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Color Symbolism In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

1724 Words7 Pages

Thomas Parke D’Invilliers once said, “Then wear the gold hat, if that will move her, If you can bounce high, bounce for her too, Till she cry “Lover, gold-hatted, high-bouncing lover, I must have you!” The Great Gatsby is a novel that takes place in the 1920s. The Great Gatsby is told in the point of view of Nick Carraway. Nick shares about the people he encounters on his journey in the East and their stories they just can not wait to share with him. Fitzgerald wrote the novel of The Great Gatsby in great detail to colors. F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby with a variety of colors which symbolically added a new level of meaning to the development of the storyline and characters. The colors in The Great Gatsby symbolize different social classes including the Old Rich, New Rich, and the poor.
To start off with the analysis of the Old Rich, colors such as white, gold, and red appear frequently …show more content…

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). Myrtle does this to camouflage her place in society. Myrtle is classified with the color cream as well, imitating the color of white when she is with her suitor. The novel shares this, “Mrs. Wilson had changed her costume some time before, and was now attired in an elaborate afternoon dress of cream-colored chiffon, which gave out a continual rustle as she swept about the room” (Fitzgerald 30). The variety of takeoff colors that Myrtle wears expresses her low stance in social ranking and the wannabe lifestyle she is grasping to

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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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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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Like the dress, the purple exteriors represents money, wealth, and high social stature, which is exactly what Myrtle is looking

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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 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 gives words a deeper meaning. The colors red, brown, and green in The Great Gatsby show the passion, dirty secrets and longing

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F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author of the book The Great Gatsby, uses color throughout the novel to provide the reader with greater insight into a significant theme that expectations or hopes become false realities. The major colors in The Great Gatsby include: green, white, and yellow. The color green is used in the book to symbolize Gatsby’s lifelong dream and end goal of winning Daisy. The color white is used many times in association with Daisy. The color symbolizes pure beauty on the outside and hollowness on the inside.

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The Great Gatsby What’s your favorite color? Does that color define who your are, and your success in life because in the Great Gatsby, green and gold is all that matters and the more you have the more important you are. Symbolism plays a major role in The Great Gatsby, it is the most powerful way to gain an understanding of a characters feelings and hidden messages the author is trying to reveal. The most significant symbolism in this novel is color symbolism, the author chooses to express the characters lives in many different colors such as green and gold.

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The color white plays a pivotal role in the symbolism of the novel. Its importance is clear when referring to the enigmatic Daisy and her friend Jordan. Right in the genesis of the novel, Nick finds the two characters dressed "both in white" (8). Fitzgerald uses the color white as a representation of an honorable and innocent person, which primarily it looks like it fits Daisy, but later when she kills Myrtle and betrays Tom it seems polemic. Daisy reencounters Gatsby and begins to have an affair with him.

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Fitzgerald’s use of Symbolism in The Great Gatsby Symbolism is an important part of literature that helps show a deeper meaning to what is written on the pages. In the book, The Great Gatsby by author F. Scott Fitzgerald, symbolism is used throughout each chapter which gives the reader greater insight of what the author is trying to disclose, and the meaning of key components to the story. Some of the symbols used throughout the novel are as simple as the colors the characters wear or the colors of their surroundings, others include the famous eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg on a billboard looking over the Valley of Ashes, and the light in which Gatsby reaches towards in the night. These three symbols play a very important role in the book, and

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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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In everyday life and works of literature, color can symbolizes a wide variety of emotions from moods to political views. When someone is feeling upset one often says “I’m feeling blue” or when someone is mad their face turns red giving that color the association with anger. Political status even uses color to represent each party, one is usually either a blue Democrat or red Republican. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby color plays a significant role throughout the story symbolizing emotions and social rankings. Colors such as green representing hope and money, grey portraying hopelessness, discontent, and low social class, and yellow exemplifies destruction and desire.

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Color is everywhere. Although color may not seem important, they might have a greater, deeper meaning. Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, is set back in the Roaring 20’s, when the economy was booming. A newly rich man named Jay Gatsby is one of the richer people in this time that enjoys his money. He throws overgenerous parties, hoping that the love of his life, Daisy Buchanan, attends.

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The caramel color likely represents corruption as Myrtle's brown muslin dress did. Gatsby wears the suit before meeting, Meyer Wolfsheim for lunch, who is his partner for bootlegging and other illegal activities. When Gatsby arrives at Nick’s house to have tea with Daisy he wears a white flannel suit, a silver shirt, and a gold-colored tie. The material of Gatsby’s white suit is flannel, which in the 1920s would be the most affordable material for suits. Fitzgerald making the suit flannel could be an allusion to Gatsby’s origins in that although he appears to be from “old money” he in reality was someone living in poverty who did illegal things to get rich.

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One’s ability to not get caught up in the chaos of the 1920’s is evident in the novel, especially in Daisy. Daisy symbolizes innocence and purity, which is why she is described wearing white clothing and having white powder on her skin. Even though Daisy represents purity, she becomes corrupt throughout the novel. The color black resembles Daisy as a result of Daisy running over and killing Myrtle. Gatsby became worried that Tom would harm Daisy for her murder of Myrtle, so Gatsby travels to Daisy’s house to check on her when he stated, “I waited, and about four o’ clock she came to the window and stood there for a minute and then turned out the light” (Fitzgerald 147).

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