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The Great Gatsby Response Essay

1206 Words5 Pages

Carter Davidson
Ms. Crowell
AP Lang - 7
16 February 2023
Title of Your Report
What is the American Dream and who has access to it? This is a question that is ever-present at the forefront of American culture, one that many would describe as the opportunity for success achievable by all, regardless of status or origin. In his novel, The Great Gatsby, author F. Scott Fitzgerald sends readers a distinct message regarding the true nature of the dream, and how it’s not as accessible as everyone likes to believe. Set in the 1920s, the novel follows the wealthy character Nick Carraway and his friendship with mysterious billionaire Jay Gatsby. Through his use of symbolism in colors, objects, and locations, Fitzgerald is able to turn this story of just …show more content…

One of the most profound uses of color in the novel is the relationship between gold and yellow representing a divide in wealth between the new and the old. The author bestows the color gold upon the community of East Egg and Daisy, who is the embodiment of this wealth. Fitzgerald uses this imagery when he writes, “Her voice was full of money…high in a white palace, the king's daughter, the golden girl...” Daisy is described as the ‘golden girl’ as she represents the high-class status that Gatsby so desires. However, for all of the extravagance of the West Egg lifestyle, Gatsby is only ever able to achieve an imitation of wealth in the color yellow, symbolically represented by his car. While the car is intricate and lustrous, it is only seen as “a yellow car, a big yellow car. New.” While Gatsby strives for an appearance of wealth, it is just that: an appearance. An interesting connection between yellow and gold is their link to death. It is George Wilson’s yellow house in the Valley of Ashes that he and Myrtle lived in until their deaths. It is Gatsby’s yellow car that strikes down the woman. It is the yellow eyes of TJ Eckleburg that push Mr. Wilson to kill Gatsby and himself. Gold also appears in the aftermath of Myrtle's death in Gatsby’s mansion, as the sun “[fills] the house with grey-turning, gold-turning light.” The use of these two colors to represent death is …show more content…

In the novel, Gatsby is often surrounded by these symbolic objects. One of these is the mantle clock in Nick’s house. As Fitzgerald paints the scene, he describes how “Luckily the clock took this moment to tilt dangerously at the pressure of his head, whereupon he turned and caught it with trembling fingers and set it back in place.” Gatsby foolishly knocking over the clock represents his ignorance of time, as he is locked in an endless quest to return to his forgotten love with Daisy. While in reality, it is impossible to return to the past, Gatsby disregards this, which later brings along one of his most famous quotes: “‘Can’t repeat the past? Why of course you can!’” Another notable example of this concept is represented by the eyes of T.J. Eckleburg. Fitzgerald introduces them with an eerie undertone: He points out that “The eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg are blue and gigantic—their retinas are one yard high. They look out of no face, but, instead, from a pair of enormous yellow spectacles which pass over a non-existent nose.” These eyes come into play at the end of the novel after Myrtle's death. As her grief-stricken husband George stares into the unwavering eyes risen above the barren ashes, he labels them as the eyes of God urging him to take revenge. Fitzgerald describes the terrifying scene in detail: “‘God sees everything,’ repeated Wilson. ‘That's an advertisement,’ Michaelis assured

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The colors show values of the characters. The color gold is used to define the wealth of the character. The color gold in the novel means richness, successful, valuable, & more. “At Gatsby's parties even the turkeys turn to gold. Turkeys bewitched to a dark gold" (Fitzgerald p. 41).

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In the novel The Great Gatsby color was the main theme during the book. Colors represented many things such as wealth, hope, and the innocence a person can have. These colors showed great significance in representing someone's feelings and personality during a chapter or scene. During the book the color gold represented wealth from old money and showed the reader who had wealth.

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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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James Gatz, other known as Jay Gatsby, in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, encounters many forms of color symbolism through his summer of trying to achieve his dream of marrying the girl of his dreams, Daisy Buchanan. Color symbolism plays an important role throughout the novel. The color gold usually represents wealth and money and

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Fitzgerald uses yellow to describe Myrtle’s death scene: “He reached up on tiptoes and peered over a circle of heads into the garage, which was lit only by a yellow light in a swinging wire basket overhead. Then he made a harsh sound in his throat, and with a violent thrusting movement of his powerful arms pushed his way through” (138). The “yellow light” here creates an eerie atmosphere to illuminate the ending of Myrtle after she tried to achieve an unattainable dream of her being able to escape the limitations of her social class. Additionally, according to “Wilson’s incoherent muttering,” a “yellow car” killed Myrtle, it shows how the riches she was aiming for ended up leading to her doom (156-157). There’s also yellow before the death of Gatsby: “Gatsby shouldered the mattress and started for the pool.

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The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, deploys color symbolism in order to further develop characters and the plot. Fitzgerald’s use of color symbolism within The Great Gatsby not only defines the characters but adds depth to them. The most recognized color within the novel is “the single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock” (26). In addition to the green light, there are many other colors within the novel that embody characters, objects, and ideas. The most significant and memorable colors, other than green, are white and yellow, both of which are intertwined in Fitzgerald’s fictional world of materialism and scandal.

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Thought out the whole novel the color yellow symbolizes Gatsby’s wealth and has something to do with Daisy. Around the world the color yellow usually means happiness and in “The Great Gatsby” the author stated, "now the orchestra is playing yellow cocktail music" (Fitzgerald 42). Gatsby was having another party to show his money, while the music had a rich tone and the people there felt that the music was soothing. Also in the novel, Fitzgerald mentions, "two girls in twin yellow dresses" (44), and it is to talking about the happiness. The two girls in the yellow dresses are admiring Jordan, the golden girl, and are jealous of how amazing she looks.

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The colors green, gold, and yellow are frequently mentioned throughout. Green is arguably the most prominent color used as a symbol in The Great Gatsby. Gatsby is often seen standing in his lawn, staring at the green light emanating from the end of Daisy's dock. Nick notes that at one point, Gatsby ''stretched out his arms toward the dark water'' to reach the light that he cannot obtain (Fitzgerald 21). In this context, the green symbolizes Gatsby's desire to attain Daisy’s love once more.

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“It was a rich cream color, bright with nickel, swollen here and there in its monstrous length with triumphant hatboxes and supper-boxes and tool-boxes, and terraced with a labyrinth of windshields that mirrored a dozen suns. Sitting down behind many layers of glass in a sort of green leather conservatory we started to town.” (68). The color yellow is to symbolise wealth in the novel. This describes how lavish, eye catching and extravagant Gatsby’s car is and how it is meant to catch your attention when you look at it.

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In the movie, the clock is not broken, this is important because the clock represents the frozen time between when Gatsby and Daisy last met. These differences between the details are important because every detail in Fitzgerald’s works symbolizes

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“The Great Gatsby” by Scott Fitzgerald is a story about a man whom went from being poor to someone full of wealth just to find his beloved who he lost five years ago. His search led him into his lover's arms and later led to his death. The colors that are used in the story have meaning behind each of them. The colors gold and silver are used to symbolize someone’s riches. Fitzgerald uses the color silver and gold to establish the idea of wealth, trophies, and awards.

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Yellow appears throughout the novel often in times when Gatsby is flaunting his wealth. For example, Gatsby’s car is later described by witnesses of Myrtle’s death as a “big yellow car. New” (Fitzgerald 107). This description demonstrates the outward appearance to which Gatsby works tirelessly to allude, and provides the reader with an external perspective of Gatsby’s persona. The yellow car furthermore manifests itself as a token of Gatsby’s facade that he ornamentsed with his lavish possessions.

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I. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, the American Dream is depicted as a mirage due to its ultimate lack of fulfillment, outsider’s inability to obtain it, and the corruption it causes. A. Those who have achieved their idea of the American Dream are ultimately unfulfilled emotionally even though they possess tremendous wealth. B. The American Dream is a mirage, and thus unattainable as it limits success of an individual by their class and ethnic origin. C. Not only is the American Dream exclusive and unfulfilling, but it also causes corruption as those who strive for the American Dream corrupt themselves in doing so and the old rich hide behind their wealth in order to conceal their immoralities.

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In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, color symbolism is used to reveal important character traits and create a variety of moods throughout chapters 1-4. Fitzgerald incorporates the color white to demonstrate the virginal purity and initial innocence of some of the characters. He also uses this symbolism of the color white to differentiate between social classes. Fitzgerald then affiliates the colors gray and yellow with the dismal corruption that engulfs the novel. To tie everything together, he develops a pattern of the color green to portray how Gatsby’s world revolves around a greedy, yet romanticized dream, only attainable through money.

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Yellow surrounds Gatsby enormously; his car at the beginning of the novel is described as “a rich cream color”, but it is not white, which is a sign that it’s already impure (64). Later, after killing Myrtle, Gatsby’s car is described as “a big yellow car”, completing its corruption (139). The color of Gatsby’s car was also unusual for that time period, making the car stand out and helping the trail of death lead to Gatsby. The last time readers see yellow attached to Gatsby is at the near end of the novel, right before he dies when he “disappeared among the yellowing trees” representing his own coming death (161). An area surrounding loss of life is The Valley of Ashes; The Wilson home “was a small block of yellow brick sitting on the edge of a waste land” where the Wilsons have a terrible life (24).

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