Green is a color we all know and love, from the hue of luxurious emeralds, to the smell of newly printed money, to that look on your mister’s face when someone’s car is a little shinier than his! And if you’ve heard anything about Jay Gatsby, you may or may not be surprised to learn that the wealthy man has a penchant for anything green.
From that mysterious green glow that can be seen from his backyard at the parties he hosts, to the color of the seats in his fancy convertible, Gatsby fancies green like a drunkard fancies liquor: he just HAS to have it!
“He stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward—and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock.” – N.C.
(Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, Chapter 1).
Now, what exactly is that green light? Is it a dock, as our dear informant speculates? Well, one of Gatsby’s frequent party guests has an answer for us. Gatsby wasn’t reaching for a dock, or imagining that by grasping the green light he’d get richer, but instead…
“Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay.” – J.B.
(Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, Chapter 4).
Jay Gatsby also has a penchant for the charming Daisy Buchanan! Or so our informant says.
Now, does his fancy car make sense?
“I’d seen it. Everybody had seen it. It was a rich cream colour, bright with nickel… Sitting down behind many layers of glass in a sort of green leather conservatory…” – N.C.
“He felt the hot, green leather of the seat.” – N.C.
(Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, Chapter 4)
(Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, Chapter 7)
Every time he sat in his car, he’d be able to think about that green light, the glow of Mrs. Buchanan’s residence. Well, it seems that Gatsby wears his heart on his sleeve, and we look forward to each new piece of gossip! Perhaps he’ll make a move on Mrs. Buchanan and challenge her husband…
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald. eBook #64317. Project Gutenberg, January 17, 2021, online.
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/64317/64317-h/64317-h.htm
