Colors are used every day in the world around us. Often, colors are used to interpret different images and develop a deeper meaning. During the 1920s, the world began to be occupied with colors that epitomized new ideas and new beliefs. These new ideas and beliefs throughout the roaring 20s were established off of status, as people began to enjoy life more. Out of these ideas, came pieces of literature such as Scott F. Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby that embraced the new idea of colors being used to develop a deeper meaning. In his novel, The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald utilizes varying colors such as yellow, white, and pink to serve as symbols representing the progression of Gatsby and the pursuit of his dream much like the pursuit of status for …show more content…
As Gatsby prepares for his meeting with Daisy, he is depicted as wearing a “white flannel suit, silver shirt, and golden colored tie” (84). Gatsby’s white suit with a gold tie mirrors the image of a Daisy, which just so happens to be the name of the woman he has fallen madly in love with. The golden center of a daisy in this case, symbolizes the person Daisy has become in the eyes of Gatsby. As Gatsby begins to paint the picture of who he wants Daisy to become, the golden center indicates a false view of perfection, and instead of seeing the woman embodied by purity and innocence that everybody else sees, Gatsby tries to influence Daisy to become something she is not. Likewise, Gatsby’s nervousness about seeing Daisy again for the first time in 5 years, is represented by the white suit symbolizing how he is attempting to appeal to Daisy’s innocence, while also representing his immature and childlike behavior. As Gatsby begins to work himself up in Nick’s house, he begins to become very nervous and impatient as he cries out “I can’t wait all day” (84). In this scenario, the once calm and poised Gatsby begins to show his true colors as his tone becomes impatient and hysterical as he looks for an excuse to get out of the situation he has wanted to go perfect for …show more content…
During his confrontation with Daisy’s lover Tom, Gatsby is the object of Tom’s ridicule as he satirically and hyperbolically cries out Gatsby reassured but false statement that he is an “Oxford man!” (122). Disillusioned by the smooth talk and power of Gatsby, both Daisy and Jordan fail to see Gatsby for the conman that he really is. But Tom on the other hand, questions his true identity and makes fun of his “pink suit” (122). The pink suit from Tom’s point of view on Gatsby represents all the lies that Gatsby continues to try to live by even though Tom knows better. Just as Doctor Eckleberg looks over the valley of ashes, Gatsby looks at his own life through rose colored lenses and refuses to see even himself as less than the great Gatsby he has been portraying all these years. The pink color in his suit also represents the romance between him and Daisy, and even though Daisy is caught up in Gatsby’s love, she won’t admit to him that she never loved Tom. As tensions rise between Tom and Gatsby, Gatsby’s true self is revealed as he lashes out at Tom yelling, “She never loved you” (130). Fitzgerald uses an understatement here to emphasize just how disillusioned Jay Gatsby is. He has created a persona of Daisy in his
During the 1920’s, many people would disguise themselves through the identities of someone else. In the novel, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the main characters can be seen “hiding” behind the symbolism of different colors. Color affects the mood, emphasizes the importance of events in a novel, and can also interact with the personalities of the characters. The concept of color symbolism is prominent in the novel. White, yellow, blue, green, and even the color black affect the atmosphere of scenes through association with a specific mood, and also through the actions of the characters.
Throughout The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald reveals more and more rumors about Gatsby and what he has done. However, this all just speculation, as nobody knows the real truth behind Gatsby. Therefore, Gatsby is best represented by the color black. Grok describes black as “the color of mystery, of things not yet revealed.” There is definitely a mystery surrounding Gatsby regarding his past.. His party-goers tend to be the ones that concoct and spread these rumors: “‘he killed a man once’… ‘it’s more that he was a German spy during the war’” (44). Gatsby is generally a reclusive character; he tends not to tell others much about his personal life. The party-goers (generally rich) speculate about how he has the money entertain all of these
When someone comes off too eager for something they desire, sometimes the satisfaction won’t meet the expectations they primarily had. The thrill to chase that dream has vanished and has now turned into a bland, dull thought. Gatsby’s memory of Daisy had changed and then builds her up to more than she actually is. He then proceeds to market Daisy as something completely different. The tendency for Gatsby trying to lie to himself about his memory of Daisy has faded and is now trying hopelessly to revive his past feelings about Daisy. “He had been full of the idea so long, dreamed it right through to the end, waited with his teeth set, so to speak, at an inconceivable pitch of intensity”(Fitzgerald 92). The cumbersome attitude of Gatsby towards
Colors have a large impact on society. They have the ability to affect people’s moods, appetites, and behaviors. Colors also have the ability to act as symbols. For example, the color white often acts as a symbol of innocence, and the color yellow often represents happiness. Throughout the book The Great Gatsby, multiple colors symbolize different aspects of Jay Gatsby’s life.
The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, has deeper information hidden by colors all over the book. Each color has its own significant meaning and connects to the story in some way. From nearly all the colors on the rainbow to the color grey, there is a connection between these buried meanings behind all of the colors. Green is the most important color throughout the book because of special meanings and roles it plays on all of the characters. The color green relates to wealth and success on almost all of the characters. Gatsby is the one who brings this color to life and connects with it to show how it takes part in this story.
Colors are very apparent in The Great Gatsby. They often show up as descriptions to many important items throughout the book, and make those items resemble symbols. The color white confuses the reader, and often causes him/her to rethink their logic. It describes false purity and deception within something, which is very apparent in the character Daisy in this novel. The color grey gives the reader a comparison, and that is of humans to machines. Something that is lifeless is described as grey. After that, there is the final color of blue, something that is very dreamy. This is mostly associated with the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg but is also seen in other things as well. The colors white, grey, and blue cause the reader to rethink this whole book, and are associated with the most important symbols, in this novel. It is colors that truly make The Great Gatsby, a marvelous book to read.
The color yellow and gold in The Great Gatsby symbolizes two different things, but having the same meaning at the end.Yellow can symbolise the flaws and corruptness of doing something. At the same time gold symbolizes richness, and the desire of winning or wanting something, but having failure at it or having false hope the end
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel, The Great Gatsby, exposes the corruption and greed of the Roaring Twenties. Fitzgerald is able to captivate readers' attentions through his employment of color symbolism. Fitzgerald portrays important messages in the novel by his symbolic use of colors. Colors play an important role in Fitzgerald’s descriptions of the lives of Jay Gatsby, Nick Carraway and many of the other characters in the novel. Fitzgerald uses the colors white, yellow, and green to express certain sentiments to the reader, commenting what is going on in the story. Fitzgerald uses the color white to symbolize purity and innocence, while yellow is used to symbolize moral decay, and death. Green is used to represent hope and
In The Great Gatsby, the motif of the color white develops the irony of who Daisy is. This became evident at Daisy’s house when she was found, “lay[ing] upon an enormous couch like [a] silver idol, weighing down [her] own white dress against the singing breeze of the fans” (122). The author creates an image of an angel dressed in their habitual white gown with flowing body portions. The color white is associated with purity, innocence, new beginnings and stimulates growth. This emphasises on Daisy’s current life events.
“In his blue gardens men and women came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars” (Fitzgerald 39). In his character, his relationships, and his gatherings, Jay Gatsby epitomized the illusion of a perfect romance. When Gatsby and Daisy met in 1917, he was searching for money, but ended up profoundly falling in love with her. “[H]e set out for gold and stumbled upon a dream” (Ornstein 37). Only a few weeks after meeting one another, Gatsby had to leave for war, which led to a separation between the two for nearly five years. As “war-torn lovers” Gatsby and Daisy reach the quintessential ideal of archetypical romance. When Gatsby returned from the war, his goal was to rekindle the relationship he once had with Daisy. In order to do this, he believed he would have to work hard to gain new wealth and a new persona. “Jay Gatsby loses his life even though he makes his millions because they are not the kind of safe, respectable money that echoes in Daisy’s lovely voice” (Ornstein 36). Gatsby then meets Daisy’s cousin, Nick Carraway, who helps to reunite the pair. Finally being brought together after years of separation, Gatsby stops throwing the extravagant parties at his home, and “to preserve [Daisy’s] reputation, [he] empties his mansion of lights and servants” (Ornstein 37). Subsequent to their reconciliation, Tom Buchanan, Daisy’s husband, begins to reveal sordid information about Gatsby’s career which causes Daisy to
Colors are an essential part of the world around us. They can convey messages, expressing that which words do not. Gentle blue tones can calm a person and bright yellows can lift the spirits. If an artist is trying to express sorrow or death he often uses blacks blues, and grays basically he uses dreary colors. Without one word, a driver approaching a red traffic light knows to stop. Colors are representative of many things. In his novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses color symbolism throughout as a major device in thematic and character development. He uses colors to symbolize the many different intangible ideas in the book. Throughout the book characters, places, and objects are given "life" by colors, especially the more
In fiction, the author has complete freedom in choosing what hooks to pin a character on. But if he wants to sell copies, he better make sure that there is something compelling about his characters and their stories. As a result, everything from the start to finish is set for a reason. A great example of this is Great Gatsby. F.Scott Fitzgerald named his characters to create subtle imagery to describe their personality and status. The name and color symbolism techniques he uses allow the audience to pick up and realize some hints to author’s message as they read.
People have their own ideas of the perfect life. To attain the American Dream, people must be willing to elbow other people along the way. The American Dream is represented as trying to reach for a luxurious life with not many obstacles to overcome. When it comes to the social ladder, people are concerned with where they stand in relation to others. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby displays his efforts to reach his goals in comparison with Tom Buchanan, who has everything Gatsby ever wanted. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses a variation of color combinations throughout the novel to enhance Gatsby’s unrealistic ideals because of his desire to achieve the American Dream.
Gatsby does not belong to his own class and he is not accepted by the upper class, therefore he becomes an exception. Because of disappointment of being looked down upon and impossibility of accept by the upper class, he has nothing left except his love, which is also his “love dream”. Gatsby’s love for Daisy has been the sole drive and motive of his living. Gatsby’s great love is also the root of his great tragedy, because he is desperately in love with a woman who is not worthy of his deep love. Fitzgerald offers Gatsby with the spirit of sincerity, generosity, nobility, perseverance, and loyalty. All his good natures can be seen
Color imagery in The Great Gatsby is vital to the books storyline. If there was no color imagery then the reader could not associate a certain person or thing with a color or idea. Fitzgerald uses the color so people can remember the person more than just their name. The use of color imagery greatly impacts the story line.