F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby is a moving story that showcases the strength of human endeavors, the consequences that may befall an individual and others as a result of their conquest, and the sacrifice of one's moral integrity. All three of these concepts are combined in Fitzgerald's work, which ultimately leads to the story's tragic yet thought provoking end. The idea of the green light that Gatsby admires at night early on in the text while it shines so tantalizingly far away, across the bay in front of Daisy and Tom's mansion, is a symbol for the dream. Gatsby reaching out toward this light is metaphorically depictive of him reaching out for his dream; his lifelong goal of reuniting with Daisy. The physical distance the author creates between Gatsby and this light shows that Gatsby feels his goal is intangible and will be difficult to achieve, but the fact that the light is close enough to see, or that Gatsby has finally bought a house close to Daisy, gives him the inspiration to fight for his goal. The choice of this light's color, green, could even be related the meaning of a stoplight's green; go. Gatsby sees hope in this light, he sees hope in being with Daisy, and his mind tells him desperately to proceed and go after what he wants. However, this desperation and determination creates some dangerous situations later in the text. The yellow car, Gatsby's flashy and infamous automobile that through the hands of Daisy, ran over Tom's mistress Myrtle, is a motif of the risks behind a dream. In order for Gatsby to become close to Daisy, he was forced to exemplify a facade of extravagance and indulgence, and this took the form of large parties, an impressive estate acquired through his hard work, and, although tastelessly insulted by some, the yellow car. What's rather terrifying though is that all of these things were procured solely to win Daisy's affections. This shows Gatsby's blatant dedication to his dream and how he will do just about anything to romance Daisy again. This is also rather disadvantageous to Gatsby because he is becoming extremely one track minded now, his only focus is being with Daisy, and he is blind to the other factors that discourage his plan, such as the fact that he is attempting an affair with a married woman that has a child, or that his wealth has been established via illegal means. He has failed to question any of these bold moves and the event that finally impedes his journey is the manslaughter of Myrtle Wilson. At this moment he knows that he and Daisy could face immeasurable trouble for the incident, but doing what he excels at, he makes the reckless decision to take responsibility for Daisy's actions and protect her. Unbeknownst to him, Tom and Daisy were planning for him to take the fall in her stead anyway. This event serves as a climax for the text as Gatsby must deal with an even more detrimental flaw in his dream and the reader sees how Daisy does not mind using others to protect her image, even if that means accusing others of murder. Revisiting the car as a symbol, the reader can connect it to the saying "living life in the fast lane." As one accelerates their vehicle, their surroundings begin to blur and this can be applied to how blind Gatsby was to the consequences of his actions. It can also be said that Gatsby's view of Daisy became more distorted, and as he focused on being with her, he created a false persona of her. Unfortunately, he did not think he would fall in love with a woman that could easily betray him which creates the question of "exactly how well did Gatsby know the true Daisy?" Furthermore, as a driver increases their speed, their reaction time decreases, and the reader knows that Myrtle's death was purely an accident, but an accident that could have been avoided; Gatsby's choice to allow Daisy to drive is one of the many possibilities that could have averted Myrtle's demise. Notice that the car's color is yellow, and like the green light, could be applied to a stoplight's yellow light meaning yield. It is possible that this is representative of Gatsby's necessity to think before he acts.
Finally, the church steeple scene, where Nick gazes upon Gatsby mansion and compares himself to philosopher Imanuel Kant, a profound thinker that created "The Categorical Imperative," a strict moral code. This is a direct commentary on the morality of several issues in the text; infidelity, economic corruption, murder, inaction, etc. All of the major characters in The Great Gatsby faced problems of right and wrong and many compromised these principles for their own advantage. It could even be questioned whether or not Gatsby lost sight of his true identity by creating such fallacious facade for Daisy.
All in all, The Great Gatsby provides several interesting symbols in its text that can be a reflection of deep characterization.
