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Color Symbolism In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

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Ezekiel Lewis Mrs.Tollet American Literature 24 April 2023 Gatsby Essay F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby is a novel that explores the flashy lifestyle of the wealthy in the 1920s, and the pursuit of the American Dream through the character of Jay Gatsby. Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald uses colors as symbols to convey deeper meanings about the characters and themes. The color symbolism in The Great Gatsby adds depth and complexity to the novel, allowing Fitzgerald to explore themes such as the desire for wealth, the corruption of the wealthy, the moral decay of the people, and the longing for wealth or relationships. The color symbolism in The Great Gatsby involving the colors green, white, yellow, and blue, ultimately contributes to …show more content…

It represents both purity and corruption. Daisy Buchanan is introduced as a beautiful and charming woman, exuding an aura of purity. However, as the novel progresses, it becomes clear that Daisy is a corrupt and selfish character. “ ‘Her voice is full of money,’ he said suddenly. That was it. I’d never understood before. It was full of money . . . High in a white palace the king’s daughter, the golden girl. . . .” (Fitzgerald 120). White is used to contrast Daisy's appearance and true nature. Fitzgerald writes, “. . . white dresses and their impersonal eyes in the absence of all desire” (Parkinson 76). Daisy's pure appearance is so different from her cold and calculating …show more content…

It is used to represent sadness and obscurity. The eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg are described as blue, and they are said to symbolize the eyes of God watching over the sinful lives of the characters in the novel. Fitzgerald writes, "The eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg are blue and gigantic—their retinas are one yard high" (Fitzgerald 23). He stares down at them like a frightening presence of God in the lives of the characters. In addition, the color blue is also used to describe the Valley of Ashes, a lonely and depressing place where the poor and oppressed live. The Valley of Ashes represents the corrupt nature of wealthy society and the suffering of the poor. Fitzgerald writes, "This is a valley of ashes—a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens" (Fitzgerald 27). The color blue, therefore, represents the sadness and obscurity that pervade the lives of the

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He thought all that time that his rich parties with extravagant favors would one day bring Daisy back into his life. This further expressed her corrupt desire for money. Fitzgerald ultimetly sculpted Daisy’s character with the intent for her to represet the same light, purity, and inooncece that the flowers

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Particularly, Daisy has a “low, thrilling voice” (Fitzgerald 13) that is “full of money” (Fitzgerald 127). Nick describes Daisy’s face as “sad and

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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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According to “Color and Cosmos in ‘The Great Gatsby’” the color white “makes more appearances in the novel than any other single color, and something like three of every four are applied to East Egg or characters from East Egg, especially to Daisy” (428). White represents nobleness and purity and is the most notable of all the colors. East Egg, as well as the people who live there, associates with the color white. To demonstrate Fitzgerald writes, “They were both in white, and their dresses were rippling and fluttering as if they had just been blown back in after short flight around the house” (8). Daisy and Jordan, who live on East Egg, dress in white, but also the breezy setting creates a flaky persona, similar to a dove, so the reader understands that white represents innocence.

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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.

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Foremost, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses characters to symbolize the diabolical traits within a person. For instance, Daisy 's husband, Tom represented pride. Tom was a despicable character throughout the book, he was conceited and arrogant to everyone around him. For example, Tom tells Nick that he is more masculine then he is and parades his house around boasting about his accomplishments and wealth (Ch 1. Pg 7).

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Daisy is not just a shallow gold digger, she is a tragic lover who was corrupted by greed and money and materialistic things. Her whole life shows the extreme extent of how the love and lust for money affected Americans in the

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Morris Lane Mrs. Morris English 11-1st period 6 December 2017 Color in Gatsby The book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald was written about the 1920s. The Great Gatsby is one of Fitzgerald’s most notable works. The Great Gatsby is full of color symbolism from the wild parties to the sad and gloomy parts of New York.

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Her internal struggle is revealed in this instant when her hedonistic desires cause her to feel conflicted. Mrs. Buchanan tends to act extremely selfish, especially during the moments when she cannot resist the temptation of hedonism. When Daisy impatiently awaits Gatsby’s return from war, “there [is] a quality of nervous despair in [her] letters” (151). Daisy’s egocentric nature ultimately causes her to believe that the world revolves around herself. Her tragic downfall is made clear when she decides to marry Mr. Buchanan and pursue old wealth.

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So imagine this, here is this girl in a breezy room, with the curtains, the ceiling, and her dress as white. You can connect white with the symbol as purity, and peace. So the very first scene that she is introduced in, the whole room around her is symbolized as pure. This is how Fitzgerald wants our first impression of Daisy to be, pure and peaceful. But we soon find out that Daisy isn’t as pure as we once thought because she isn’t loyal, to anyone.

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Later into the novel, however, Daisy’s attitudes towards actions start to unfold. As specified by Fitzgerald, Daisy’s “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” (Fitzgerald 9). Certainly, the readers can deem favorable characteristics from Daisy; she has the impression of being a lovable and

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Fitzgerald uses the skill of color imagery and their connotations to show how people try to appear to others and hide who they really are inside. The characters in the novel exhibit the truths of human nature and how we try to change our image and behavior to get what we want out of life. Daisy’s attempt at appearing moral and Myrtle’s effort to appear wealthy display how humans falsely transform their virtues and statuses when put against

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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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This is mainly just the lack of color itself, not necessarily things directly described as gray. The valley of ashes makes people feel depressed and without hope. As blue represents Gatsby’s deepest emotional state, yellow is a color depicting what he chooses to outwardly show the world. Yellow is symbolic of the great riches he possessed and the upper class in general.

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Along with the innocence and pure beauty white represents it also symbolizes empty, vacuity, superficiality, ruthlessness and selfishness to a large extent in the book. Contrary to her outward beauty, Daisy exhibits corrupt, empty, and selfish intentions. Fitzgerald new use of the color white illustrates the facade Daisy puts up to hide her snobbish and conceited view of her life style. From the very start of the book Fitzgerald uses white to describe the luxury of the upper class when he talks about Daisy and Tom's house saying "their house was even more elaborate than I expected, a cheerful red-and-white Georgian Colonial mansion overlooking the bay" (Fitzgerald 6). Daisy's lives a lifetime full of nothing except luxurious things.

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