Throughout all of Edgar Allan Poe's works are common ideas that oppose each such as madness versus sanity, reality versus the imagined reality and life versus death. Usually these sentiments are taken as contrasting ideas with little similarities to each other, like black and white. However, many of these motifs are situated in the grey category. Poe uses the communal thought pathway to highlight its antithesis; the pathway of grey. With the new pathway, he emphasizes the similarities of the opposing ideas until they meld into one solid grey idea. One without the other is nothing more than absolutely nothing at all. Poe creates the grey to both discredit society’s division between black and white and to stress that the first perception is
Most people do not see color as simply the way something looks, however. They tend to associate certain colors with specific feelings, emotions and memories. (Dmitrieva) For instance, blue is most commonly associated with “feeling blue” meaning one feels upset or depressed, however, blue is
While Montag is on the run in the streets, he hears through a Seashell a command for everyone to look for him, and his mind pictures a very realistic image: “He imagined thousands on thousands of faces peering into yards, into alleys, and into the sky, faces hid by curtains, pale, night-frightened faces, like gray animals peering from electric caves, faces with gray colorless eyes, gray tongues and gray thoughts looking out through the numb flesh of his face” (132). He pictures “thousands on thousands” of people conforming to the will of an upper government, no questions asked. They all will do exactly as told, but something about the image seems especially unsettling. The word “gray” was repeated four times and connected to every phrase describing them. This color is often associated with blandness and lack of unique color, and
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.
Color express mood and stresses importance of events in a novel. In the Great Gatsby, the symbolism of color is a crucial one. Yellow, white, and green all affect the mood of this novel. Showing how the colors describe the person or thing both physically, and emotionally.
Gray expresses, in late ferry, a human experience captured by the language technique of symbolism, this is of colour. In this text, gray uses the colour of yellow to express light, and sun, and to emphasis the preciousness of the colour yellow, which also symbolises gold. In this text, gray conveys yellow as the happy colour of the light, which is more natural and sweet to him, especially compared the fake lights and colours of the city.
The color gray is referenced in the beginning of the story. Gray is used repetitively to describe the setting in Kansas, their home and it is even used to portray the characters of Aunt Em and Uncle Henry. Kansas was not exciting, there were no other homes and not even a tree in sight. “When Dorothy stood in the doorway and looked around, she could see nothing but the great gray prairie on every side” (Baum 13). Baum describes the farmhouse as “dull and gray as everything else”. Aunt Em’s eyes, cheeks and lips were even depicted as gray. Uncle Henry’s beard and boots were gray and he sat on the door-step looking at the sky that was “grayer than usual” (Baum 14). Gray was also used to show the character’s feelings. Aunt Em was worried and Uncle Henry was tired from working. Life was already “gray”, gloomy and depressing and then the cyclone hit.
What do colors say about a person? Well according to personality innovator Don Lowry, there are four colors to represent the types of people in the world. green’s are thinkers, gold’s are planners, orange’s are impulsive, and blue’s are compassionate. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the character of Jay Gatsby is best represented by the color blue. Gatsby’s personality best fits this color because blue’s are willing to work hard for what they believe in and are very caring for others.
In The Valley of the Ashes the color gray can be used to describe nearly everything in the town. This includes the people, the land, the cars, and even the air. “Occasionally a line of gray cars crawl along an invisible track, gives out a ghastly creak, and comes to rest, and immediately the ash-gray men swarm up with leaden spades and stir up and impenetrable cloud” (23). The color gray is used many times throughout the book but mainly to describe The Valley of the Ashes. Another color that is not primary and used often in the book is the color
Color fills our world with beauty. We delight in the colors of a magnificent sunset and in the bright red and golden-yellow leaves of autumn. We are charmed by gorgeous flowering plants and the brilliantly colored arch of a rainbow. We also use color in various ways to add pleasure and interest to our lives. For example, many people choose the colors of their clothes carefully and decorate their homes with colors that create beautiful, restful, or exciting effects. By their selection and arrangement of colors, artists try to make their paintings more realistic or expressive.
In the story, gray is brought up many times. War, like the color gray, is dull and depressing. War distorts humanity, making everything civil seem to vanish. Bierce uses the color gray to convey this message. Bierce writes, “-a gray-clad soldier rode up to the gate and asked for a drink of water. Mrs. Fahrquhar was only too happy to serve him with her own white hands” (Bierce 2). This man, appears to be a confederate, hence the gray-clad uniform he is wearing. But this man is actually a Federal scout. The color gray made him seem trustworthy and on the same side of the war as Fahrquhar. This scout knows Fahrquhar is a southern plantation owner and decides to try convincing him to commit a crime. The crime of burning down a Union bridge. The scout does this so Federal soldiers could catch Fahrquhar and hang him. A scout wearing a gray uniform in hope of hanging a regular southern man is an act of complete inhumanity. This scout would not have done this if war was not present. This example just shows war brings out the monster in people. The color gray allows this scout to accomplish
In the beginning of the story, the color gray is found countless times. To portray the setting in Kansas, the color gray repetitively describes their home and it is even used to show the personalities of the characters of Aunt Em and Uncle Henry. There were no other homes, not even a tree in sight, Kansas was far from exciting. “When Dorothy stood in the doorway and looked around, she could see nothing but the great gray prairie on every side” (Baum 13). Baum describes the farmhouse as “dull and gray as everything else”; it was only one large room and the paint had blistered. Aunt Em’s eyes, cheeks, and lips were even depicted as gray. Sitting on the doorstep looking at the sky that was “grayer than usual” was Uncle Henry with a gray beard and gray boots (Baum 14). Gray was also used to show the character’s feelings. Aunt Em worried and Uncle Henry’s work tired him out. Life on the farm was already “gray”, gloomy and depressing and then the cyclone hit.
Of all the colors imaginable, gray is the most lovely of them all. Its divine hue is not due to any special detail about it other than the fact that it is a color that spans across all hues and spectrums. It is any color, mixed with shades of blue, red, or even purple. However, it is neither black nor white. It is the indefinite space in between the two that comes in various shades from light to charcoal grays. One cannot define the color alone, yet in the same sense, one is able to define it in every regard.
Based on the findings that one has discovered in life itself, in essence, color helps with the flows of life in a way that it can determines your thoughts, emotions, and decisions. In my research I gained a vast amount knowledge and from what I’ve learned; now I can explain colors in depth, with a great amount of detail. If colors were non-existent, then, there would be a very grey look upon life. Colors brings forth light, and the light brings forth living. The world displays colors for a reason and it’s very important to life.
The neutral colors include black, gray and brown. Black is worn to funerals, but black is also worn by people who thinks it makes them look “slim.” Exactly right there is where people get the good and bad feelings from the color black. Gray is a symbol for neutrality but depression could also be associated with it. Brown can be a soft color, since it is the color of many things in nature, that is where people can get the earthy association. Others can say it shows lack of sophistication.(Wright)