His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one.
The dream fades and reality invades!
Not only does this passage continue to establish the symbolic significance of the green light and reveal that Daisy may not be meeting Gatsby’s built-up expectations after all these years, but Nick provides an excellent definition of symbolism: that symbolism is an “enchanted object.” The presence and importance of symbolism is massive in his book, and so it is interesting that Nick observes Gatsby removing a symbol he created from himself.
When Gatsby was physically reaching for the light in an earlier chapter it was because he longed for Daisy. The green light is where she lives. Now that Daisy is with him (for the time being) the light has no significance to Gatsby.
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