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Significance of symbolism in literature
Significance of symbolism in literature
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In our society today colors have a deeper meaning than just the pigments we see them as. They have varied meanings depending on the culture or circumstance, being anything from emotions to social classes. In The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald utilizes colors to help his readers determine where the main characters stand in their social rankings. High class and riches are a very important concept to the characters in this novel. Four of the main colors that he uses in this novel to portray their own unique meanings are red, blue, and gold. Each of these colors tend to cling to a certain character in The Great Gatsby and follow them throughout the novel, only occasionally blending into another character’s lifestyle. …show more content…
Being that Daisy lives on the East side, it is fitting that the color gold is linked to her. This is because gold is considered to be representative of “old money”. Daisy’s one true passion in life is for money. Her husband, Tom, is unfaithful to her but she stays with him because of his high class and riches. “Daisy can never be separated from her money” (Strong 1), as Rebecca Strong points out that no matter what Daisy will choose money and nothing can separate her from this life style, not even her unfaithful husband. She truly believes that riches are even more important than smarts when she says “that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool” (Fitzgerald 17). Daisy believes that if you are a beautiful women you will be able to make it in life a lot easier and could possibly marry into a rich family. Jay Gatsby, her lover, comes from “new money” but Daisy is not fond of that. As Gatsby goes to meet her, “An hour later the front door opened nervously, and Gatsby, in a white flannel suit, silver shirt, and gold-colored tie, hurried in”, Fitzgerald describes the outfit the Gatsby is wearing to this occasion to try and impress her (84).
When first introduced, Daisy was in a white dress, fluttering because of the breeze that came through the white window. Daisy has been dressing in white since she was a child, she talks about her beautiful “white girlhood” which shows that she had looked pretty and innocent since she was born (Fitzgerald 19). Since Daisy has been rich and white like the color of a daisy since she was a child, she is still the white person she is today. By having Daisy dress “in white” it shows her exterior, but not her gold interior. “Describing Daisy with the color of white… indicates that under the pure and beautiful appearance, Daisy owns a superficial, hollow, cold and selfish heart inside”(Zhang 42).
Jay remarks, “[Daisy’s] voice is full of money.” (115). For him, Daisy is the one who is “ High in a white palace the king’s daughter, the golden gir...
Benjamin Franklin once said “Money has never made man happy, nor will it. There is nothing in its nature to produce happiness." This is arguably one of the most cliché quotes of all time. If money cannot provide happiness, then what exactly can it do? The characters of Jay Gatsby and Tom Buchanan open a door to a world in which money was the sole motivation for their success and the only reason for their power. When the reader uses a Marxist critical lens during chapter four of F. Scott 's Fitzgerald 's The Great Gatsby, the social hierarchy reveals how Jay Gatsby and Tom Buchanan utilize the importance of money and social power to manipulate others in their lives.
In the book The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald uses a vast amount of colors to represent characters in the book. For instance, Gatsby is one of, if not, the main character in the book. Every single color in the book has to do with Gatsby. The three main colors in this book or most used colors are red, yellow, and black. These three colors seem to have the most meaning. When it comes to Gatsby, these colors represent him in many ways.
Daisy is described as “High in a white palace the king’s daughter, the golden girl” in her past. (Fitzgerald, 120). When gold is pure it does not get easily tarnished. However, when gold is mixed with other metals it becomes tarnished. It is due to these impurities that the tarnishing, or in Daisy’s care corruption of her interior occur. Daisy’s sole fault is her inability to wait for Gatsby, and then relying on Tom. At the same time, Daisy is easily swayed by a powerful male figure, allowing herself to be ordered around by them. With Tom, Daisy is forced to accept that her loving husband is anything but that and constantly has affairs. She is torn on the inside, but maintains a strong outer image, mentally gilding herself. Since gold is such an eye-catching color, it can also serve to divert attention from faults with the object it is on. “You can hold your tongue and, moreover, you can time any little irregularity of your own so that everybody else is so blind that they don’t see or care” (Fitzgerald, 77). Jordan describes Daisy’s avoidance of alcohol as a method of timing when she shows weakness. While gold may cover up mistakes for a short period of time, it doesn’t last forever. Once the gold begins to dull, the gilded appearance disappears. Daisy’s weakness and her indecisiveness was revealed to Gatsby, and she ran away with Tom. A brilliant golden exterior of wealth and materialism
Everyone has heard about the green light at the end of Daisy's dock—a symbol of the crude future, the immeasurable promise of the dream that Gatsby desires despite its tragic end. Another familiar symbol is that of yellow and gold—representing money, the tactless greediness that taints the dream and eventually leads to its destruction. Such symbols and their purposes, at every stage in the novel, help provide substance to the main conflict.
The Great Gatsby is full of symbolism, colors, for example. Throughout the book the author uses them to represent different themes of the novel. Some of these colors are white, yellow, grey, green, pink, red and blue. However, I picked white and green for my commentary because I think these colors have a special meaning different from the others. White is mainly used to describe the character’s innocence, fakeness, and corruption. While green represents Gatsby’s hopes, ambitions, and dreams. In addition, sometimes green symbolizes the jealousy of certain characters.
F Scott Fitzgerald's opulent description of the wealthy and his positive perspective on money truly brings out the sense that in 1922 the rich and successful were truly content and that is the gimmick The American Dream was intending. In the book, Fitzgerald depicts many of the wealthy characters living in bottomless advantages in life. Gatsby finished Nick's sentence saying, "Her voice is full of money", when, they were describing Daisy's voice although he voice isn't really made of money there is a beauty to it. Throughout the book there are examples of the positive connotations to money additionally, the explanation of the charm of Daisy's voice is proof that you can tell the wealthy from the poor just by the way they talk.
In a time of florid parties and luxurious living styles, it’s hard to imagine that a growing division in economic classes in society is actually exterminating the American Dream for many. The protagonist, Jay Gatsby, is someone who lives an elegant life and has tons of parties, but as the novel continues, his elegance starts to get in the way of what is really important. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses the color symbols blue, white, and gold to represent Jay Gatsby and the underlying themes of the class system in society and the fading American Dream. The color blue symbolizes dreams and depression, two things that are constantly inside of Gatsby and explain why he is in the upper class. Next, white symbolizes false purity, and Gatsby has a lot of this because the way he makes his money is through morally corrupt illegal means and he is pursuing a corrupt woman. Finally, gold is there to symbolize wealth as Gatsby vacuously believes that his wealth can get him anything that he wants. By far one of the most used color symbols in the book, the color blue is the reason why Gatsby rose up from poverty, made a fortune, and is after a girl named Daisy
In this quotation, the use of gold towards Jordan’s arm shows that it is valuable because she is an amazing golf player. Gold here represents something valuable and helps the reader understand how well of a golfer Jordan seems to be to the public. Fitzgerald also uses gold to represent happiness. The use of the color gold appears again when opening windows in the house, "we went about opening the rest of the windows downstairs, filling the house with grey-turning, gold-turning light" (Fitzgerald 144). The use of gold here represents happiness because it shows the sunlight coming of as beautiful rays of golden sunlight. The weather in the novel represents the characters’ emotions, so if it is sunny (golden) then the characters are happy. In the novel, Gatsby, a main character, is often associated with the color gold for his wealth. “Yellow is the color of gold, which symbolizes money, materialism and high social position” (Haibing). In this quotation, Haibing goes on to explain how the color gold represents a high social position. This proves why Fitzgerald
In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, it tells the colors are used to symbolize of every character’s desire. For instance, Fitzgerald expresses the colors, such as the green light from the dock of East Egg that portrays to the main character hopes to attain his dreams. Also, Fitzgerald shows another color which is the blue eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg that represent to God that sees everything. Lastly, Fitzgerald illustrates the color red that symbolizes the love and violence. Therefore, the colors express aspirations, perceptions, and affections that Fitzgerald represent in the novel.
Color is a characteristic that people see in everyday life, on the street, in their houses, everywhere they look color is there, color represents everything and everyone. Color sets either a negative or positive tone or mood in people’s lives, color is a representation of life. In the novel The Great Gatsby,By F. Scott Fitzgerald colors represent the meaning of life back in the 1920’s and how colors truly represent a characters a. Color represents the way that Daisy Buchanan, Gatsby, and Nick lived their lives in the 1920’s is symbolic of the way they presented their luxurious lives. Color describes every single one of them in their own way. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, color symbolism plays an essential role in the
Fitzgerald uses white to identify these divisions, white being closely associated with the Buchanans, and other colors such as pink and green are associated with Gatsby. Through the color white, moral differences can be noticed, “‘Her [Daisy’s] voice is full of money,’ he [Gatsby] said suddenly... that was the inexhaustible charm... High in a white palace of the king’s daughter.” (Fitzgerald 120) Having a voice of money can be described as shallow, only seeming to care about something materialistic. Daisy married to Tom because of money and she is constantly described with owning white items, such as her clothing and cars. Daisy’s love of white is first associated with material items, and secondly associated with things that have a negative connotation, lack of intelligence and real values. Gatsby, on the other hand, is known for having dreams of Daisy’s love, and only wants money so he can be on same level as Daisy is. Daisy’s whiteness correlates to her money and empty mind, but Gatsby differs from her in a way the shows he only wants riches to feel love. Although they remain in the same class, the color white, or lack of white in Gatsby’s case, can represent the differences in their morals and
F. Scott Fitzgerald uses many colors as symbols in his book, The Great Gatsby. Among them: silver, gold, and green are all colors that represent Gatsby. Not only that, but they also connect Gatsby to a major theme of the novel, The American Dream. Silver symbolizes and relates to Gatsby through his glamour, his mysteriousness, and his distinguished nature. Gold signifies Gatsby through his enormous amount of wealth, and how extravagantly he shows it off. Green has to do with Gatsby by illustrating his desires. The Great Gatsby is a great book that has endured for almost a century, and is a classic about the Jazz Age. It is filled with symbols and themes, describing what were the great times and hardships of the 1920s.
Yellow stands out as a symbol of corruption and decay. Materialism has corrupted the citizens of East and West Egg because they center everything on money. When Gatsby entertains this wealthy class, the orchestra plays "yellow cocktail music". Even Gatsby believes that he can win Daisy back with his money - thus he is described as wearing a "caramel-colored suit" when he lies about his past to Nick. The most important symbol, however, is Gatsby's car. The car becomes the main topic of conversation among the townspeople after it kills Myrtle and a witness specified this "death car" to be yellow.