What Does The Color White Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

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INTRODUCTION The Great Gatsby takes place in the Roaring 20s, a time period of bustling economy and having fun. Almost all of the main characters are bad people. Daisy killed a woman and had an affair while married to Tom. Daisy's husband, Tom was a notorious cheater and an aggressive man. Their neighbor across from them, Gatsby is scarily obsessed with Daisy. He moved near her and had a scrapbook all about Daisy, they never talked for 5 years. And, the narrator, Nick is the sanest one of all. He dates Jordan, a professional golf player and she stays with Daisy and Tom. Throughout the novel, references to colors help us understand the characters and how they are as people. TOM. The color white is commonly used to describe something or someone …show more content…

For Gatsby, we see the color white again. But, we see silver and gold as well. To reiterate, white means innocence and pureness. Silver and gold represent wealth. We see Gatsby wearing these colors when he meets Daisy. Jordan and Gatsby work together to convince Nick to invite Daisy over so she and Gatsby can meet. Narrated in The Great Gatsby, “An hour later the front door opened nervously, and Gatsby, in a white flannel suit, silver shirt, and gold colored tie, hurried in” (Fitzgerald, 84). Gatsby wearing those colors can show that he likes to show he has money. Gatsby flaunting his money can show that he thinks money equals power. He knows the money will help Daisy gravitate toward him which could also be an indicator of power. Adding on, Gatsby showed off some of his shirts to Daisy. Narrated in The Great Gatsby, “ – shirts with stripes and scrolls and plaids in coral and apple-green and lavender and faint orange, with monograms of Indian blue.” (Fitzgerald, 92). Gatsby having all of these colors shows his wealth even more. The abundance of colors shows that Gatsby can buy pretty much whatever he wants. Gatsby showing Daisy his shirts further proves him showing off most likely gives him power.