Here's a famous quote from the book that says:
So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.
Could someone please explain it in easy words? Here's the full context:
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.
Best Answer
Some sailing terminology might help here. A sailboat cannot sail directly upwind. It can sail within approx. 45° of upwind (depending on the boat). In order to go upwind you must sail a zig-zag pattern commonly called tacking or beating upwind. If conditions are poor, or if you are a bad sailor, you can spend a lot of time moving quite quickly over the water, feeling like you are making good speed, but actually making very little overall progress (or even ending up downwind).
I think this sentence is meant to evoke the same kind of vigorous, directed, yet ultimately futile activity as a sailor who is trying but failing to move against the wind or water current.