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What Does The Color Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

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Fitzgerald’s Use of Color Symbolism Throughout The Great Gatsby
Color symbolism has existed in human civilization since the dawn of time through religion, the arts, and science. F. Scott Fitzgerald is no exception to this as his novel The Great Gatsby makes laudable use of color symbolism to add to his characters and their corrupt ways. The Great Gatsby takes place in New York City where great malice is held by the population of those who have generational wealth, and occupy East Egg against the nouveau riche who reside in West Egg. The narrator, Nick Carraway, learns about a man named Jay Gatsby who is in love with Nick’s cousin, Daisy Buchanan. Daisy’s husband Tom, a rich affluent man, has an affair with a woman named Myrtle Wilson, a woman …show more content…

Nick is describing the valley of ashes: “But above the gray land and the spasms of bleak dust which drift endlessly over it, you perceive, after a moment, the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg” (20). Through Nick’s description of the land, the reader can feel a dreary mood because throughout the novel gray often portrays a lifeless color. Along with this the bleak dust incessantly drifting can contribute to the reader's mood of devoidness. Doctor T.J. Eckleburg looks at the valley of ashes ravenously which allows the reader to feel his greed to fill his pockets. At the end of the novel Nick concludes with: “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter — tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther… . And one fine morning —” (138). Gatsby’s belief in the green light can create a sense of hopelessness for the reader. Gatsby keeps on chasing Daisy with the belief that she is in his grasp, but to no avail. His green light helps symbolize the American dream he has which will never be fulfilled. Fitzgerald appeals to the reader’s mood with his use of color

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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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In chapter two Nick states The Valley of Ashes is a “Gray land and they have splashes of bleak dust which drift endlessly over it” (23). Nick is basically trying to say that the valley of Ashes has an atmosphere that is gray which of the symbolic meaning of lifelessness which the poor have for they have not achieved their American dream, therefore they are not living. On the contrary Nick states that “The white palaces of the fashionable East Side glittered along the water” (5). Nick is saying that the Mansions of the east side are a “glimmering white” this means that whoever lives in those houses are rich because glittering white has symbolic meaning of wealth. The significance of the use of color is in the setting is that it gives the setting of Greater meaning and in this case it shows what kind of people live in the

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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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Prosperity and Poison; How Green Shapes The Great Gatsby Color plays an astronomical role in The Great Gatsby. Whether it be the red and white house that Tom and Daisy live in, or the yellow Rolls-Royce that Gatsby drives around town, each single color holds a greater significance and is handpicked by Fitzgerald to represent something greater. The green light from Daisy’s dock is an iconic part of the story and represents a multitude of presentations in the story. However, it is from this light that the reader can see Gatsby’s fate from the very beginning and how it impacts the story. The symbolism of green light is used by Fitzgerald to paint a tragic picture of what Gatsby yearns for, but will ultimately play a hand in his demise.

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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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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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What does color mean to you? In the great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald color is used to symbolize different things. Each color has a different meaning. Nick, the narrator, lives in a small house next to Jay Gatsby’s mansion in west egg. Tom and Daisy are married and live together in east egg across the water from Gatsby.

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Many different colors are found throughout F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby”. These colors each have a symbolic meaning of their own: yellow is corruption, green is hope, blue is illusion, gray is lack of life/spirit, and white is false purity. These colors affect the overall mood of the book, and the ironic demise of Jay Gatsby himself. The colors presented in this article, however, are only the blue, the green, and the white. The color blue plays a major part in the affairs and life of Gatsby.

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Grayson Stallings Mrs. Tollett 11th-grade American Literature 3 May 2023 Symbolism in The Great Gatsby In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s story, The Great Gatsby, there are a large number of symbols used for various descriptions. There are two main types of symbols used in the novel, physical symbols, and color symbols. Utilizing symbols such as the green light, the color white, the clock, and the mansion, Fitzgerald describes the destructive power of obsessive love and the decay of the American Dream, as well as many deeper meanings. One of the first symbols that a reader is introduced to in The Great Gatsby is the green light and the color green.

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In the novel, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald color is used to describe the social classes in different places throughout the book. Fitzgerald displays the colors yellow, red, and green to describe the East egg as a wealthy, money-driven place full of broken people. Old money and new money classes are important concepts of the novel and the relationship between the two is shown with the color yellow/gold. Throughout the book, the new money social class is trying to imitate or become the new money class.

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1133 Words | 5 Pages

The whole Valley of Ashes is very dull and lacks color, unlike New York City or the two eggs where Gatsby, Nick Carraway, and the Buchanan’s live. Tom Buchanan takes Nick to meet his girlfriend in the valley and he seems to describe everything as having a bland gray tone, including the people and cars. “Occasionally a line of gray cars crawls along an invisible track, gives out a ghastly creak, and comes to rest, and

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1148 Words | 5 Pages

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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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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1671 Words | 7 Pages

Colors; they can be utilized to represent many different things. Throughout the novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses the contrast of colors to symbolize the shattering realities behind the dreams. First of all, the color gray is frequently referenced throughout The Great Gatsby. " But above the gray land and the spasms of bleak dust which drift endlessly over it, you perceive, after a moment, the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg" (Fitzgerald 23). The valley of ashes is where gray often is referred to.

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The grey dust symbolizes how Gatsby will never be able to achieve his goal, yet he keeps trying, only to become a slave to his own desires affecting him negatively. Fitzgerald describes Gatsby is killed by an “ashen and fantastic figure” (161). The appearance of this grey figure indicates Gatsby’s disillusionment and death. It also means all the things including Gatsby’s dream and life are ended in the bleak and gloomy tragic grey atmosphere. Thus, the color grey is used to illustrate the impossibility of the American Dream, as both George Wilson and Jay Gatsby are consumed and ultimately destroyed by their own

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