not understand why a man as affluent as Gatsby loved her.

Fitzgerald left the end open for assumptions, so I assume that Daisy was saddened and guilty by Gatsby's death, but she moved on, and wasn't in love with him after all. She had chose Tom over him.

This made me so mad. Gatsby lost his life for a girl that didn't even truly love him (I think). I guess the tragedy in this story is what made it a classic. I know that it is a better book for it...even though deep down, I wish the green light wasn't a symbol of false hope, but of real hope.