My book club's debate over 'The Great Gatsby' got so heated that Sarah from my Tuesday group stormed out of the coffee shop after yelling 'You're all missing the entire point of the green light'.

Has anyone else had a book club meeting completely derail because two members had such opposite takes on a single symbol?

3 comments

3 Comments

alice2421mo ago

Sarah's reaction is totally understandable. That green light can feel like a personal attack on your whole reading of the book. It's amazing how a simple symbol can hold such different, powerful meanings for people.

adamellis2mo ago

Honestly, what was Sarah's take on the green light? Because I've seen that fight before, where one person sees it as pure hope and another sees it as a trap, and there is no middle ground. It's wild how a single image can split a room like that.

the_jason2mo ago

Our group's fight over the white whale in Moby Dick ended when we just agreed it could mean both obsession and the unknown. Sometimes you have to let a symbol be two things at once.