Janae’s Blog

“And as the moon rose higher the inessential houses began to melt away until gradually I became aware of the old island here that flowered once for Dutch sailors’ 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, face to face for the last time in history with something commensurate to his capacity for wonder.” (189)

This is Fitzgerald’s opinion of the American dream; that it is something that every man desires, yet doesn’t completely understand. People see new oppurtunities as ways to advance them in life, and oftentimes overlook how the journey through the new experiences will ultimately shape their outcome.

“And as I sat there brooding on the old, unknown world, 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 that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him, somewhere back in that vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the night.” (189)

As well, Nick develops and sees his view of the American Dream, and realizes that people, namley Gatsby, become so caught up in their pursuit they often miss what is right in front of them. Nick as changed and matured through his experiences in New York, and views the world diferently now.