Question

I decided to call to him. Miss Baker had mentioned him at dinner, and that would do for an introduction. But I didn’t call to him, for he gave a sudden intimation that he was content to be alone – 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. When I looked once more for Gatsby he had vanished, and I was alone again in the unquiet darkness.

—The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald

What is the effect of Gatsby reaching through the dark setting toward the light?

It creates conflict.

It creates mystery and interest.
It emphasizes ideas and themes.

It resolves conflict.

Answer 1

It emphasizes ideas and themes.

The image of Gatsby reaching across the dark toward the distant green light is symbolic: the light stands for his longing (Daisy, the American Dream), the dark water and distance show the obstacles and elusiveness of that desire. The gesture deepens Fitzgerald’s themes of aspiration, illusion, and the unattainable. (It also adds mystery, but its primary effect is thematic rather than resolving or creating conflict.)