When The Great GatsÂby was first pubÂlished, it flopped; nearÂly a cenÂtuÂry latÂer, its place at the pinÂnaÂcle of AmerÂiÂcan litÂerÂaÂture is almost uniÂverÂsalÂly agreed upon. Of the objecÂtors, many no doubt rememÂber too vividÂly havÂing to answer essay quesÂtions about the meanÂing of the green light on the Buchanans’ dock. PerÂhaps “the most debatÂed symÂbol in the hisÂtoÂry of AmerÂiÂcan litÂerÂaÂture,” it tends to be interÂpretÂed simulÂtaÂneÂousÂly as “GatsÂby’s love for Daisy, monÂey, and the AmerÂiÂcan dream,” as James Payne puts it in his new Great Books Explained video above. ExamÂined more closeÂly, “what it may sugÂgest is that the AmerÂiÂcan dream’s most un-disÂcussed qualÂiÂty is its inacÂcesÂsiÂbilÂiÂty.”
“FitzgerÂald felt that the AmerÂiÂcan dream has lost its way,” Payne says. “BaseÂball, AmerÂiÂca’s pasÂtime and the purest of games, had been corÂruptÂed by the Black Sox game fixÂing of 1919, a real-life scanÂdal menÂtioned in The Great GatsÂby. FitzgerÂald used it as an alleÂgoÂry of AmerÂiÂca: if baseÂball is corÂrupt, then we are realÂly in trouÂble.”
Hence GatsÂby’s ultiÂmate disÂcovÂery that Daisy, the woman for whom he had wholÂly reinÂventÂed himÂself (in that quinÂtesÂsenÂtialÂly AmerÂiÂcan way), falls so far short of what he’d imagÂined; hence how GatsÂby’s own “clasÂsic rags-to-richÂes stoÂry” is “comÂpliÂcatÂed by the fact that he made his monÂey in bootÂlegÂging.” In the end, “the AmerÂiÂcan dream only belongs to estabÂlishÂment figÂures,” those “who were born into it. EveryÂone’s class is fixed, just like the World Series.”
Though not well-received in its day, The Great GatsÂby offered a preÂmoÂniÂtion of disÂasÂter ahead that subÂseÂquentÂly came true in both the AmerÂiÂcan econÂoÂmy and FitzgerÂald’s perÂsonÂal life. But even in the book, “despite his fear that AmerÂiÂca is lost, he still offers hope.” Hence the vivid quaÂsi-optiÂmism of the closÂing lines about how “GatsÂby believed in the green light, the orgasÂtic future that year by year recedes before us,” which frames AmerÂiÂcans as “boats against the curÂrent, borne back ceaseÂlessÂly into the past” — a pasÂsage whose interÂpreÂtaÂtion teachÂers are always liable to demand. If you hapÂpen to be a stuÂdent yourÂself, savÂing Payne’s video in hopes of a quick and easy A on your EngÂlish lit exam, know that there are few more time-honÂored techÂniques in purÂsuit of the AmerÂiÂcan dream than lookÂing for shortÂcuts.
RelatÂed conÂtent:
Free: The Great GatsÂby & OthÂer Major Works by F. Scott FitzgerÂald
The Great GatsÂby Is Now in the PubÂlic Domain and There’s a New GraphÂic NovÂel
83 Years of Great GatsÂby Book CovÂer Designs: A PhoÂto Gallery
HaruÂki MurakaÂmi TransÂlates The Great GatsÂby, the NovÂel That InfluÂenced Him Most
Based in Seoul, ColÂin Marshall writes and broadÂcasts on cities, lanÂguage, and culÂture. His projects include the SubÂstack newsletÂter Books on Cities, the book The StateÂless City: a Walk through 21st-CenÂtuÂry Los AngeÂles and the video series The City in CinÂeÂma. FolÂlow him on TwitÂter at @colinmarshall or on FaceÂbook.
That fuzzy green light immeÂdiÂateÂly brings to mind the Absinthe Green Fairy, with which FitzgerÂald would have been familÂiar from his time in France, if not before. The light is comÂmonÂly takÂen to stand for, varÂiÂousÂly, the lure of future delights, greed, sickness,corruption, and death. The Green Fairy will bring these, in turn, if you folÂlow her.
The green light itself, if the maps in the video are corÂrect, will be a norÂmal navÂiÂgaÂtionÂal chanÂnel markÂer, givÂen that the AmerÂiÂcÂas and some othÂer US influÂenced counÂtries use the oppoÂsite direcÂtion of buoyÂage to the rest of the world.
It is posÂsiÂbly sigÂnifÂiÂcant that nobody in the book ever notices the corÂreÂspondÂing red light that would have been on NickÂ’s side of the chanÂnel, offerÂing furÂther symÂbolÂic posÂsiÂbilÂiÂties. FitzgerÂald had been a guest on yachts, but does not seem to have been a sailor, so may not have known about the sysÂtem of chanÂnel markÂers.