Light at the end of the tunnel In the book "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald, it is about a mysteriously rich man who is obsessed with a girl called Margaret. He is in love with Daisy and has become rich to impress her. The main theme of the story is also about the American dream. The story is set in the summer of 1922 in Long Island, New York. There are many symbols in the book connected to the American dream of the 1920s. It was a time when rich people lived luxuriously and were also materialistic. Fitzgerald shows the American dream as a period in which there is a decline in social and moral values. It symbolizes that the American dream can be achieved, but people become materialistic and it is an impossible standard. The green light is significant because it symbolizes Gatsby's dream for the future. It is associated with Daisy and later with money and status. To have it, he would have to be rich and achieve the American dream. It's the green light that takes him to his goal. After returning from the war and being able to get rich, he bought a mansion directly across from Daisy. His obsession with Daisy is connected to the American dream. The first time Nick had seen Gatsby, “he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and no matter how far away I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I looked out to sea – and distinguished nothing except a single green light, tiny and distant” (Fitzgerald 33). This quote shows him approaching the green light, which is like him approaching Daisy. It symbolizes his hope to do so. It represents the waste and results of capitalism. People and the environment itself suffer. It is also symbolic that Mrytle died in the Valley of Ashes, which further proves that he could not escape his social economic status. The representative ashes of the story are the people who move further and further away from the American dream because they are greedy, arrogant and self-centered like Mrytle. It can be concluded that the American dream in the 1920s brought benefits to those who are able to work hard and strive for a better future.