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Color Symbolism In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

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In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, colors go beyond their visual representation and become powerful symbols that illustrate different themes and characters throughout the narrative. From the vibrant yellow of Gatsby’s Rolls Royce to the haunting green light that lurks across the bay, each one of these colors holds significance. These colors serve more than a description, but emerge to be symbols, ingrained with layers of deeper meaning. These colors offer an insight into the characters, themes, and the cultural landscape throughout the roaring ’20s. Examining these colors throughout The Great Gatsby, a reader can unveil a rich undertone that takes a look into the complexities of wealth, desire, illusion, and ultimately the pursuit of the …show more content…

Throughout the beginning of the novel, yellow symbolizes the extravagance of the Jazz age, as seen throughout the multiple parties hosted by Gatsby. Chapter 3, “The lights grow brighter as the earth lurches away from the sun and now the orchestra is playing yellow cocktail music and the opera of voices pitches a key higher.” The color yellow in this context represents the opulence and the richness of Gatby’s parties. However, beneath the surface of this wealth lies a deeper meaning, being as yellow also represents the corruption and moral decay of the characters as the novel progresses. Chapter 2, “They look out of no face but, instead, from a pair of enormous yellow spectacles which pass over a nonexistent nose.” We see Dr. T.J. Eckleburg consistently throughout the novel, and he serves as a reminder of the moral emptiness of society depicted throughout this novel. The color yellow in The Great Gatsby serves as a mixed symbol, representing the allure and also the shallowness of the American Dream throughout the Roaring Twenties. The green light at the end of Daisy’s dock serves as a constant reminder throughout the

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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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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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Gatsby Extended Response, Logan Veley, Period 1 Throughout the novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses a unique system of color descriptions to mold his story. His use of these colors had an astounding impact throughout his writing. Fitzgerald transformed something as simple as colors into a crucial element to his story. With these descriptive colors, Fitzgerald created a portal through which the reader is able to have insight to the characters’ development.

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Regarded as one of the most brilliant works of literature, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald covers the vibrant, tumultuous, and vivid account of the Roaring Twenties Period. Whether implicitly or explicitly stated, Fitzgerald has numerous motifs sprinkled throughout the novel. Every element in the story from the characters, to the setting, and even the clothing contains a deeper meaning that Fitzgerald uses to display the authenticity of the people and the lifestyle during the 1920s. Fitzgerald uses the colours white and yellow in The Great Gatsby to illustrate the mood and tone that the characters of the East and West Eggs present in the story. The primary use of the two colours serves to paint a picture of the supposed innocence and

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Yet, as the book went on it later came to mean a very different thing; death. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald used the symbolism of the color yellow with the yellow at the first party, the yellow glasses of Doctor T.J. Eckleberg, and Gatsby’s yellow car to develop the themes of in-authenticity and death. When Nick Carraway attended one of Gatsby's parties for the first time, there were a few yellow objects that represented inauthenticity. Among these were “A pair of stage ‘twins’ - who turned out to be the girls in yellow - did a baby act in costume…”(51).

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The color yellow symbolizes wealth, extravagance, and materialism. For instance, Gatsby’s extravagant, bright, yellow car, represents his wealth, high-class status, and his materialistic behaviors, “a rich cream color, bright with nickel, swollen here and there in its monstrous length with triumphant hat-boxes and supper-boxes and tool-boxes. ”(Fitzgerald 64). This description of Gatsby's car shows how he cares for materialistic things to impress others. However, the color yellow also symbolizes corruption. "

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In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, symbolism is very important all throughout it. Not only does he use objects to show symbolism, but he also uses color symbolism to prove the importance of the theme and development of the characteristics in the Great Gatsby. Color symbolism brings out the visual of the story, so readers can picture it in their mind as they are reading. Fitzgerald took the colors to an advanced level by using key colors to help further deepen the meaning of the book and its characters. Although there are many colors in the novel, Fitzgerald uses the colors green, white, and yellow to symbolize Gatsby’s emotions and riches.

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The color yellow is a symbol for death as it is centered around death within the novel concerning Gatsby’s car when it hit and killed Myrtle while Daisy was driving. It is also the symbol of wealth as shown being much apart of Gatsby’s clothes and even apart of Daisy’s buttons on her apparel allowing you to see how connected the color yellow or pale gold is to wealthy and how bearing this color symbolizes great wealth. Finally this color may symbolize a divine purpose as T.J. Eckleburg’s eyeglass rims were painted pale gold or yellow and were referred to the eyes of god as they stared across the valley of ashes. The color yellow or pale gold is a strong symbol throughout the novel The Great Gatsby as it shows death, great wealth, and even the divine within the

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The Great Gatsby is a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, it is about a mysterious millionaire named Gatsby and his obsession with a woman named Daisy. The novel takes place during the Roaring Twenties, throughout the story colors are used to portray that obsession can lead to a warped reality. Colors represent love, and wealth, and overall highlight the emptiness of the American dream. Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald uses the description of colors to symbolize different feelings and overall display how obsession leads to a warped reality. Many colors are used to represent different things in this novel, but three stand out.

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In the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, colors and music, two different forms of art, but art nonetheless, make themselves very prominently know. From depicting scenes to describing characters to subtle metaphors, Fitzgerald uses colors such as yellow and green, to jazz music, to create and evoke feeling for the reader through words. The first form of art I want to dive into is the colors Fitzgerald uses to reference people, objects, and an overall way of living. The most prominent color you think of is the color yellow and gold, mentioned to describe many things throughout the novel, which was meant to be in reference to money, but more specifically, actual physical gold.

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As he gained wealth over the years he was away from Daisy, Gatsby believes he will be able to get Daisy to go back to him due to the money and the social position he reached due to his wealth. Another way yellow symbolizes social position in The Great Gatsby is the billboard in the Valley of Ashes as, “Doctor T. J. Eckleburg’s enormous spectacles are yellow too” (Haibing). Doctor T.J. Eckleburg is said to be the one to look down over The Valley of Ashes giving him a high ranking in social position which is very well symbolized by the yellow of the glasses he wears. The Valley of Ashes is a very dark, gloomy, and gray waste land with little color in it.

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The color symbolism in The Great Gatsby is represented by the colors green, pink, and black. The color green is represented by the light at the end of the dock in The Great Gatsby. “possibly it had occurred to him that the colossal significance of the green light…”(Fitzgerald 93). The green light means a lot to Jay Gatsby it represents what he wants and what he has.

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The use of color symbolism in The Great Gatsby reflects the larger cultural and social landscape of the Jazz Age. The vibrant colors of the era symbolize the excess and flamboyance of the wealthy elite, while the melancholic undertones of the era are reflected in the use of blue. The novel also highlights the futility of the American Dream through the use of green and yellow. The American Dream was a central theme of the Jazz Age, and the use of color symbolism in The Great Gatsby serves to deepen the meaning of this theme and illustrate the complexities of the

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With the beginning of the 20th century, great changes arrived in all spheres of human activity due to the growing needs of the society. Like everything else, literature had to offer new literary frames that will meet the requirements of the readership. One of the pioneers that had the courage to try something different and unique was the American novelist Francis Scott Fitzgerald, who became a cultural icon because of his success to embody the era he in which he lived inside of his works. Through the analysis of some key symbols in ‘The Great Gatsby’ we will see how for example colors do not always have positive connotations or how some elements, minor and irrelevant to the one group of characters, have great importance to the other.

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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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