What Does The Color Red Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

Authors strive to find a way to make a way to use indirect characterization. In short books it is often hard to make characters that seem real and fleshed out with such little pages.
F. Scott Fitzgerald used colors to reveal these hidden attributes about his characters. One of the main characters, Gatsby, has a lot of colors associated with him. Gatsby is a rich man who is trying to stay pure in his endeavours. Fitzgerald wants Gatsby to be mysterious while also giving the reader some idea of what kind of a person he is. Gatsby is associated with a wide variety of colors to let the reader know how Gatsby really feels.
The color green is often used to describe Gatsby. Green is a symbol of life and a fresh start. Gatsby lives across

the bay from Daisy’s house and Nick saw him looking across the bay one night at the green light of Daisy’s dock (Fitzgerald 24). The green color of the light shows that Gatsby is dreaming of a new life with his old sweetheart. Gatsby sees Daisy as a chance to start over when he was truly happy. He has always been in love with Daisy and he wanted things to go back to the way that they were. Green is also used in a similar way at another point in the book. Gatsby made his house on what the book calls “a fresh, green breast of the new world”(Fitzgerald 192). The color shows that Gatsby is looking for a new beginning with his expensive mansion. The color green is also used many times when Gatsby’s past is explained. When Gatsby first shows up at Dan Cody’s yacht he is wearing a green jersey (Fitzgerald 105). To a normal person this is just a color, but to Fitzgerald it is the embodiment of the moment. Gatsby is in tatters, but his future as a shady businessman is about to begin. Green is a color that is tied to money and wealth. When Gatsby is showing Daisy his possessions, Fitzgerald describes his shirts as being apple-green (Fitzgerald 99). Gatsby is a man who owns many fine things and loathes being poor. He buys these expensive articles of clothing to try and show off how he is now worthy of Daisy.
Gatsby is often associated with the color red.

The color red has a wide range of feelings tied to it. Red can be a color of anger and rage. Pink, a mixture of red and white, is associated with love and passion. Gatsby is seen wearing a pink suit when he meets Daisy and Tom (Fitzgerald 130). The suit signifies his undying love for Daisy, even though it will never work out. Gatsby is completely blinded by love at this time and it causes him to make some dangerous decisions. Gatsby also shows his love for Daisy the night of the hit and run. The text states that Gatsby waits outside “the pink glow from Daisy’s room on the second floor” (Fitzgerald 155). Gatsby is unsure how Tom will react to the news of the incident. The smart thing to do at the time would be to leave town until it is safe to return. Gatsby’s judgement is blurred by his love for Daisy. Crimson is a form of red that shows feelings of desire. In the book, Nick says, “I saw him opening a chest of rubies to ease, with their crimson-lighted depths, the gnawings of his broken heart”(Fitzgerald 72). While Gatsby has all of these treasures, he cannot mend his broken heart and his desire to get Daisy back. The day after Daisy chooses Tom Gatsby is floating in his pool. Nick reflects on what Gatsby must be going through an thinks,“He must have looked up at an unfamiliar sky through frightening leaves and shivered as he found what a grotesque thing a rose is and how raw the sunlight was upon the scarcely

created grass” (Fitzgerald 172). Rose is a red color that is seen as a symbol of love. Gatsby had just let go of his love for Daisy. He now knew that a rose can be both beautiful and disgusting.
Cream is a color that can be split into yellow and white.

Gatsby is the associated with the color cream because he is trying to be rich and stay pure at the same time. Gatsby owns a cream colored car that is very flashy. Nick says, “Everybody had seen it. It was a rich cream color, bright with nickel...” (Fitzgerald 69). The car shows that Gatsby is trying to show everyone that he is rich and powerful. The car also shows that Gatsby is pure of heart. Yellow is the color of wealth. Gatsby is very rich and can even afford to throw expensive parties often. (example of yellow). Yellow is also the color of fear and anxiety. When Daisy hits Myrtle with Gatsby’s yellow car, fear and irrationality take her over and she drives away. Neither Daisy nor Gatsby are willing to face their fears. White is used to symbolize Gatsby’s struggle to remain pure. Fitzgerald even focuses on the color of Gatsby’s business card. The white card shows that Gatsby is giving off an appearance of purity. Gatsby is wearing a silver suit when he reunites with Daisy (Fitzgerald 122). The suit shows that Gatsby has made an incredible jump up the social ladder since his last meeting with

Daisy.
Fitzgerald came up with an interesting way to characterize in The Great Gatsby. Gatsby is characterized by the colors green, red and cream. These colors give the reader insight into the mysterious man that is Jay Gatsby. Gatsby is associated with a wide variety of colors to let the reader know how Gatsby really feels.