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What Does The Yellow Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

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F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby is the most essential representation of the American Dream in the 1920s. Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald applies color as a tool to deliver the subject of the dream as well as the people who seek it. The colors in the novel represent various features of the American Dream, such as optimism, wealth, and violence. The color green is one of the most distinguished colors in The Great Gatsby and it portrays the optimism, the hopes, and the dreams of the characters. The green light at the end of Daisy’s dock symbolizes Gatsby’s longing for her and it also represents his commitment to obtain the American Dream. The green light is described as “minute and far away,” symbolizing that Gatsby's dream is slightly …show more content…

Regardless of the distance, Gatsby’s continues to persevere, demonstrating optimism and hope. Another important color in The Great Gatsby is yellow. The color yellow portrays the materialism and wealth of the characters. Gatsby’s mansion is described as “a tower” and is a key example of wealth. “...it was a factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool, and more than forty acres of lawn and garden. It was Gatsby’s mansion” (Fitzgerald 7). The descriptions of Gatsby’s mansion symbolize the standards of wealth, and how far people would go to attain them. The color yellow is also used to demonstrate Gatsby’s car and additional wealth. Gatsby purchased a yellow car to impress people, which Tom later on referred to as a “circus wagon.” “‘Come on, Daisy,’ said Tom, pressing her hand with his toward Gatsby's car. ‘I’ll take you in this circus wagon’” (Fitzgerald 93). The constant strive towards wealth is a key feature of the American Dream, and Fitzgerald displays the importance of pursuing wealth through the characters. As well as green and

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456 Words | 2 Pages

Throughout the Great Gatsby, there are many different colors that reoccur all over the novel. One color that is mentioned far more than the others is the color green. Throughout the novel, green represents the idea of both Gatsby’s desire to be with Daisy and his efforts to get Daisy to love him. During the novel, the color green is used to represent Gatsby’s desire to be with Daisy. Early in the novel, Nick describes Gatsby looking at “a single green light, minute and far away, that may have been at the end of a dock (Fitzgerald 21).”

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549 Words | 3 Pages

The color yellow symbolizes wealth, extravagance, and materialism. For instance, Gatsby’s extravagant, bright, yellow car, represents his wealth, high-class status, and his materialistic behaviors, “a rich cream color, bright with nickel, swollen here and there in its monstrous length with triumphant hat-boxes and supper-boxes and tool-boxes. ”(Fitzgerald 64). This description of Gatsby's car shows how he cares for materialistic things to impress others. However, the color yellow also symbolizes corruption. "

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724 Words | 3 Pages

The color green is a very prominent symbol in the novel, and is tied closely with Gatsby. One instance of the color green appearing around Gatsby is that the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock is only talked about with reference to Gatsby. The first time the light is seen, Gatsby is reaching his hand out towards it, trying to grasp it. The last time the light is shown

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813 Words | 4 Pages

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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1311 Words | 6 Pages

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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540 Words | 3 Pages

The color green, and more specifically the green light at the end of Dasiy’s dock, is probably the most vital motif within the novel. It ultimatly represents Gatsby’s dream: a romantic relationship with Daisy. However now in which he desires Daisy he also desires the past. Nearing the end of the story Nick quotes, “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic 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.

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690 Words | 3 Pages

The Great Gatsby is a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, it is about a mysterious millionaire named Gatsby and his obsession with a woman named Daisy. The novel takes place during the Roaring Twenties, throughout the story colors are used to portray that obsession can lead to a warped reality. Colors represent love, and wealth, and overall highlight the emptiness of the American dream. Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald uses the description of colors to symbolize different feelings and overall display how obsession leads to a warped reality. Many colors are used to represent different things in this novel, but three stand out.

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762 Words | 4 Pages

In the novel “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald the author uses symbolism, characterization, and the theme of the American dream to portray Gatsby as a man who is worthy of admiration as he attempts to live the American dream.

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404 Words | 2 Pages

The color symbolism in The Great Gatsby is represented by the colors green, pink, and black. The color green is represented by the light at the end of the dock in The Great Gatsby. “possibly it had occurred to him that the colossal significance of the green light…”(Fitzgerald 93). The green light means a lot to Jay Gatsby it represents what he wants and what he has.

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In, The Great Gatsby wrote by F. Scott Fitzgerald, common colors are used to bring light to the nature of the characters such as the thirst for wealth, innocence, and the thin line between dreams and reality. Fitzgerald utilizes traditional meanings associated with standard colors as underlying hints to offer a deeper insight to the readers. The range of colors and corresponding meanings loosely wrap around the conflict, bringing a better understanding. Contrasts in lights and darks, flashes, and glitter contribute to the overall symbolism. Innocence of dreams and the corruption of reality are also exposed by these means.

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854 Words | 4 Pages

“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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1850 Words | 8 Pages

The color green has its own significance in the novel, as it is mainly attached to Gatsby. The color green is usually attached with nature as in rebirth of spring, growth, wealth, hope and envy. Green embodies Gatsby’s dream and the perpetual pursuit of it. The green color is visited by the reader for the very first time through the element of the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock.

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1148 Words | 5 Pages

Gatsby’s life is filled with various colors which signify the messages Fitzgerald is trying to convey. Color symbolism plays an important role through the novel, The Great Gatsby. In the novel, the color green detonates Gatsby’s hopes and dreams, but in other characters it represents envy, jealously, and money. When Nick returns home from his cousins house, he spotted Gatsby outside on his dock: “—he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way…I glanced seaward—and distinguished nothing but a green light, that might have been at the end of a dock” (Fitzgerald 21).

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902 Words | 4 Pages

When The Great Gatsby comes to mind, it is most common that gold, essentially yellow, is the first image of color that pops up. It is symbolic of the money and materialistic lifestyle that the upper class characters of East Egg and Gatsby depict. However, in reality, there is a difference between the gold and yellow representation of the people of East Egg and Jay Gatsby. Daisy is famously referred to as the “golden girl,” she is greedy and obsessed with the idea of a wealthy and luxurious lifestyle. Along with her, is her good friend Jordan Baker, who was occasionally described by Nick as having golden arms or shoulders, as both of these women are from higher-class statuses.

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507 Words | 3 Pages

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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