"Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . . And then one fine morning—
So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."
In these last few pages Gatsby changes from a person to an epiphany, allowing Nick to make somme tough realizations about the nature of humanity as a whole. Everyone, he saw, wanted the good old American dream, and even if it didn't happen one day, well, they would try harder the next day until it was eventually achieved. What Nick finally realizes though, is that for most people, this dream either will never come to fruition, or already has, the dreamer merely being unawares. Because of this, the dreams become empty and meaningless as they did for Gatsby, eventually bringing only disillusionment and sadness. Because whether we never achieve our dream, or just don't realize when we do, it amounts to the same thing: A constant struggle to move our lives forwards, when in reality we may be doing just the opposite.