Video: http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/gatsby/
The Green Light at Daisy's dock
"Situated at the end of Daisy’s East Egg dock and barely visible from Gatsby’s West Egg lawn, the green light represents Gatsby’s hopes and dreams for the future. Gatsby associates it with Daisy, and in Chapter 1 he reaches toward it in the darkness as a guiding light to lead him to his goal. Because Gatsby’s quest for Daisy is broadly associated with the American dream, the green light also symbolizes that more generalized ideal. In Chapter 9, Nick compares the green light to how America, rising out of the ocean, must have looked to early settlers of the new nation." - Taken from SparkNotes - 'The Great Gatsby' - http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/gatsby/themes.html
Elaborating on that, Fitzgerald cleverly used the metaphor 'The light at the end of the tunnel' to represent Gatsby and his goal.In relation to the idea of the American dream in this instance, it represents the dream in a more personalised view. Over years, when people have been asked what they believed the dream actually means, they refer to the generic view that is means success, wealth, etc. Whereas in Gatsby, the dream is taken on a personal journey for him to win back his true love. It's interesting how in the very last paragraph of the book, Nick makes reference to the green light and suggests how that must have been what the first settlers saw America as when they first arrived here. This suggests new beginning, so it almost leaves the reader with a positive outlook for the story as, although Gatsby is dead, it implies that Nick's life is having a do over and will become something of greater importance now that he's starting over.
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