The sun represents positivity and confidence, The moon represents fears and anxiety, and The starts represent hope and faith. To have worries and think positively about their outcomes is to have hope. All playing a part in creating a sky of comforts for an individual. While this is not inherently bad, especially if people use faith and hope to cope with their hardships, hope can lead to dangerous consequences.
Theres a story told in Greek Mythology of Pandora’s box. The story goes that Zeus sent down on his favorite henchmen, prometheus, to deliver gifts to human kind. Be that as it may, the human population still wasn’t doing well so he wanted to offer them the gift of fire against Zeus will. Prometheus did so anyways and as punishment Zeus presented Pandora to Prometheus’ twin brother Epimetheys. (Prometheus meaning pro-though and Epimetheys meaning after-thought)
Pandora had a jar left in her care, and she was told not to open it. However, when she shows this box to Epimetheys he acts out of whim and opens it, not knowing that all human suffering is contained within the box. Sicknesses, death, and unexpected evil were released into the world, and once Epimetheys understood what he had done, he tries to shut the box before they all come out, trapping Hope within the box.
Many scholars have tried to decipher why ‘Hope’ of all things was trapped within the box. We still have it, does that means it’s a good thing? was its harm mitigated by it being contained? or does that mean it actually is harmful and we just don’t have the wisdom of it being dangerous therefore leading to our own downfalls?
The Great Gatsby speaks a lot to disillusionment and how hope can often play a lethal role in a story built on it. With Gatsby holding hope for Daisy, Daisy holding hope on having a loving and peaceful life, Tom holding hope of maintaining control, Nicks holding hope to remain passive, all coming to a unsatisfying denial of all their hopes.
-lucid lamb