What does this final line of The Great Gatsby mean? That depends on what you want it to mean. You can use this line to support an affirming “life goes on” perspective. Or, if you are an existentialist, you can say that it shows how pointless it is to go against the current. You could say it proves the validity of socialism. Maybe it says something about the Original Sin. Or, if you’re like me, you can simply enjoy it, and let it drift up into your thoughts, catch the light for a while, then sail slowly into the horizon.
F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (New York: Simon & Schuster, Scribner, trade paperback edition. 2003), 189.