Color Symbolism In The Great Gatsby

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Colors are an essential part of the world around us. They can convey messages, expressing that which words do not. Gentle blue tones can calm a person and bright yellows can lift the spirits. If an artist is trying to express sorrow or death he often uses blacks blues, and grays basically he uses dreary colors. Without one word, a driver approaching a red traffic light knows to stop. Colors are representative of many things. In his novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses color symbolism throughout as a major device in thematic and character development. He uses colors to symbolize the many different intangible ideas in the book. Throughout the book characters, places, and objects are given "life" by colors, especially the more prominent …show more content…

It is said that the color green symbolizes hope. In the story, Daisy and Gatsby met for a short time before Gatsby made the decision to go off to war. Gatsby returned home and he knew that Daisy had married Tom, but he hoped to find a way to get back with her, and so he decided to purchase a house near Daisy to keep an eye on her. Gatsby moved to the East and purchased a house across the lake from where Daisy currently lived. Fitzgerald made it seem as though Gatsby would often stair off at night into the distance at the green light on the pier near Daisy’s house. The green light on the pier most likely represented the hope that Gatsby had to winning daisy back. The color green is shows Gatsby's hope, His hope to win daisy back. One could aslo say that It represents his hope of chasing wealth. The green light on the pier was motivation for Gatsby to work towards those two hopes, to keep on trying to win Daisy again and to chase “the American dream”. Gatsby came very close to his dream of being with Daisy. He did everything that he could to accomplish that. Throughout Gatsby’s life he worked hard to save money to impress Daisy. He did this by throwing amazing parties, full of people he did not know, all in hopes that by chance Daisy would decide to join and come to one. Gatsby felt like he knew what he was doing, and to him, the green light on the pier was encouragement for him to keep pursuing Daisy. Gatsby also had hoped to obtain wealth, proving that the color green represented hope for Gatsby. All his life Gatsby did everything he could to earn money, Showing his hopes and ambitions. Green, while representing hope, can also represent rebirth. Green trees that have been that have looked as though they carry no life through winter; always refurbish themselves with green blossoms that show rebirth. When Gatsby stared off into the distance at the green light on Daisy's pier across the lake, he

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