Human beings associate colors with meaning, emotion, and actions. Red, a color of aggression is also a color of love. Grey is a color associated with depression and conformity. The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald contains complex characters that are further explained through their association with colors. Fitzgerald’s use of colors illustrates the duality of human actions and personality in society. The color green represents hope, desire, ambition, and jealousy. Gatsby is enthralled by a green light, where at one point, “It had seemed as close as a star to the moon. Now it was again a green light on a dock" (Fitzgerald, 93). This light at the end of Daisy’s dock represents Gatsby’s final goal. Gatsby spent years living in West Egg, …show more content…
Blue is the color of loneliness. In Gatsby’s “blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars” (Fitzgerald, 39). While there were many people at Gatsby’s parties there was no one he knew intimately. Gatsby was too fixated on Daisy to bond with others, making him a lonely man in a crowded party. Gatsby’s parties and their size also sets a contrast between the imaginary Gatsby and the real Gatsby in the partygoers’ views. This mindset is also related to Gatsby’s blind trust of his image of Daisy. He exclaims, “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). Gatsby trusts that Daisy will wait for him, since she did for a brief amount of time in the past. However, when he is arguing with Tom, Gatsby begins to break off from the tranquility associated with blue. He gets hysterical, trying to prove that Daisy loved him. Instead, his trust is shattered with Daisy’s admittance that she loved them both. Gatsby’s trust and loneliness led to the destruction of tranquility in the lives in Long Island. As Daisy’s confession broke Gatsby’s trust, his death tainted the tranquility of both the pool water and New …show more content…
Daisy is described as “High in a white palace the king’s daughter, the golden girl” in her past. (Fitzgerald, 120). When gold is pure it does not get easily tarnished. However, when gold is mixed with other metals it becomes tarnished. It is due to these impurities that the tarnishing, or in Daisy’s care corruption of her interior occur. Daisy’s sole fault is her inability to wait for Gatsby, and then relying on Tom. At the same time, Daisy is easily swayed by a powerful male figure, allowing herself to be ordered around by them. With Tom, Daisy is forced to accept that her loving husband is anything but that and constantly has affairs. She is torn on the inside, but maintains a strong outer image, mentally gilding herself. Since gold is such an eye-catching color, it can also serve to divert attention from faults with the object it is on. “You can hold your tongue and, moreover, you can time any little irregularity of your own so that everybody else is so blind that they don’t see or care” (Fitzgerald, 77). Jordan describes Daisy’s avoidance of alcohol as a method of timing when she shows weakness. While gold may cover up mistakes for a short period of time, it doesn’t last forever. Once the gold begins to dull, the gilded appearance disappears. Daisy’s weakness and her indecisiveness was revealed to Gatsby, and she ran away with Tom. A brilliant golden exterior of wealth and materialism
“Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us”(Fitzgerald 171). Whenever Gatsby looks at Daisy’s green light, he thinks of a bright future with his love of his life. The color green symbolizes Gatsby’s desire for a future with Daisy. Green also symbolizes Gatsby’s desire for great wealth. Nick describes Gatsby’s car as a “green leather conservatory” because the interior is green (Fitzgerald 64).
The color green, as it is used in the novel, symbolizes different choices the character, Gatsby, can make during his life. The green element in this novel is taken from the green light at the end of the dock near Daisy’s house. The color itself represents serenity, as in everything is perfect. This warns Gatsby that he should not pursue his dream for getting Daisy back, because his chance has passed and everything is as it should be. This is shown with Nick’s insight, “…His dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him…(Pg.189)”
The device of symbolism is exercised numerous times throughout the course of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, but none more prominent than that of color. Fitzgerald uses color to not only develop the setting but enhance characterization. Through the colors grey, white, green and gold, Fitzgerald categorizes major characters and reveal their inner thoughts and driving forces. By using the color grey to represent characters like Myrtle and George, white to represent Daisy Buchanan and Nick Carraway and green and gold to represent Jay Gatsby, Fitzgerald warps our vision and makes us see them through his eyes.
Daisy’s one true passion in life is for money. Her husband, Tom, is unfaithful to her but she stays with him because of his high class and riches. “Daisy can never be separated from her money” (Strong 1), as Rebecca Strong points out that no matter what Daisy will choose money and nothing can separate her from this life style, not even her unfaithful husband. She truly believes that riches are even more important than smarts when she says “that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool” (Fitzgerald 17). Daisy believes that if you are a beautiful women you will be able to make it in life a lot easier and could possibly marry into a rich family. Jay Gatsby, her lover, comes from “new money” but Daisy is not fond of that. As Gatsby goes to meet her, “An hour later the front door opened nervously, and Gatsby, in a white flannel suit, silver shirt, and gold-colored tie, hurried in”, Fitzgerald describes the outfit the Gatsby is wearing to this occasion to try and impress her (84).
In the novel, The Great Gatsby, the writer F. Scott Fitzgerald uses color to symbolize character traits and feelings throughout the novel. Some of these colors are white, gray, and blue which were all conveyed in situations somewhat subtly in their respective events.
The green light is very significant in the novel The Great Gatsby, and green tends to be the sign of ambition, growth, money, and fertility.
He does this by comparing Gatsby to Dutch colonists. This is because green is a representation for what both Gatsby and the Dutch colonists in the 1610’s want most in their lives. In the fifth chapter, Fitzgerald develops this symbolism when he writes, “‘You [Daisy] always have a green light that burns at the end of your dock.’ Daisy put her arm through his [Gatsby’s] abruptly… Possibly it had occurred to him that the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever” (92-93). Within this, Fitzgerald is arguing that the green light represents what Gatsby desires most, Daisy, and now that Gatsby has Daisy’s love once again, the green light has lost meaning. Although Gatsby had a significant dream, he put little effort into achieving it. He fought his way to wealth lazily through illegal actions, and later in life, he attempted to achieve his dream (Daisy’s love) through frivolous spending and flamboyant parties, which went unnoticed by Daisy for many years until she was directly invited to one. As for the Dutch, green represents New York’s untouched land, and a new beginning. This is proven when Fitzgerald writes, “the old island here that flowered once for Dutch sailors eyes-- a fresh, green breast of the new world” (180). This refers to the fact that the land of New York was discovered and colonized by the Dutch, who spent several hard months at sea and built a society from nothing with only hard labour. This discovery occurred in New York in 1615, and the Dutch created New Amsterdam. It was not easy, as their dream was achieved through tireless work and pure desire for success, which was once synonymous with the American Dream, a major moral code for the United States. This is significant because it shows a harsh difference between Modern and pre-Modern American
"... he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, as far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward- and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away..." (Fitzgerald 21). In The Great Gatsby, the color green is frequent. It is more than just a color; it symbolizes many things, especially desire and hope. The color green also seems to be connected to Daisy and Gatsby's love for her old self. Indeed, green is used in The Great Gatsby to symbolize hope and desire for the past.
The Great Gatsby as well as the Handmaid’s Tale are full of color symbolism. Throughout the books, the authors use color to represent various themes of the novels. In the two texts, the eminent colors are white, red, green, and black. There are some symbols filled with mixed conceptions as the color red in the modern society. For example, red in most societies represents violence as well as surging emotions, blood and fire. However, in other societies such as ancient Arabian and Roman societies, red is symbolic of divine favor and light, or revolution and war. Therefore, it is evident that various societies possess different perceptions and interpretations to the usage of colors. In their texts, Atwood and Fitzgerald use colors to depict oppression,
Color is a characteristic that people see in everyday life, on the street, in their houses, everywhere they look color is there, color represents everything and everyone. Color sets either a negative or positive tone or mood in people’s lives, color is a representation of life. In the novel The Great Gatsby,By F. Scott Fitzgerald colors represent the meaning of life back in the 1920’s and how colors truly represent a characters a. Color represents the way that Daisy Buchanan, Gatsby, and Nick lived their lives in the 1920’s is symbolic of the way they presented their luxurious lives. Color describes every single one of them in their own way. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, color symbolism plays an essential role in the
Red, yellow, blue, green, white; for as long as mankind has existed, the complexity of color has been discussed, debated, and heavily used to portray important distinctions. From color’s importance in history, to it’s symbolism in artwork and literature, one always stops to examine a deeper meaning. In one such novel, The Great Gatsby, author F. Scott Fitzgerald plays around with the use of concrete colors to deliver crucial meaning about the lives of his characters. Set in New York during the roaring 1920s, Nick Carraway, the protagonist, finds himself admiring, and occasionally disapproving of, his wealthy neighbor Jay Gatsby. Jay Gatsby lives through a series of untold truths and the desire to feel love once again from Daisy Buchanan, a
Colors do not simply differentiate objects, or to make them stand out from one another. They often emit a tone, a tone that develops as differently as the color spectrum itself. In literature, color symbolism is a strong device that readers can pick up with repetition and ease. By tracing colors in literature, the reader can develop ideas and themes. F. Scott Fitzgerald uses many different colors in many different ways to make the imagery stand out and allow the reader to connect concepts in the novel to one another. Fitzgerald attributes the color green to the green light to express Gatsby’s hopes and dreams for Daisy, as well as the color gray to the Valley Of Ashes to show the lack of life and decay of the American dream.
The color green is usually thought to embody envy or money. However, in this novel it does not symbolize either of these things. Many people have picked up on this and found that Fitzgerald uses it for something quite different, “Fitzgerald rarely uses the color as a description of jealousy. Rather, he uses green as a symbol of Gatsby's hope” (Brozak). He uses green to show the hope for the American Dream. Green is also always closely connected to Jay Gatsby. When Nick first got to his new home in New York he saw Gatsby looking out to a green light. He recalls, “Distinguishing nothing except a single green light, minute and faraway, that might have been the end of a dock” (Fitzgerald, 21). This light just so happens to be on the end of Daisy’s dock. Gatsby and Daisy are in love with each other but were separated when he had to go off to war. The light is always in sight and Gatsby is always looking at it. It symbolizes his fantasy of the two of them being together and
One major symbol exhibited at The Great Gatsby is the symbolic green light at the end of Daisy’s dock. This green light has many different symbolic meanings, one of them being Gatsby’s hopes and dreams. Gatsby has many different longings which are represented by the green light. This light signifies more than just the distance between Gatsby and his lost love, but also the distance between the past and the present, and the promise that the future holds. An additional longing of Gatsby’s that goes along with the green light is his longing for money, another green substance controlling his life throughout the novel.
These colors have many meanings in The Great Gatsby and in life people don’t understand.But if people would try they could see the true emphasis.Colors can even bring out emotions in people.They can help people through hard times and bad days.The color symbolism in The Great Gatsby is represented by the colors green , red , and blue.