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Color Imagery In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

724 Words3 Pages

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald was published by Charles Scribner's Sons in 1925. The Great Gatsby is a classic American novel in which the author uses color imagery to identify certain characters with different meanings. Color plays a huge role in The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald shows how character's emotions and actions align with different colors. Fitzgerald uses color imagery in the characters Gatsby, Tom, and Daisy show hope, violence, and purity. The color green represents hope in a sense that green means “go” as in go follow one’s dreams and desires. The character Gatsby shows hope for is Daisy, for example when they're on the pier; "Involuntarily I glanced seaward - and distinguished nothing except a single greenlight" (Fitzgerald 26). Gatsby longed for Daisy, ever since they first met five years before this incident. At that moment, Gatsby made up his mind that Daisy was his dream …show more content…

Red is used to show the blood and death of Myrtle. When Daisy was leaving the hotel, she crashed into Myrtle by accident and mistakenly killed her. Myrtle happens to be one of Tom’s mistresses, which makes it seem that Daisy would be angry at Myrtle but she was not. Myrtle speaking about Tom’s wife's death says, "God knows what you’ve been doing, everything you’ve been doing. You may fool me, but you can’t fool God" (Fitzgerald 159). The color red also represents the evilness of Tom. Tom cheats on Daisy, beats Myrtle, and feels no remorse after he does it. The following quote describes the pain and darkness of Tom punching Myrtle, "The bathroom floor and women's voice scolding...despairing figure on the couch, bleeding fluently and trying to spreads a copy of town tattle over the tapestry scenes of Versailles" (Fitzgerald 41-42). The image of Myrtle’s blood refers to the color red, which represents Tom’s hatred and rage. Altogether, Fitzgerald uses red with the deeper meaning of

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Similarities Between Myrtle And Daisy In The Great Gatsby

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Her blonde hair closely resembles a golden color, signifying money and material success— and her desire and reliance for both. Fitzgerald describes Daisy with the line(s): “Her face was sad and lovely with bright things in it, bright eyes and a passionate mouth,” describes her light, joyful personality that also masks her underlying sadness (Fitzgerald 9). Myrtle Wilson, on the other hand, is more of a bold and vivacious woman. When we have our first encounter with Tom Buchanan’s mistress, she is wearing a “spotted dress of dark blue crepe-de-chine”, which is fitting considering the color of blue symbolizes dreams, aspirations/hopes, and the ultimate bliss (Fitzgerald 25). Myrtle dreams of a life with Tom, where she falsely hopes and believes they will both be able to live “happily ever after” together.

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Imagery Of Color In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

618 Words | 3 Pages

In the novel “The Great Gatsby”, F. Scott Fitzgerald, uses the imagery of color throughout the book. Social classes, emotional states,and racial slurs, all reflect back on the many different colors that are used throughout the book. The colors are used repeatedly as symbols, and shades to develop the mood and tone In different scenes of the novel. The color white is a symbol of being clean and fresh, on the contrary it could also be very tainted like the color black. Green is the ruling color in the book which represent confidence and hope.

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Color In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

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Picky about how she looks, Myrtle waits until she saw the perfect color car to pick her up. She had to go through several cars, as Nick says “Up-stairs, in the solemn echoing drive she let four taxicabs drive away before she selected a new one, lavender-colored with gray upholstery” (Fitzgerald, 27), which makes perfect sense that Myrtle wants a purple cab. Symbolism is key to Myrtle’s purple and gray taxi cab. As purple represents royalty and money, gray represents the complete opposite. This exact taxi is a flawless example of Myrtle’s personality, as to how she wants people to see her, versus how she sees herself.

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Once Tom, his mistress and Nick reached the apartment, Myrtle “had changed her dress to a brown figured muslin” (Fitzgerald 31). Finally, “Mrs. Wilson had changed her costume [...] and was now attired in an elaborate afternoon dress of cream-coloured chiffon” (Fitzgerald 35). Notably, Daisy’s delicate demeanour reflects her quiet and calming nature. Daisy’s fluttering dress makes her seem as if she had been blown away in the wind; she is light, elegant and fragile. On the other hand, Myrtle wears a lot of colourful items, which is associated with her bold, forceful and strong personality.

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Color Symbolism In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

243 Words | 1 Pages

Colors are everywhere in our lives. Most of artists, poets, and musicians use colors as symbols or meanings in their writing or art. In the Great Gatsby written by F.Scott Fitzgerald uses colors to represent the meanings. Fitzgerald uses the color green to represent hope. My quote is “Involuntarily I glanced seaward and disguised nothing except a single green light” chapter I page 21.

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How Does Fitzgerald Use Color In The Great Gatsby

589 Words | 3 Pages

Color is an essential part of everyday life and the world around us. Colors convey meaning when words cannot. In The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald uses color as a literary device to progress the story, create setting, mood, and develop and develop characters. Fitzgerald’s use of color shows the differences in class by describing the character, their surroundings, and their possessions with color.

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Color Symbolism In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

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As stated earlier blue expresses loneliness and Myrtle is seen wearing a blue dress in the presence of her husband. The novel states, “Her face, above a spotted dress of dark blue crepe-de-chine, contained no facet or gleam of beauty, . . .” (Fitzgerald 25). Myrtle is symbolized as brown when she is going into the city on the train, the novel expresses this, “She had changed her dress to a brown figured muslin, . . .” (Fitzgerald 27).

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What Does The Color Green Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

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The colors white, yellow, blue, and green shape the novel’s characters and plot, resulting in a vivid story of love and blind pursuance. As mentioned earlier, the color green is one of the most recognized colors symbolically. The color green symbolizes future, or the American dream, and is most associated with Gatsby himself. This is what Gatsby is pursuing throughout the novel until he tragically perishes, his dream never becoming a reality.

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Color Imagery In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

2059 Words | 9 Pages

As the famous painter Pablo Picasso once said, “Colors, like features, follow the changes of emotions. ”(Pablo Picasso) Picasso used the colors in his paintings to describe his emotions and real life events. Like Picasso, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses his words to paint a picture for the readers. Throughout The Great Gatsby, colors are portrayed with vivid imagery that astute readers will learn to understand as they endure the magical, thought provoking book. This book is a great example of vivid colors, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

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The color symbolism in The Great Gatsby is represented by the colors green, pink, and black. The color green is represented by the light at the end of the dock in The Great Gatsby. “possibly it had occurred to him that the colossal significance of the green light…”(Fitzgerald 93). The green light means a lot to Jay Gatsby it represents what he wants and what he has.

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Color White In The Great Gatsby Essay

1032 Words | 5 Pages

The character Myrtle is revealed to have a desire for money throughout her actions, moreover, Fitzgerald uses white ashes to resemble her false innocence. When Tom takes Nick to meet with Wilson and the woman he is having an affair with, the color white is characterized throughout this scene. Fitzgerald describes Wilson as having a “white ashen dust” covering his suit, although the dust does not cover “his wife” (Fitzgerald 26). This establishes the theme that distorted chastity is represented through the color white. When at a party, Myrtle reveals she only married Wilson because she thought he “knew something about breeding” meaning she only married him because she wanted him to make lots of money and become very wealthy (Fitzgerald 34).

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1850 Words | 8 Pages

The color green has its own significance in the novel, as it is mainly attached to Gatsby. The color green is usually attached with nature as in rebirth of spring, growth, wealth, hope and envy. Green embodies Gatsby’s dream and the perpetual pursuit of it. The green color is visited by the reader for the very first time through the element of the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock.

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955 Words | 4 Pages

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