The Color Green In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

People tend to think that once they reach a certain point of income, they are officially in the wealthy class and can associate themselves with a luxurious lifestyle. However, in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby proves that even with an expansive amount of money he will still always be considered inferior to the old money society. He always felt like he had to do extravagant things, for example throwing parties and always found ways to flaunt his money to everyone, like buying an expensive sports car. Throughout the novel, the color green is mentioned multiple times in different contexts. Ranging from lights, money, the mixture of Tom’s and Gatsby’s cars, etc. Green is often thought of as a representation of wealth and prosperity, however with

Then it represents life and vitality because the only thing Gatsby wants is to have the life and the woman he loves, Daisy. These two things would be the only things to fill the emptiness he truly feels. Fitzgerald’s incorporation of Cugatian’s Celestial Eyes as the cover of the novel feeds into the overall motif of the hope the green light brings through the big celestial yellow eyes. People tend to focus on the yellow pigment of the eyes and how that could connect to the Lost Generation. However, they should consider that instead of focusing on the color of the eyes, focus on what the eyes could be looking at. The eyes being located toward the center top of the cover brings attention to their gaze. It could be interpreted that they are looking out into a distance because they are gazing at society as a whole and that they sparkle because of how the green light reflects off of them, which appears as a yellow