By saying that the “colossal significance” of the light has “vanished forever,” Nick meant that now that Gatsby and Daisy had been reunited, the light had lost all of its’ significance. The green light was just another mystery that was surrounding Gatsby in the beginning of the book. At the end of Chapter one, Nick saw Gatsby staring off into the distance at a green light and said “…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,” (pg. 26).
Opinions
The Green Light
By: Abby Bass
The light at the end of the dock symbolized the dream that Gatsby had of reuniting with Daisy. This is evident when Jordan Baker is telling Nick, “Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay,” (pg. 83). The significance of the green light diminishing is that now that Daisy and Gatsby have started to see and be around each other again, the light no longer shows the distance between them. Now the light shows how close they are to each other. This is evident when Nick tells us “…compared to the great distance that had separated him from Daisy it had seemed very near to her, almost touching her,” (pg. 98).
(Below) This is a picture of the green light that Gatsby sees at the at the end of Daisy's dock