Green Lights, Yellow Cars, and Church Steeples

In "The Great Gatsby," the green light represents Gatsby's dream, to get back together with Daisy. The green light is described as "minute and far away." This makes it seem as if the green light, or Daisy, is impossible to reach. Although for Gatsby it signifies his yearn for Daisy, it also symbolizes society's desire for the American Dream. Another symbolic element in the Great Gatsy is Gatsby's yellow car. Yellow is a very significant color in this story. It symbolizes Gatsby's crooked way of trying to achieve the American dream. Gold and yellow are almost the same color, which signifies genuine, and real wealth, old money. Old money is something of which Gatsby does not have. Since Gatsby used bootlegging to gain his wealth, it isn't genuine or pure. Church steeples are also an extremely important symbolic element in this story. In the story, when church steeples are mentioned, there is a reference to Immanuel Kant. He was a german philosopher who developed his theories regarding morality while looking at a church steeple. This is what Nick was doing, contemplating his decisions from here on out. Nick was trying to reserve judgement, but he was going to be compromised by his morality.