Nick, strangely “confused and a little disgusted” as he drives home, finds an equally curious sight waiting for him when he arrives at his house. While sitting outside, he sees Gatsby’s silhouette as he crosses to the water. Nick, seeing something in Gatsby’s behavior that suggests he wishes to be alone, remains in the shadows watching. Gatsby proceeds to the water and stretches out his arms toward the water, trembling. Nick, looking to see what Gatsby was gesturing to, finds nothing but “a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock.” This single green light has gone on to become one of the most famous symbols in all of American literature (see the Chapter 5 commentary for an explanation). It appears here, in Chapter 5, and again at the book’s end. The light marks Daisy’s house — Gatsby’s gesture toward it, as the later chapters show, is a gesture of love.
