Essay On Color In The Great Gatsby

Although colors are still the blue that dungeons the sky on cloudless days and the green that dads mow at seven thirty a.m. what seems like every summer morning, in the novel, The Great Gatsby, author F. Scott Fitzgerald opens the door to a whole new world and dives into the depths of colors and their messages. Fitzgerald mutates colors through displaying them in various social classes, including the wealthy, the wanna-bes, and the penniless.
Evident in the powerful, high class society in The Great Gatsby are rich, primary colors. One major color mentioned repeatedly in the novel, especially pertaining to the upper class (also known as the old rich), is red. The text states that, “their house was even more elaborate than I expected, a cheerful

red-and-white Georgian Colonial mansion, overlooking the bay” (Fitzgerald 40). This quotation shows how potent red is to the storyline, in the sentence Fitzgerald had already described the wealthy Buchanan's house as an elaborate, cheerful, Georgian Colonial mansion that overlooked a bay and he still found it important that the audience know the colors of it. Extrapolating that red tones are an intense meaning of wealth and power adds another level of deep meaning to the extangevnousness of the mansion and the Buchanans themselve. As we go inside the Buchanan's home, we see more red tones throughout the house. As said in the text, “we walked through a high hallway into a bright rosy-colored space, fragilely bound into the house by French windows at either end” (Fitzgerald 7-8). Fitzgerald put into words that even the air that resided in Tom and Daisy Buchanan's home appeared to gleam of fortune. Another significant color mention in relationship to the well-to-do, old rich members of Long Island, New York is white. Mentioned in the text, “...the white palaces of fashionable East Egg glittered along the water…” (Fitzgerald 5). Shown in this statement is how the author uses the color white to group together the high-class members residing in East Egg. Also, stated in the text is “they were both in white, and their dresses were rippling and fluttering..” (Fitzgerald 8). When the novel illustrates Daisy Buchanan and Jordan Baker, both brought up in generations of money upon money, Fitzgerald repeatedly uses the color of white as a way of magnifying it’s message of ceaseless wealth, success, and innocence. An additional color prominent in the narrative is gold. Gold connotes with the same old rich theme of wealth and prosperity. Mentioned in the text is that the front of the Buchanans house was, “broken by a line of French windows, now glowing with reflected gold and wide open to the warm windy afternoon…” (Fitzgerald 6). As the novel begins to progress, it becomes apparent that Fitzgerald often uses gold, along with many other colors, as a way to eminently distinguish the different social classes presented. Gold is often associated with extravagance, riches, and excess, but that is not it. The beginning of the book reads, “then wear the gold hat, if that will move her; if you can bounce high, bounce for her too, till she cry “lover, gold-hatted, high-bouncing lover, I must have you” (Fitzgerald idk). Intriguing about this quote is that all though gold is most definitely distinguished as a color pertaining to the well-to-do society of Long Island, in this excerpt it is illustrated in a way that gives the reader a sense of illumination, love, compassion, and courage, which are all words that one could use to describe James Gatsby’s, a wanna-be, feelings to Daisy. Why are these colors and inferences so important? The colors Fitzgerald used in his novel give readers a deeper level as to which one can grasp his masterpiece The Great Gatsby.
Continuing on, the literary work has a parallel element of color matching class theme for what the book calls the new rich, or the wanna-be’s. The members of this class are described as those who did not acquire their fortune from ancestors, but obtained it themselves. Oftentimes, these wishful men and women are striving to become like the old rich, but no matter how hard they try, generally they do not quite fit in with the high level of class. Utilized by Fitzgerald to depict the new rich include the colors cream, pink, and silver. These colors are majorly used to describe Gatsby, Jay Gatsby. The text states that Gatsby’s car, “was a rich cream color, bright with nickel…” (Fitzgerald 64) and Fitzgerald also describes Gatsby as ”slapping himself indecisively on the knee of his carmel-color suit” (Fitzgerald 64). In both these quotes, one can reason that the cream color described is used to shadow the differences between old rich versus new rich, white versus cream. Cream is seen as an off-white, close but not quite the same, similar the to east eggers and the west eggers. This relationship is shown multiple times throughout the story and not just with the colors white and cream. Pink is also a main color mentioned the in description of the the new rich, especially with Mr. Gatsby. According to the text, “i could think if nothing except the luminosity of his [Gatsby’s] pink suit” (Fitzgerald 142). The delicate pink is associated with sweetness, romance, charm, and tenderness. It entails all of the characters of Daisy Buchanan and Gatsby’s feelings for each other. Fitzgerald also writes Daisy telling Gatsby, “I’d like to get one of those pink clouds and put you in it and push you around” (Fitzgerald 94). This quotation exhibits the type of fairytale relationship that Daisy and Gatsby possess. Although the book displays pink as being a color full of affection and love, it is still a off-color, or pastel, version of red. Lastly, continuing with the theme, Fitzgerald uses silvery, take off colors of gold in correlation to the new rich society. Stated in the text about Gatsby's room was that “...the dresser was garnished with a toilet set of pure dull gold” (Fitzgerald 91). The key word in this excerpt is dull. Dull is related to something being murky or gloomy, and has a meaning of lessening or decreasing an object. Dull is a perfect way to compare the old rich and new rich as it has all the attributes that when added to a color, would make it less than the original. Fitzgerald portrays this same message in the following quotation, “Daisy admired...the pale gold odor of kiss-me-at-the-gate” (Fitzgerald 90). Once again, there is a sense of new rich being less than old rich with the use of the muted term pale. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald perfectly executes the usage of colors as a way of lunging deeper into the meaning of the storyline through comparison and connotation.
Lastly, the novel touches on colors present in the lowest class of society, particularly pertaining to the Valley of Ashes. Predominantly seen in the Valley of Ashes, as one may assume, is the color gray. As seen in the text, “occasionally a line for gray cars crawls along the invisible track…and immediately the ash-gray men swarm up with leaden spades…” (Fitzgerald 23). Also mentioned on this page is “but above the gray land and the spasms of bleak dust…” (Fitzgerald 23). Perceived in these excerpts is how gray struck the land of the lower class is. Through the usage of gray, the novel condemns the Valley of Ashes of being a place of dullness, dirtiness, dinginess, and even depression. This observation opens the readers imagination to the reality of the lifelessness that governs the Valley of Ashes.
Through Fitzgerald's consistent use of colors to make connections between the different social ranks presenting the The Great Gatsby, it is a excellent way to allow a deeper understanding of the text, but it is not the only way he accomplishes this.

The novel presents multiple ways, one being the interpretation of the dual meanings that can be revealed in colors. One major color that falls victim to the quality of its dual meaning in the text is yellow. In the beginning of the novel, yellow is seen as a color associated with cheerfulness, happiness, and liveliness as it is paraded at many parties. The text states, “the lights grow brighter as the earth lurches away from the sun, and now the orchestra is playing yellow cocktail music, and the opera of voices pitches a key higher” (Fitzgerald 40). Perfectly displayed in this text is connotation of partying and fun that yellow possess in certain situations. Nevertheless, yellow soon takes a turn for the worse. As one can see according to the text, “his [Gatsby’s] station wagon scampered like a brisk yellow bug to meet all trains” (Fitzgerald 39). Mentioned before, Gatsby’s car was described as being cream, but later its description turned from cream to yellow. This changeover can be distinguished as foreshadowing, for as much as yellow is associated with liveliness and partying, it is also related to terms such as caution, warning, and alert. This foreshadowing is confirmed near the end of the text, when a tragic event takes

place. The author writes, “‘it was a yellow car,’ he said, ‘a big yellow car. New’” (Fitzgerald 139). At this point, the readers know what happened in relation to the yellow car and one can assume the reason Fitzgerald changed the color of the car was to foreshadow the upcoming incident. Red is also a major color used in protecting the dual meanings of colors to intensify the story. In the beginning, Fitzgerald exhibits red as a word meaning wealth, success, and luxury. But after the climax, one can infer that the meaning of red changes to a term associated with blood, danger, and temper. Fitzgerald utilizes the many meanings of colors subtly enhancing the story as a whole.
One major color mention in The Great Gatsby that maintains a consistent meaning throughout the storyline is green.

And yes, the book does talk about money quite often, but this green shares a different message with it’s audience. In the novel, green can be affiliated with ambition, desire, longing, and hope. All these terms flawlessly describing the major attachment of Gatsby to Daisy. The last page of the novel states that,“Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastice future that year by year recedes before us” (Fitzgerald 180). In the beginning, middle, and end, the text uses the green light on Daisy dock as a reason for all Gatsby does. Without the green light, the depth of their love would not touch the reader as it does with

it.
In closing, author F. Scott Fitzgerald skillfully mutates colors in The Great Gatsby to allow for a more extensive understanding to the text. Whether it be through illustrating colors across the social septum, and keeping a parallel comparison of East Egg to West Egg, old rich to new rich, wealthy to wannabes. Or through engaging in the complexity of the multiple meanings a color can posses. Overall, Fitzgerald unquestionably crafts diversifications to color that not only engages his audience’s mind to the deeper level of meaning in The Great Gatsby itself, but also sets in motion a new manner of comprehending the concept of the immensity of a message a story can possess beneath its surface.