Color Symbolism In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

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Joanna Loa Mrs. Tollett American Literature 25 April 2024 Color Symbolism Throughout The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald utilizes color symbolism throughout The Great Gatsby in order to provide the audience with a deeper perception and understanding of the concepts that are presented in the book. Fitzgerald uses a variety of colors in the novel to associate feelings and emotions with characters, places, objects and themes to allow the reader to connect different apprehensions to the scenes and messages demonstrated by Fitzgerald. The use of light and dark color schemes, as well as other specific colors, provides a multitude of implications to distinct major elements in the story. Fitzgerald uses the color green to divulge into the ideas of …show more content…

In contrast, Gatsby’s blue, romantic garden works as a stark distinction to the gray, desolate valley of ashes near his house (Schneider). This clear disparity emphasizes the contrast between Gastby’s envisioned world of elegance and the harsh reality of the world outside of his house. It stresses how the external appearance of Gatsby’s life and social circle hides the deception and solitude that lies beneath. Finally, Fitzgerald incorporates the color blue as an analogy for the large billboard located near George Wilson’s garage, which spotlights the blue eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg. These eyes are a constant reminder of a godlike watchfulness that seems to offer the world a moral core (Schneider). But in the end, they ultimately underscore the moral emptiness and the despair of American culture, implying that the God they worship could just be another illusion. In The Great Gatsby, the color blue acts as a potent technique to accentuate the themes of illusion, deception, and solitude. This color captures the profound disparity between the characters' perceptions and the tough realities they eventually

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