A word that comes to mind when I think of The Great Gatsby is vibrant. Fitzgerald paints almost every scene in hues of golds, greens, and whites, which is an odd choice for such a dark novel. Fitzgerald uses this to meld his themes of irony and conflicting ideals seamlessly. Through the depiction of unconventionally symbolized colors like white, yellow, and green, Fitzgerald creates a world as convoluted and misleading as the world he fears he lived in.
Gold is a perfect example of the unique color usage in The Great Gatsby. In the novel, the Buchanan’s house is described as “reflecting gold” (p.35). Similarly, Jordan’s arm and shoulders are both described as gold (p. 47, 79). This is because gold is often representative of wealth in its purest
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form. Anyone can get money, but gold belongs to only an elite few. Gold is traditional and therefore represents “old money,” which is why it is used so liberally to describe the “East Eggers” in the story. This depiction of gold also explains why Gatsby is rarely associated with gold and when he is, it is with things like a gold tie, which he wears to impress Daisy. Fitzgerald does this to emphasize the difference between “new” and “old money.” In that societies eyes, even if they made the same amount of money and lived in the same community, if they weren’t born with it, they were different. Fitzgerald continues to drive this idea by associating Gatsby with one of the most complex colors in literature: yellow. Yellow is peculiar because while it represents the sun, light, and happiness, it also represents autumn, decay, and even death. Fitzgerald takes this idea and expands on it even more by having it represent, in addition to death and happiness, fake gold. These three things make it very, at least in Fitzgerald’s eyes, representative of that time period. He believed that the culture of the time had a carefree façade, but under the surface laid a crime ridden and short sighted country headed straight into the largest economic crisis our country has ever seen. So, Fitzgerald uses yellow frequently throughout the novel to enhance the meaning of a specific passage or scene. A great example is Gatsby’s famously yellow car. The car perfectly encompasses all of the symbols Fitzgerald is trying to convey with yellow. Gatsby’s decision to purchase an eccentric, yellow Rolls Royce, compared to Tom Buchanan’s more subtle blue coupe, demonstrates Gatsby’s need to display his wealth. The car also blends in with the reckless and flashy ideals of that culture, before crashing and killing Myrtle and bringing Fitzgerald’s fears full circle. Another well-known yellow motif is Dr. TJ Eckleberg’s glasses. This motif plays mostly on the death aspect of the symbolism in yellow. Fitzgerald is essentially saying that the eyes that see all of society are rimmed with death and decay. If gold represents old money and yellow represents fake gold, then green represent paper currency.
So, it makes sense why Gatsby’s car seats are green, as is the grass in front of Nick Caraway’s lawn that Gatsby has mowed in an attempt to impress Daisy (p.91). This is Fitzgerald once again depicting Gatsby’s need to prove his wealth. However, green isn’t just symbolic of money, but also life and prosperity (think trees and plants). Fitzgerald incorporates this idea into one of the novels most famous symbols: the green light. The Buchanan’s deck has a green light which Gatsby can dimly see from his house. Nick Caraway even catches Gatsby reaching towards the light in one of Gatsby’s first scenes (p. 25). In this scene, Fitzgerald is constructing an image of Gatsby reaching towards, pining for, a fulfilled life. However, if we tie the other two green symbols back in we realize that Gatsby can’t be fulfilled with the things he throws money at because eventually the car kills someone and Daisy stays with …show more content…
Tom. Fitzgerald continues on with the idea of unobtainability with the color blue. Blue represents an array of meanings, but one interpretation Fitzgerald hones in on is the idea that blue symbolizes and illusion, specifically the illusion of the American Dream. Gatsby’s pursuit of the American Dream begins when Dan Cody gives him a blue jacket (p. 133). This is when Gatsby really begins to embrace the idea of the American Dream. Later on in Gatsby’s life, once he has become rich, powerful, and at least by society’s standards has “made it,” his chauffeur, a symbol of his wealth, wears blue (p.43). This is interesting because if you just look at these two motif it appears that Gatsby has achieved everything he had ever wanted. H9wever, Dr. TJ Eckleberg’s eyes, the eyes that are rimmed with death, are also blue. This is Fitzgerald’s way of disillusioning the American Dream, while shedding light on the idea that being rich can’t actually fulfill someone’s life, it anything it is the thing that can destroy it. However, Fitzgerald’s most ironic use of a symbolic color is his depiction of white.
White is basically universally known to represent purity or innocence. This is true when Pammy, Daisy’s daughter, is first introduced wearing a white dress, since Pammy is arguably the only innocent character in the novel. Oddly, this is the only time that Fitzgerald uses white to represent innocence. In fact, he completely flips the idea a=of white on its head by using it to symbolize corruption. For instance, there is a scene where Gatsby is pulled over for speeding. Gatsby simply produces a white card and the, evidently corrupt, police officer lets them go with no further hassle (p.70-71). Then later, when Gatsby finally meets Daisy, he dresses in a white suit. Gatsby, himself, as a career criminal, is enough of a reason to be clothed in symbolic corruption, however at the time of donning the suit, he was on his way to pursue a married woman. Speaking of Daisy, she, herself is the largest piece of white symbolism in the novel. In addition to wearing a white dress on multiple occasions throughout the novel, the flower that is her namesake is known for being pure white. Accordingly, she embarks in a relationship with a man who isn’t her husband, is frequently inaccessible to her daughter, and eventually ends up, possible even purposely, killing her husband’s lover. The convoluted use of white is Fitzgerald’s way of expressing his belief that the things that he and society had once valued as
pure was quickly being corrupted by the reckless generation that he was part of. When a person thinks of the Roarin’ twenties, they probably think of flashy parties, flapper dresses, and the fast paced, carefree lifestyle, however Fitzgerald looked passed all the glam and saw the much darker truth lying beneath the surface. In fact, despite being published in 1925, the Great Gatsby reads as the perfect prequel to the Great Depression in the thirties. The fear of the dangers of that lifestyle would’ve weighed heavily on him and certainly would have prompted him to write the deeply symbolic and often borderline satirical portrayal and the clueless high class society that surrounded him.
Color Symbolism in The Great Gatsby & nbsp; Colors can symbolize many different things. Artists use colors in their paintings when they want you to see what they are trying to express. Like if an artist is trying to express sorrow or death. he often uses blacks, blues, and. grays. Basically he uses dreary colors. You automatically feel what the artist is trying to express. When the artist uses bright colors you feel warm and you feel happiness. In the novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald is like an artist. He uses colors to symbolize the many different intangible ideas in the book. He uses the color yellow to symbolize moral decay, decadence, and death. Then he uses the color white to symbolize innocence. He also uses the color green to express hope. Fitzgerald's use of the color green the strongest.
The Great Gatsby is full of symbolism. Colours, for example, are used to represent many different things; some even represent a theme of the novel. White, yellow, grey, green are just some of the colours which Fitzgerald uses in a special way, because each of these colours has a special meaning, different from the ones we regularly know or use.
In literature, colors are often purposefully chosen for different characters to represent the character’s personalities. In The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the colors green, yellow/gold, and gray are used to represent the attributes of the colored person or place.
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.
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).
Fitzgerald’s use of symbolism and colors in The Great Gatsby is prominent in every chapter of his novel. To fully understand the meaning of his color use, a reader must recognize the situations in which these colors are used. Throughout the novel Fitzgerald uses the color green. Green has many possible interpretations, and its’ use to reveal insight into Gatsby’s character is probably the most meaningful.
Upon first impression, one might believe Jay Gatsby is nothing more than a self-satisfied, well-to-do bachelor living in luxury in West Egg. However, as his story unfolds, the reader finds out that he is an industrious man and a hopeless dreamer. The quintessential colors of yellow, green, and blue are used by F. Scott Fitzgerald to describe Gatsby’s characteristics in his magnum opus, The Great Gatsby. Yellow, an incandescent color, stands for his vivacious outward disposition, the shallow people around him, and his seemingly self-indulgent spending habits, for which he has an ulterior motive. Green represents the extreme lifestyle changes Gatsby has made in adulthood and his staunch hopefulness in finding love. Blue is a symbol of the
For most people, a certain colour may represent something meaningful to them. While in the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, many of the colours used in the novel are meant to represent something. The novel’s setting is in East and West Egg, two places in New York. Our narrator, Nick Carraway, lives in the West Egg. Along with living in West Egg is a friend of Nick’s, Jay Gatsby; a character that is in love with Daisy Buchanan. Unfortunately, Daisy is married to Tom. As the plot unravels, the reader notices the connection between certain colours and their importance to the novel. The use of colours within The Great Gatsby symbolizes actual themes, as grey symbolizes corruption, blue symbolizes reality, and green symbolizes jealousy and envy.
The characters of “The Great Gatsby” were blinded by the materialistic wealth in the flashiness of the 1920’s. Daisy is amazed at how beautiful Gatsby’s shirts are and how many he has. she is so astounded that she starts to crying. “They’re such beautiful shirts,” she sobbed, her voice muffled in the thick folds. “It makes me sad because I’ve never seen such — such beautiful shirts before.”(Fitzgerald 92). Another way the characters were materialistic is Gatsby’s proclamation that Daisy never loved Tom and the only reason she married Tom was because Gatsby was poor. “She never loved you, do you hear?” he cried. “She only married you because I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me. It was a terrible mistake, but in her heart she never loved any one except me!” (Fitzgerald 130). This shows that Gatsby knows that Daisy is materialistic but he still wants her and having Daisy in his life will complete his picturesque lifestyle of wealth. It also shows how they only perceive themselves as wealthy or poor but not with depth. While materialism is one of the important themes in “The Great Gatsby” Fitzgerald’s use of colors ,such as green,blue and yellow, g...
Scott Fitzgerald used colors in the The Great Gatsby to portray more than just imagery. Fitzgerald used colors to convey emotions, the setting, and underlying tones for motives. The character Daisy can be interpreted as a metaphor. One can connect the colors used to describe Daisy in the book to interpret her motives and emotions through the dichotomy of a daisy flower. One way to interpret Daisy is the green of the stem describes the structure of her character, the white of the flower describes what others see of her, and the yellow inner of the flower describes what is really on the inside of her
To Gatsby, Daisy represents innocence and purity; however, Fitzgerald uses different shades of white to veil her corruption. Daisy is solely described as "dressed in white", she powders her face white, and she mentions her "white girlhood". The millionaire describes this perfect princess figure to be "high in a white palace the king's daughter, the golden girl." On the other hand, Fitzgerald portrays the way of life in West Egg as a wretched place when "four solemn men dressed in suits are walking along the sidewalk with a stretcher on which lies a drunken woman in a white evening dress. Her hand, which dangles over the side, sparkles cold with jewels. Gravely the men turn it at a house - the wrong house. But no one knows the woman's name, and no one cares."
People all around the world, in literature and even in everyday life see white as these meanings. In The Great Gatsby, it represents innocence, a new beginning, and purity. When Nick Carraway first enters Daisy and Tom’s house, he’s seeing them for the first time. All of their affairs are yet to come and Nick still sees them as regular, innocent people. Everything is described as white. He noticed that, “The windows were ajar and gleaming white against the fresh grass outside” (Fitzgerald 8). To Nick, everyone is innocent. The white composition of everything symbolizes their façade of innocence. He is unaware of all of their scandals. Everything is new and pure. Even Gatsby was portrayed in white. “In literature, the color white typically symbolizes innocence and purity” (Brozak). He’s starting over so everything is still white, fresh, and pure. White shows more than just innocence and a new start, “White is also vital to the novel as it has been used for portraying beauty, cleanliness, wealth, innocence, and virginity” (Olson). Because Fitzgerald uses white to describe Daisy and Jordan, it can be inferred that they possess these qualities. They are new people in Nick’s life who hide their private life from the public very well. Fitzgerald wrote that, “sometimes she and Miss Baker talked at once… that was never quite chatter, that was as cool as their white dresses” (Fitzgerald 12). Again, by referring to their
Gatsby has some real gold belongings that do symbolize wealth; his gold ties and gold toilet show his wealth (Fitzgerald 85, 93). Gatsby uses his yellow music and his yellow car to distract people into thinking that they are something that they are not. The yellow cocktail music makes laughter easier and easier at Gatsby’s parties (Fitzgerald 44). The way the music makes that happen shows that it is a distraction tactic used by Gatsby and is used to make the party seem more appealing. When the twins in yellow dresses did a baby act, Gatsby brought out more champagne (Fitzgerald 51).
In Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, many colors are used to represent various meanings. One color in particular that signifies a deeper meaning in the novel is the color, white. In Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the color white is used to symbolize both fake innocence and fake purity as well as to develop the character perception.
Fitzgerald also refers to the steps to Gatsby’s house as being white. Even the windows at Daisy’s house are white. “The windows were ajar and gleaming white.” (Pg.13) this tells us that Daisy and Gatsby look innocent from the outside but not from the inside, instead they are corrupted people. This thought is also expressed when Gatsby takes Nick for a ride in his car. When he is stopped by a policeman, Gatsby shows the officer a white card, which symbolizes corruption. When the commissioner sees this, he lets Gatsby go. Nick thought it was a Christmas card sent to him by the officer, but later on we learn that Gatsby had bribed the police officer.