In the second to last paragraph of the novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald leaves us with this narrative by Nick:
"Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter - tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms further... And one fine morning -" (172)The first sentence relates to Gatsby's desire for Daisy and their past love, yet also means significantly more. Nick is referring to Gatsby's obsession with something that only existed in the past, which he spent his entire life trying to get back. Thus, Gatsby wasted his 'receding future' by pursuing an affair that should have stayed in the past. In the next sentence, 'tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms further' shows typical human procrastination. Almost as if Fitzgerald is having Nick say 'oh it doesn't matter that we missed out dreams that time... We'll get 'em when they come round again' which seems to contrast what was said in the first sentence. After having read the second sentence, its almost as if Nick is congratulating Gatsby on actually trying to run faster, and stretch his arms out further, to try and catch what 'eluded us then'.

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