"The Green Light" in Sports

        Recently in our AP Senior English class we had to annotate the last couple paragraphs of "The Great Gatsby". After reading "The Great Gatsby" last year in AP Junior English and re-reading this short passage, I couldn't help but notice how F. Scott Fitzgerald mentions the green light when referring to Gatsby's love or longing to want to be with Daisy. As I recall from reading it last year, Gatsby had falling in love with Daisy, but when he came back from the war, she was married and had moved on somewhat with her life. The green light was the only thing that Gatsby had left of Daisy in hindsight. 

      Tying the green light to sports is very simplistic but complex at the same time. Most people get into sports because they have a passion for whatever sport they play. They live it, drink it, eat it, and sleep it. They do whatever is necessary to become better. But that "green light" can be the passion or determination to become the best. It's what drives them. But also the ability and skill of others drives them to develop their skill set and become better. For example, when Michael Jordan came into the NBA, people said he wasn't a good enough defender to defend at the shooting guard position. Not only did he prove them wrong, but he went on to win numerous 'Defensive Player of the Year' awards during his 13 year career with the Bulls. Throughout "The Great Gatsby", Gatsby kept trying to blind Daisy about who he was before the war with all the money he had got, the mansion, cars, etc. Everyone said he had no chance to get her, and even though he didn't, the determination to be with her triumphed all.

       The connection between the "green light" of Gatsby and the green light of athletes is the determination that both display. Neither want to give up on something worth fighting for. Gatsby's love for Daisy wouldn't go denied throughout the book. Athletes who want to make it; there work ethic isn't denied either.