Great Gatsby Color Imagery & Symbolism

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Color imagery in The Great Gatsby is vital to the books storyline. If there was no color imagery then the reader could not associate a certain person or thing with a color or idea. Fitzgerald uses the color so people can remember the person more than just their name. The use of color imagery greatly impacts the story line.
One of the main colors in The Great Gatsby is white. White represents the innocence and purity in the book. Daisy and Jordan are first introduced wearing white. It makes you think that the ladies’ are pure from the start of the book. Later on it is realized that neither one of the girls is all that pure. They are obviously not pure since they both are not so innocent. In the book is says Jordan cheats in her golf tournaments. Along with that Daisy cheats on Tom and killed Myrtle Wilson without stopping the Rolls-Royce. Gatsby is even associated with white. When he first sees Daisy again he is wearing a white suit. “An hour later the front door opened nervously and Gatsby in a white flannel suit, silver shirt, and gold colored tie hurried in.” (Fitzgerald p.89). Gatsby, however, is also very far from being pure. He gains his money from being a “bootlegger” as Tom calls him. He is also having an affair with Daisy who is married to Tom. He doesn’t respect that there married and thinks their relationship can go to the same it once was.
Nick is also very associated with the color white and he mostly wears white clothing.When Nick goes to Gatsby’s party he thinks by wearing white that he’ll stand out and give of the idea that he is the only honest man he knows which he says himself. He is not as high in social class and he was the only one invited, but also because he was the only one dressed up in white clothing....

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...The Great Gatsby, it helps us readers to trully comprehend what the characters are like and how they should be portrayed. When he uses colors it helps you to understand a lot more but only if you pay attention. It is something that Fitzgerald put in so that the book could be more meaningful and take on a variety of themes. That is why color symbolism is so important in The Great Gatsby.

Works Cited

Einem, Charlotte V., and Kathy Barske. "Symbols in The Great Gatsby."The Great Gatsby. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 May 2014.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott, and Matthew J. Bruccoli. The Great Gatsby. New York, NY: Scribner, 1996. Print.
Schneider, Daniel J. "Color-symbolism in the Great Gatsby." Ebscohost. N.p., 2010. Print.
"The Great Gatsby." - Color Symbolism. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2013.
"Symbolism in the Great Gatsby." Symbolism in the Great Gatsby. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2014.

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