ipl-logo

What Does White Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

493 Words2 Pages

F. Scott Fitzgerald has written the Great Gatsby with a specific attention to detail in mind. Many aspects of his writing convey a deeper meaning and this is especially relevant in The Great Gatsby. In this novel about the american dream during the 1920s, Fitzgerald uses the visual colors as a means to describe attributes of characters and their environments that were not previously alluded to, greatly affecting the interpretation of the narrative.
One of the most prominent colors featured in the novel is white. White is used to represent innocence and purity, and it is most closely associated with Daisy throughout the plot. When Daisy is introduced along with Jordan, they were “...both in white, and their dresses were rippling and fluttering as if they had just been blown back in after a short flight around the house. …show more content…

Jordan describes Daisy in white while she tells Nick the story of when her and Gatsby met, providing that, “She dressed in white, and had a little white roadster…” (Fitzgerald 74). The book shows that Daisy holds a favorable reputation among peers, and white expresses her outward personality as innocent, naive, and pure. These things are not entirely true of her internal nature, but the white is symbolic of her actions towards others and a perceived outward appearance.
Another color of importance to be discussed is green. This color has a strong correlation with vitality. Nick experiences Gatsby staring across the bay at his house and as he, “...glanced seaward--and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock.” (Fitzgerald 21). This green light is a frequent reminder for Gatsby and symbolizes his sole dream to be with Daisy again. It represents Gatsby’s whole life dream of a future with Daisy, a reality that is right before him but just out of

Show More
Related
1493 Words | 6 Pages

Fitzgerald uses the color white to emphasize the innocence and purity is deceiving and hides the truth of the rich people. “Daisy and Jordan Lay upon an enormous couch, like silver idols weighing down their own white dresses against the singing breeze of the fans”. Their white dresses are showing the purity and innocence of them. Fitzgerald also uses the color green in The Great Gatsby to convey the theme of wealth and class. Fitzgerald uses green to symbolize money and the power it has in society.

Read More
148 Words | 1 Pages

The Great Gatsby introduces many color symbols that have their own meaning and relevance to the story. Fitzgerald used a lot of colors to give an insight to the lives of the characters. The color green represents the future. The color yellow represents money and death. Lastly, the color white represents innocence.

Read More
909 Words | 4 Pages

One of the major characters in The Great Gatsby is Daisy Buchanon, who could be best correlated with the color white. Daisy’s friend, Jordan Baker, reports Daisy as “dressed in white, and had a little white roadster (74)” during around the time she met Jay Gatsby. Jordan even accounts for Daisy spending time with Gatsby in her white roadster. The significance in this description calls toward the innocence associated with the color.

Read More
417 Words | 2 Pages

In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald the colors white, black, red, and gold are heavily used throughout the novel to show purity, impurity, love, death, and greed of Daisy’s character. At the beginning of the novel, F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays Daisy as pure and innocent through the use of the color white. The novel goes on to explain, “They were both in white, and their dresses were rippling and fluttering as if they had just been blown back in after a short flight around the house” (Fitzgerald 8). In this instance, white is used to represent purity, that’s why this quote in the novel gives the reader the emotion of purity by portraying a scene in which everything is elegant and tranquil. Towards the end of the story, black becomes Daisy’s main

Read More
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.

Read More
1311 Words | 6 Pages

The color white means freshness and innocence but in the article Symbolic Meanings of Colors in The Great Gatsby, it says something different. It states that the color, “white actually symbolizes empty, vacuity, superficiality, ruthlessness and selfish to a great extent in the novel” (Zhang 1). Daisy is a sweet and innocent on the outside but deep down she has a cold and selfish heart that does not care for love, only the money. She reveals her selfishness when Gatsby dies and she does not show any sadness and leaves to go and travel with her

Read More
903 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More
404 Words | 2 Pages

Morris Lane Mrs. Morris English 11-1st period 6 December 2017 Color in Gatsby The book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald was written about the 1920s. The Great Gatsby is one of Fitzgerald’s most notable works. The Great Gatsby is full of color symbolism from the wild parties to the sad and gloomy parts of New York.

Read More
860 Words | 4 Pages

The character most heavily associated with white is Daisy Buchanan. From her white dresses to her home- a white palace- Fitzgerald creates a strong connection between Daisy and the color white. Historically, white has symbolized purity and virtue. It is a moral color entirely above all of the other “messy” shades. In the eyes of Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan is a paragon of virtue.

Read More
1032 Words | 5 Pages

The Impact of the Color White in The Great Gatsby Upon seeing the color white, many people think about certain elements that correspond with the shade. The color white is commonly displayed in media to portray righteousness and simplicity but also discrepancy and luxury. People's wealthiness along with physical and mental cleanliness can often be illustrated through the color white. In the novel The Great Gatsby, these themes commonly occur with certain characters being associated with the color white. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, he displays the color white through his characters to mask superficiality with purity to convey the idea that a need for wealth comes with corruption.

Read More
854 Words | 4 Pages

The symbolism of the color white appear several times in the book. But, there was one scene that stood out. The author F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote about the color of white in the scene where Nick is visiting Tom and Daisy Buchanan. Fitzgerald described what happens when Nick was going on a trip with Gatsby in his car, “-only half, for as we twisted among the pillars of the elevated I heard the familiar “jug-jug-spat!” of a motor cycle, and a frantic policeman rode alongside. “All right, old sport,” called Gatsby.

Read More
1850 Words | 8 Pages

Item 2: Color Chart: In the book “The Great Gatsby,” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, colors have been used to represent the character’s unapparent and underlying thoughts, feelings, status and class. Through the motif of colors, Fitzgerald depicts the feelings of the character as he refers to a specific color while describing each one of them. The colors make a deep impact on the readers as they contain a profound meaning throughout the novel. There are around five main colors in the novel appearing frequently: white, yellow, green, blue and grey, which help the novel look more gaudy and idealistic.

Read More
1689 Words | 7 Pages

The colors of white, yellow, and green are the most eminent, easily distinguishable from the rest, and representing purity, death, and hope” (Yaffe 1). Firstly, white color will be discussed as it is “one of the main symbolic colors in The Great Gatsby, representing purity, innocence, and honesty” (Yaffe 1). At the beginning of the novel Nick Carraway visited his cousin Daisy Buchanan and both she and her friend Jordan Baker wore white dresses. Although they were only sitting on a sofa, Nick was overwhelmed by their beauty, especially by the looks of Jordan Baker, whom he did not know until then, and said: “I was almost surprised into murmuring an apology for having disturbed her by coming in” (Fitzgerald 9). Nick Carraway himself wore white attire on different occasions throughout the novel, like at the first party at Gatsby’s mansion trying to make an impression and at the time he was still not corrupted by this extravagant way of life.

Read More
441 Words | 2 Pages

Daisy wears the color white. She drives a white car to prove the point further. “ They were both in white, and their dresses were rippling and fluttering as if they had just been blown back in after a short flight around the house.”(pg. 9) White is often considered a color to represent purity.

Read More
1029 Words | 5 Pages

He also uses this symbolism of the color white to indicate high-class people. Fitzgerald reveals how Daisy and Jordan “were both in white, and their dresses were rippling and fluttering as if they had just been blown back in after a short flight around the house”(8). When these characters were introduced to Nick Carraway, the narrator, they wore white dresses which symbolize virginal purity to Nick. These women come off as airy and innocent during their initial interaction with Nick, but later on, we find out that this is not the case. Jordan and Daisy’s white dresses also affirm their place as wealthy ladies in a high social class.

Read More

More about What Does White Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

Related Topics

Open Document