The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a novel about one man's disenchantment with the American dream. In the story we get a glimpse into the life of Jay Gatsby, a man who aspired to achieve a position amongst the American rich to win the heart of his true love, Daisy Fay. Gatsby's downfall was the fact that he was unable to determine that concealed boundary between reality and illusion in his life. The Great Gatsby is a tightly structured, symbolically compressed novel whose predominant images and symbols reinforce the idea that Gatsby's dream exists on borrowed time, and it is through this symbolism that Fitzgerald manages to highlight his own beliefs and values.

The rich symbolize the failure of a civilisation and the way of life and this flaw becomes apparent in the characters of Tom and Daisy Buchanan. Nick Carraway, the narrator of the story, quickly became disillusioned with the upper social class after having dinner at their home on the fashionable East Egg Island. Nick is forced unwillingly to observe the violent contrast between their opportunities - which is

The evolution of such triviality was Gatsby's particular tragedy and the tragedy of America. Gatsby fades into the past forever to take his place with the Dutch sailors who has chosen their moment in time so much more happily than he. By the close of the novel, Fitzgerald has completely convinced the reader that Gatsby's capacity for illusion is touching and heroic, despite the worthlessness of the objects of his dreams. It is through combining faultless artistry with symbolism, a symbolism that is strengthened by Fitzgerald's own beliefs and values, that Fitzgerald paints a vivid picture of the dream destined to fail because it's basis was an illusion, not reality.

"I became aware of the old island that flowered once for Dutch sailor's eyes - a fresh green breast of the new world. Its vanished trees, the trees that had made way for Gatsby's house, had once pandered in whispers to the last and greatest of all human dreams; for a transitory enchanted moment man must have held his breath in the presence of this continent, compelled into an aesthetic contemplation he neither understood nor desired, fact to face for the last time in history with something commensurate to his capacity for wonder. I thought of Gatsby's wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy's dock. He had come a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him." (Fitzgerald p.182)

A broader definition of the green light's significance is revealed in Chapter 5 as Gatsby and Daisy stand at one of the windows in his mansion. "If it wasn't for the mist we could see your home across the bay," said Gatsby. "You always have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock." Daisey put her arm through his abruptly but he seemed absorbed in what he had just said. Possibly it has occurred to him that the colossal significance of that light had vanished forever. Compared to the great disstance that had separated him from Daisy it had seemed very near to

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1395
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)