What Does The Color Red Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

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In recent studies, it has been determined that infants as young as two weeks old can distinguish the color red because of the fact that it is the color with the longest wavelength. If color is added to a certain situation, it can change the meaning or mood of the situation entirely. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s fiction novel The Great Gatsby a man named Nick Carraway moves to the West Egg in New York and meets his neighbor, Jay Gatsby. Nick takes the reader through his time in getting to know Jay and wondering if Gatsby truly is who he says he is. Color is a very important factor throughout the book and one color could have multiple meanings. Various colors are used in a very particular way to add meaning to what is happening in the book. Color symbolism shows up multiple times throughout The Great Gatsby, but some of the most prominent examples of this is when green represents hope or new money, white represents pure beauty, red represents violence, and more. The first example of color clearly symbolising something else is when green represents hopes and dreams. This green …show more content…

This symbolism is described in Zhang’s article that says of the color yellow / gold, “Yellow is the color of gold, which symbolizes money, materialism and high social position.” This quote describes what yellow represents throughout the novel. One of the examples in the book that shows yellow symbolism is when Gatsby buys a yellow car which shows yellow symbolism because Gatsby has a lot of money. Yellow is also described in Herbert’s writing he says, “Sometimes the gold at Gatsby's house turns to yellow.” this shows yellow’s symbolism because, as said before, Gatsby has a lot of money and his house is yellow which represents his richness. The last explanation of yellow / gold having symbolism is in Maria’s article when she wrote, “...gold – the color of “old money” and class.” This describes what gold symbolizes in “The Great