In The Great Gatsby, the green light at the end of the dock takes on many meanings. The very first chapter describes Nick observing Gatsby emerging from his home and stretching his arms out towards the bay. He notices that Gatsby is "trembling," but when he tries to figure out what Gatsby is reaching for, he says that he "distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock (24)." This is significant because the reader, along with Nick, does not yet know the importance of the green light or what weight it carries.
The second time the light appears, it is in chapter five, when Gatsby is showing Daisy his mansion after he encounters her "accidentally" while she is visiting Nick. He tells her that "'If it weren't for the mist we could see your home across the bay.…You always have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock (99)." The light is described as losing a "colossal significance" that it once had, because now that Gatsby is seeing and touching Daisy, the green light no longer carries the same value. We learn that it, in Gatsby's mind, signified Daisy herself but diminished when he was with her physically.
The final appearance of the green light is in chapter nine, at the end of the novel. By this point the characters have either left East Egg or have died. It takes on a rather pessimistic meaning: that like Gatsby, we will always be pulled back into the past by our past mistakes. And the light no longer belongs to him. It is now a symbol of what we are all striving towards–the future–even though it is out of reach, no matter how far we stretch our arms.
The green light in Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby changes in meaning throughout the text. In the beginning of the novel, we witness Gatsby with his arms outstretched, staring across the bay at a green light on the end of a dock. Nick describes him as "trembling." Later, when Daisy and Gatsby reconnect at Nick's house, Jay tells her, "You always have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock." We realize that, to Gatsby, the green light is a symbol of Daisy, a hope to once more have her in his life. Losing Daisy left Gatsby so empty over the years, and the light was the closest he could get to her—it was "almost touching her." Jay's reaction to the light connects to his illusion that he can erase present circumstances, such as Daisy's marriage and daughter, and return to the past.
At the luncheon, Nick closely observes the two former lovers and realizes that Gatsby is so enamored with Daisy that his entire life for the past five years has been driven by his desire to reunite with her. The light has been his only connection. However, "the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever." As Gatsby leads Daisy through his mansion, he observes how impressed Daisy is with his wealth. All of Gatsby's illegal activities to acquire wealth have now succeeded in impressing Daisy and wooing her back into his arms. Now that he and Daisy have reunited, Gatsby no longer needs the green light. "Now it was again a green light on a dock." Therefore, the green light's significance to Jay has dimmed; it is no longer a symbol of a future with Daisy, since Gatsby believes he has her again.
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