ipl-logo

Color Symbolism In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

584 Words3 Pages

Raised during the time of the Jazz Age, F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby describing those golden years. Depicting things such as the American Dream and those who were harmed by its effects. Fitzgerald’s use of color symbolism in The Great Gatsby enhances the story and themes seen in the novel. Fitzgerald uses white to represent purity and innocence. It is often associated with things such as marriage, or the baptism of a baby: “White is symbolic of innocence and purity” (Magher “Examples of Metaphor”). He conveniently puts corrupted characters such as Daisy, Jordan, and Gatsby, dressed in white. Daisy used to dress in white and owned a white car before she was married to make her seem more appealing to young soldiers: “Thus it may …show more content…

She wasn’t able to endure being at a disadvantage.”(Fitzgerald 63). Nick acknowledges that Jordan is a liar, cheater and a schemer, yet he still chooses to spend time with her. This is due to her pure appearance. Green was chosen by Fitzgerald to represent Hope. Not only good hope, but bad hope as well. Hope is to hold out the longing for something, he uses the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock to represent Gatsby’s desire: “Nick Carraway emphasizes this point by speculating that new immigrants must have seen America as they approached it in the same way as Gatsby sees that dock light” (Magher “Examples of Metaphors”). Comparing these two things was a very deliberate stylistic choice Fitzgerald made. Immigrants back in the 20’s, sought America for a better life. They longed for the perfect American life: the American Dream. The green light being synonymous with immigrants coming to America, shows the reader that Gatsby’s American Dream was Daisy. Since we know the light came from her house and considering his past with her, he longed for Daisy the same way immigrants longed for a superior life. The contrast between yellow and gold was no

Show More
Related

How Does Fitzgerald Present Wealth In The Great Gatsby

1493 Words | 6 Pages

Fitzgerald uses the color white to emphasize the innocence and purity is deceiving and hides the truth of the rich people. “Daisy and Jordan Lay upon an enormous couch, like silver idols weighing down their own white dresses against the singing breeze of the fans”. Their white dresses are showing the purity and innocence of them. Fitzgerald also uses the color green in The Great Gatsby to convey the theme of wealth and class. Fitzgerald uses green to symbolize money and the power it has in society.

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

Color Symbolism In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

917 Words | 4 Pages

The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald struggled with some things such as poverty himself so while writing The Great Gatsby he dumped parts of his life into the main character Jay Gatsby. Fitzgerald uses color symbolism for many reasons. The american dream is the idea that all americans should have the equal opportunity to achieve success through hard work and determination. This life only owes you what you work for but unfortunately some people are born with the silver spoon. Color is significant to writers because they use it often to give images of the characters they use, they use it to describe events and to exaggerate scenes in their writings, books.

Read More

Color In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

1467 Words | 6 Pages

“Colors speak louder than words”. F. Scott Fitzgerald uses colors in The Great Gatsby very uniquely to represent the different qualities in the book. Fitzgerald played colors against each other to show the different social classes, the different symbols of the colors, and how they went with the storyline of the book. Two colors that are contrasted in this book are red and pink. These colors both relate to love and romance but also differ in social classes since red goes with Old Rich and pink goes with New Rich.

Read More

Colors In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

373 Words | 2 Pages

Colors displayed in The Great Gatsby The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald displays an assortment of colors all throughout the novel. Each color represents a different aspect of life, and a different emotion attached to each color. This is important to the plot of the novel because it gives the reader the true insight as to how the characters truly feel towards things and one another. For instance, Fitzgerald uses the color white periodically throughout. He uses the color white to signify purity and innocence.

Read More

What Does The Yellow Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

1311 Words | 6 Pages

The color white means freshness and innocence but in the article Symbolic Meanings of Colors in The Great Gatsby, it says something different. It states that the color, “white actually symbolizes empty, vacuity, superficiality, ruthlessness and selfish to a great extent in the novel” (Zhang 1). Daisy is a sweet and innocent on the outside but deep down she has a cold and selfish heart that does not care for love, only the money. She reveals her selfishness when Gatsby dies and she does not show any sadness and leaves to go and travel with her

Read More

Great Gatsby Color Symbolism Essay

1272 Words | 6 Pages

The use of color symbolism in The Great Gatsby is a very key and influential piece of the story throughout the entire book. Although Gatsby was never able to completely fulfill his dream in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, he was able to learn a few lessons along the way like nothing is forever and that the past truly cannot be recreated no matter how hard you try. So from now on every time watch or read something, it doesn’t matter if its from the 1800’s or from present day you will be able to detect and analyze the use of color symbolism throughout the

Read More

Color Symbolism In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

1221 Words | 5 Pages

The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is about a man named Nick Carraway, whos is brought into a life of wealth, corruption, and a alternate reality rich people live. Colors play a big role in the 21 century and are mainly represented in pictures, art, movie, etc. But a lot of us don't look at colors as a representation of who someone is or what way do. In the book, colors show an alternate world of emotion, scandal and passion that aren't directly mentioned in the book but are greatly supported if you look hard enough. The most symbolic colors in my opinion are Yellow, Blue, and Green, which are carefully spread throughout the book to not overwhelm the reader but to keep them wondering.

Read More

Gatsby Color Symbolism

1423 Words | 6 Pages

Color symbolism in The Great Gatsby Color is all around us. Color has the power to influence our moods negatively of positively. In many cases, color can have a deeper meaning than it originally suggests, and can symbolize a person, place, or mood. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby Jay Gatsby is a wealthy man who throws giant parties for the sole purpose of meeting the beautiful Daisy Buchanan.

Read More

The Great Gatsby Color White Analysis

1029 Words | 5 Pages

He also uses this symbolism of the color white to indicate high-class people. Fitzgerald reveals how Daisy and Jordan “were both in white, and their dresses were rippling and fluttering as if they had just been blown back in after a short flight around the house”(8). When these characters were introduced to Nick Carraway, the narrator, they wore white dresses which symbolize virginal purity to Nick. These women come off as airy and innocent during their initial interaction with Nick, but later on, we find out that this is not the case. Jordan and Daisy’s white dresses also affirm their place as wealthy ladies in a high social class.

Read More

How Did Fitzgerald Use Color Imagery In The Great Gatsby

169 Words | 1 Pages

The Great Gatsby, published in 1925, is regarded as Fitzgerald’s masterpiece and one of the finest American novels in the 20th century with its capture of the mood and characteristics of the Jazz AgeColors play an important role in the world among us. Color imagery in The Great Gatsby is vital to the plot. If there was no color imagery then the reader would not be able to associate a certain person with a color or concept. Imagery stresses the statement of subjective soul and individual internal world. It doesn't receive the direct portrayal, yet picks the particular pictures and images to infer the unobtrusive and baffling inward profound world also, let the peruser re-make the feelings and thoughts by utilizing the unexplained images.

Read More

What Does The Color Green Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

495 Words | 2 Pages

White symbolizes purity and innocence but later in the novel it turns into false purity and innocence. Fitzgerald used “white” often when Nick arrived at Tom and Daisy's house for the first time, “The windows were ajar and gleaming white against the fresh grass outside that seemed to grow a little way into the house”(Fitzgerald 8), this sentence also connects the color green with daisy by saying the grass seemed to grow a way into the house. In chapter 1, Fitzgerald describes Daisy in an innocent way, “Her face was sad and lovely with bright things in it, bright eyes and a bright passionate mouth, but there was an excitement in her voice that men who had cared for her found difficult to forget … hour” (Fitzgerald 9). The thought of white being pure eventually turned into false purity, the characters were not actually pure and innocent. For example, when Gatsby wanted to meet Daisy for the first time in five years, “he wore a white suit as if to show that he was good and pure, when in reality he was not” (Wallace).

Read More

What Does The House Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

799 Words | 4 Pages

They were both in white, and their dresses were rippling and fluttering as if they had just been blown back in after a short flight around the house.” (Fitzgerald 8) Fitzgerald was describing Jordan Baker and Daisy Buchanan when he first saw them in Tom and Daisy’s house. It is very ironic that they were both in white because the color of white in this means pure or purity and as you can see throughout the book Jordan and Daisy are not to pure. Purity or pure simply means freedom from immorality. The color white is meant to

Read More

What Is The Color Symbolism In The Great Gatsby

1689 Words | 7 Pages

The colors of white, yellow, and green are the most eminent, easily distinguishable from the rest, and representing purity, death, and hope” (Yaffe 1). Firstly, white color will be discussed as it is “one of the main symbolic colors in The Great Gatsby, representing purity, innocence, and honesty” (Yaffe 1). At the beginning of the novel Nick Carraway visited his cousin Daisy Buchanan and both she and her friend Jordan Baker wore white dresses. Although they were only sitting on a sofa, Nick was overwhelmed by their beauty, especially by the looks of Jordan Baker, whom he did not know until then, and said: “I was almost surprised into murmuring an apology for having disturbed her by coming in” (Fitzgerald 9). Nick Carraway himself wore white attire on different occasions throughout the novel, like at the first party at Gatsby’s mansion trying to make an impression and at the time he was still not corrupted by this extravagant way of life.

Read More

More about Color Symbolism In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

Open Document