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Color Symbolism In The Great Gatsby

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Symbolic Colors in Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby is a novel that is filled to the brim with colors, whether it be green, blue, red, or any of the other colors that appear. Through this wide usage of colors Fitzgerald is able to convey independent ideas towards settings and characters, as well as help the reader have a more thorough understanding of The Great Gatsby. The color green is a very prominent symbol in the novel, and is tied closely with Gatsby. One instance of the color green appearing around Gatsby is that the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock is only talked about with reference to Gatsby. The first time the light is seen, Gatsby is reaching his hand out towards it, trying to grasp it. The last time the light is shown …show more content…

White typically symbolizes beauty, purity, and nobility, but Fitzgerald used it as a mask of those traits, truly symbolizing impurity, corruption, and superficiality. One example of the use of this mask is Daisy’s house being filled with white objects, making her appear pure and noble. White is also seen the first time Nick meets Jordan and Daisy, as they are dressed in white. This is what shows that white is used as camouflage to hide the true nature of Daisy, Jordan, and women from the 1920’s (Nimer, p. 51). Daisy and Jordan are both reckless and impure; Jordan constantly cheats and lies, and Daisy only cares about getting money and superficial item. For example, Daisy had a literal meltdown when she saw how expensive Gatsby’s shirts are, and the only reason she even considered being with Gatsby 5 years later is that he got rich. To hide these traits, both Daisy and Jordan wear white to cover up their faults, and to seem pure to outsiders. White can also symbolize emptiness, as all that is in Daisy’s life is luxury, which leads her to waste all of her time in boredom and loneliness (Zhang, p.

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