What Does The Color Red Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

Authors strive to find a way to make a way to use indirect characterization. In short books it is often hard to make characters that seem real and fleshed out with such little pages.
F. Scott Fitzgerald used colors to reveal these hidden attributes about his characters. One of the main characters, Gatsby, has a lot of colors associated with him. Gatsby is a rich man who is trying to stay pure in his endeavours. Fitzgerald wants Gatsby to be mysterious while also giving the reader some idea of what kind of a person he is. Gatsby is associated with a wide variety of colors to let the reader know how Gatsby really feels. The color green is often used to describe Gatsby. Green is a symbol of life and a fresh start. Gatsby lives across

The color red has a wide range of feelings tied to it. Red can be a color of anger and rage. Pink, a mixture of red and white, is associated with love and passion. Gatsby is seen wearing a pink suit when he meets Daisy and Tom (Fitzgerald 130). The suit signifies his undying love for Daisy, even though it will never work out. Gatsby is completely blinded by love at this time and it causes him to make some dangerous decisions. Gatsby also shows his love for Daisy the night of the hit and run. The text states that Gatsby waits outside “the pink glow from Daisy’s room on the second floor” (Fitzgerald 155). Gatsby is unsure how Tom will react to the news of the incident. The smart thing to do at the time would be to leave town until it is safe to return. Gatsby’s judgement is blurred by his love for Daisy. Crimson is a form of red that shows feelings of desire. In the book, Nick says, “I saw him opening a chest of rubies to ease, with their crimson-lighted depths, the gnawings of his broken heart”(Fitzgerald 72). While Gatsby has all of these treasures, he cannot mend his broken heart and his desire to get Daisy back. The day after Daisy chooses Tom Gatsby is floating in his pool. Nick reflects on what Gatsby must be going through an thinks,“He must have looked up at an unfamiliar sky through frightening leaves and shivered as he found what a grotesque thing a rose is and how raw the sunlight was upon the scarcely

Gatsby is the associated with the color cream because he is trying to be rich and stay pure at the same time. Gatsby owns a cream colored car that is very flashy. Nick says, “Everybody had seen it. It was a rich cream color, bright with nickel...” (Fitzgerald 69). The car shows that Gatsby is trying to show everyone that he is rich and powerful. The car also shows that Gatsby is pure of heart. Yellow is the color of wealth. Gatsby is very rich and can even afford to throw expensive parties often. (example of yellow). Yellow is also the color of fear and anxiety. When Daisy hits Myrtle with Gatsby’s yellow car, fear and irrationality take her over and she drives away. Neither Daisy nor Gatsby are willing to face their fears. White is used to symbolize Gatsby’s struggle to remain pure. Fitzgerald even focuses on the color of Gatsby’s business card. The white card shows that Gatsby is giving off an appearance of purity. Gatsby is wearing a silver suit when he reunites with Daisy (Fitzgerald 122). The suit shows that Gatsby has made an incredible jump up the social ladder since his last meeting with