The Great Gatsby is rich in symbols and imagery. Colors are especially significant, and Fitzgerald uses them to great effect.
White is one of the most important colors in The Great Gatsby. It represents purity and innocence, as well as wealth and privilege. The Buchanan estate is white, as are Daisy’s dresses and the pearls she wears. White also symbolizes hope and possibility, as shown by the shirts that Nick Carraway buys when he first arrives in New York.
Gold is another significant color. It represents both money and power, two things that are very important in The Great Gatsby. The Buchanans’ house is decorated with gold, and Jay Gatsby’s car is also gold. The color is often associated with the sun, which is fitting, given that Gatsby is trying to recapture his past.
Blue is another important color in The Great Gatsby. It represents both Daisy and the ocean. Daisy is a “bright blue” presence in the novel, and the ocean plays an important role in Gatsby’s life. He spent many summers swimming in it and fell in love with Daisy while watching her from a distance.
Green is significant because of its association with money. Green bills are referred to as “greenbacks,” and Gatsby’s estate is full of lush green plants. The color can also be seen as representing envy, which is fitting, given Gatsby’s obsession with Daisy.
Pink is used sparingly in The Great Gatsby, but it is significant because of its emotional intensity. The only time Nick sees Daisy and Gatsby together is at a party where she is wearing a pink dress. The color is associated with love and passion, which are two emotions that are very important in the novel.
In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald employs the symbolism of colors. Colors are used frequently as symbols and provide atmosphere in various sections of the book. White is a clean and fresh color, yet it may be tainted. Next, yellow is used to illustrate how moral standards among the residents of West Egg plummet. Finally, green, which is the most prominent hue in the novel, symbolizes wealth and Gatsby’s unobtainable ambition.
Fitzgerald’s use of colors in The Great Gatsby is very significant. The white color is used to represent the cleanliness and freshness of Daisy Buchanan at the beginning of the book. However, this image starts to change as the story progresses. The yellow color is used to illustrate the moral standard downfall of the people living in West Egg. The green color is used very frequently throughout the novel and it symbolizes Gatsby’s unattainable dream as well as wealth.
The author uses different hues to create atmosphere in different scenes. For example, the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock is described as “a faraway twinkle” that Gatsby can see from his house (Fitzgerald 30). The light is a representation of Gatsby’s dream and how it seems to be always just out of reach. The use of colors in The Great Gatsby helps the reader to better understand the characters and their motives.
Daisy refers to purity and innocence in Gatsby, yet he uses a variety of white hues to cover her corruption. Daisy is merely characterized as “dressed in white,” she powders her face white, and she alludes to her “white girlhood.” The wealthy man describes this ideal princess figure as “high on a white castle, the king’s daughter, the golden girl.”
The color white is often used to represent purity and innocence; however, in The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses this color to show Daisy’s hidden corruption. Gatsby is also associated with the color green. The green light that he constantly stares at throughout the novel is a symbol of his hope and desire for Daisy. The green light stands for Gatsby’s dream, which is ultimately unattainable. The color green is often associated with hope, rebirth, and nature; all of which are themes that are present in The Great Gatsby.
Lastly, the color yellow is used to represent both wealth and decay. The yellow Rolls Royce that Daisy drives represents her lavish lifestyle; however, it is also a symbol of her corrupt and decaying relationship with Tom. The color yellow is often associated with cowardice and deceit, two traits that are very prevalent in The Great Gatsby
Fitzgerald uses colors to create symbols and imagery that represent the characters, messages, and themes in The Great Gatsby. The colors white, green, and yellow are all significant in conveying Daisy’s corruption, Gatsby’s hope and dreams, and the overall theme of decay.
On the other hand, in West Egg, Fitzgerald depicts a miserable way of life when “four solemn men 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, glows cold with gems. The men turn it at a house – the incorrect one – but no one knows her name or cares.”
The imagery of the drunken woman in white being carted off by four men who do not know her name symbolizes the shallowness and hollowness of the people in West Egg. The lack of care for human life reveals how Fitzgerald felt about the people living there.
The reader gets a sense that the people only cared about themselves and their own party-like lifestyle. The image of the stretcher also could be interpreted to symbolize death, which is something that frequently happens in parties where alcohol is involved. The Great Gatsby is full of symbols and images that help create a visual picture for the reader while also providing insight into the characters and messages of the novel.
One example of this is the use of colors. Fitzgerald often uses colors to convey a certain feeling or mood. The color green, for instance, is used to represent the hope and optimism that Gatsby has for the future. On the other hand, yellow is used to represent the decay and emptiness of the lives of the characters in West Egg. For example, when Nick first arrives in West Egg, he observes that “the lawns were bright with a kind of jaundiced ivy, and the windows were so blue that they seemed to be painted” (Fitzgerald 9).
The blue paint on the windows is symbolic of the artificiality and falseness that exists in this world. The ivy, which is usually associated with growth and life, is instead jaundiced, or yellowed, which shows the readers how twisted and distorted everything in this world is. Fitzgerald’s use of colors helps to create a rich and vivid world for the reader to explore.
The Great Gatsby is a novel full of symbols and images that help to reveal the characters and messages of the book. The use of colors is just one example of this. Fitzgerald often uses colors to evoke a certain feeling or mood in the reader, and this adds another layer of depth to the story. The blue paint on the windows in West Egg, for instance, represents the falseness and artificiality that exists there.