Laura Emberson
Mr. Carroll
English Comp II
Literary Analysis Final Copy
16 April 2015
Symbolism in The Great Gatsby Symbolism prevails above all other things throughout F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby. The author’s use of symbolism creates many themes throughout the story. Some of the main themes recognized throughout the story are those regarding lies and deceit, marriage, money, religion, and isolation. The symbols creating these themes are represented with colors. The author uses color throughout the story to symbolize deceit, innocence, envy, lifelessness, and sadness.
The color yellow is used to symbolize deceit. Gatsby’s yellow car is used to represent his deceiving life. He wants everyone to perceive him as a well-off, impressive
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Daisy and Jordan are wearing white dresses the first time Nick sees them, which suggest that they are innocent, almost angelic women. Throughout the book, certain events question whether or not the two women are as pure as their white dresses. Daisy’s innocence is especially questioned. The fact that she considers leaving Tom for Gatsby is one instance which suggests that Daisy is not so innocent after all. Perhaps the author is trying to suggest that even the most innocent people can be corrupted. In the end, Daisy does not leave Tom, which suggests that maybe she really does still have a hint of innocence in her. White symbolizes the theme of …show more content…
The color gray is used to describe the desolate valley of ashes, which then makes anyone or anything else associated with the color gray lifeless as well. George Wilson is described as being covered in ashen dust along with everything else in the valley of ashes which suggests that he has lost hope in his marriage with Myrtle and is depressed as a result. More than once, it is suggested that Dr. TJ Eckelburg’s eyes are the all-seeing eyes of God. The association of Eckelburg to God may lead readers to associate the valley of ashes to a place such as purgatory, where lifeless, hopeless souls remain under the eyes of God, hoping to one day be freed. The religious references made in the book obviously suggest that one of the themes is religion or perhaps the lack of it. The only mention of God is in reference to eyes on a billboard, which suggests that maybe the obsession with wealth and fortune has surpassed the importance of
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
In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, colors are one of the most important details in the book. Throughout the story Fitzgerald cleverly uses colors in order to focus on specific themes and characters. He wrote this book in a way where one can read it for pleasure, and where one could analyze it and truly appreciate the work that he has put into this book. Every color has a specific meaning which correlates with each of the characters. Specifically, gold represents wealth, high class, selfishness, and relationships; while white represents honesty, purity, innocence, and a symbol for surrendering.
While many would connect the color grey with George, the irrelevant individual who never lived up to the standards of the wealthy, we can also make this connection with Gatsby, who happens to be one of the wealthiest. Even Gatsby had, “foul dust [floating] in the wake of his dreams,” (Fitzgerald.4) revealing that although he might seem content on the outside, he is melancholy and gloomy on the inside. Nevertheless, George Wilson can be best identified as grey, boring and insignificant. When Nick first encounters George, “a white ashen dust veiled his dark suit and his pale hair as it veiled everything in the vicinity,” (Fitzgerald.29) showing just how distressed George truly was. He was surrounded by wealthy people living in the luscious lands of West and East Egg, yet he was stuck in the middle, in a wasteland covered in ash and soot known as The Valley of Ashes. The Valley of Ashes represents the forgotten, the, “men who move dimly and [are] already crumbling through the powdery air.” (Fitzgerald.26) Every single piece of grey, “the grey cars…the ash-grey men…the grey land,” (Fitzgerald.26) brought hopelessness and anguish upon those who passed The Valley of Ashes. The Valley stands for pain and destruction as it was the place of death of Myrtle as she, “knelt in the road and mingled her thick, dark blood with the dust.” (Fitzgerald.147) There isn’t a slim chance of happiness in The Valley of Ashes, and there never will be
Everyone has the opportunity to live the American dream--to achieve success and find happiness by working hard--however, those who take their opportunities for granted will not live the life they hoped for. Specifically, colors can be used to represent the American dream in The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The color gray is used to symbolize the valley of ashes; the dark outcome of being in a low social class. Gatsby’s loss of hope is signified by the green light displayed on Daisy’s house. Yellow and gold symbolize the irony between real wealth and false money. All these colors represent the lost opportunities of success and happiness resulting in a tragedy. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses colors to reveal how the American Dream can be misconstrued leaving devastating results.
Authors use symbols and motifs to tie in the theme and give depth and meaning to their literature. In The Great Gatsby by Scott F. Fitzgerald, he uses many different symbols and motifs. Symbols that Fitzgerald uses in The Great Gatsby are the green light on Daisy Buchanan’s dock, the valley of ashes, and the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg. Motifs that Fitzgerald uses are the colors yellow and gold, the geography, and the weather. The most important motif in The Great Gatsby is the colors yellow and gold because it represents the theme of the corruption of the American Dream in the 1920’s and represents the negative reality of the world, such as the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleberg and Gatsby’s car, rather than the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock.
Symbolism is often used by authors in many genres to reveal more important themes and meanings. In the novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, symbolism is used to show colors and their different meanings. All of the characters in the book are related to a specific color that shows how they live their lives. Fitzgerald uses colors like gold, green and white. Gold is meant to represent wealth while green is meant to show hope. Also, white is used to portray innocence and purity for the wealthy. Overall, F. Scott Fitzgerald used color symbolism as a tool to show the different social classes and what they were like during the 1930’s
As a reader, one does not usually read into the symbols of a book. Audiences look forward to the entertainment they get from the story. But, in The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald delves into the world of symbolism and metaphors. In this book, readers must pay close attention to the detail Fitzgerald puts into his work. The Great Gatsby is full of important symbols such as the colors used to represent different characters. Silver and Gold are used for Gatsby to represent power and money. Both Jordan and Daisy are represented with the colors white which represents a lack of color; shallowness. In Tom Burnam’s The Eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg: A Re-examination of “The Great Gatsby”, Burnam quotes, “It is indeed likely, as a matter of fact,
Gatsby has many colors in the book; the first one being a green light at the end of Daisy’s dock. Green symbolizes Gatsby’s deep love for Daisy and his American dream. Later on in the book the water between Gatsby and Daisy becomes green. Yellow is another color color connected to Gatsby and is represented as fake gold. Gatsby’s car is also yellow which is a symbol of failure to enter New York’s high society and was the color that represented Gatsby’s tie. Furthermore, yellow or gold symbolizes money, high social position, destructive power and death. Blue is another color that’s all over Gatsby’s house: hid blue garden, the blue smoke of brittle leaves, a blue lawn and a blue livery. Cody also buy’s Gatsby a blue coat and a woman comes to
In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, symbolism makes the novel stand out, giving the characters and objects life. Among all the symbols Fitzgerald employs, color, in particular, symbolizes the inner thoughts and feelings of the characters in instances such as Tom’s blue car and the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock. Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald uses color as a major device in character development showing the many intangible ideas Fitzgerald adds to the novel. There are five major colors that appear frequently: green, white, yellow, blue, and grey. They make the novel more vivid and profound deepening of the themes of the disillusionment of the American Dream, the hollowness of the upper class, and the moral decay rampant
In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald there are several symbols that appear all throughout the book. The symbols are things such as the green light, weather, eyes, but the one that stands out the most is color. Specifically, the color yellow pops up in many situations, and appears on different objects to give insight to how the characters will be affected at that time. Yellow has many meanings some main ones are: how money can affect people, to caution characters that danger is afoot, and to protect certain characters. During the 1920s money was the revolving factor of everyone's lifestyle whether an individual has money or not he/
The importance of the color in this book was tremendous. One usually has an instinctive with connection from color to certain feeling. The author “F.Scott.Fitzgeraid” is an artist. He uses color to attach emotion to one who reads the book. The most meaningful colour that we see in Gatsby is green. Thinking of the color green it reminds us o f nature, hope and spring. In the Great Gatsby the color green is associated with Jay Gatsby. It is used to stress Gatsby’s desire to achieve Daisy. As he already has achieved everything else wealth and power, his only unfilled wish is to win daisy back. Therefore the color green stands for the never ending hope of love for Daisy, as it is associated with green light at Daisy’s dock. Gatsby watches
The use of symbolism in The Great Gatsby, adds remarkable depth to the novel. Fitzgerald uses colors throughout the book to represent the different themes that he is conveying. The colors, green and white, in particular are extremely important. The color green symbolizes jealousy of characters.
Symbolism Throughout the novel Fitzgerald paints the Great Gatsby with a vibrant array of colors:yellow, green grey and white. Although subtle at first, lying in the background, each color carries deep significance, representing the overarching themes of wealth,, lifelessness and hope. One of the main topics of the novel is wealth. A constantly repeated concept that can be seen littered throughout the plot, and Nick is in the center of it, living in one of the richest cities on the East Coast: New York.
F. Scott Fitzgerald is an author known for his best-selling book, The Great Gatsby. The story is about a man, Jay Gatsby, who was in love with Daisy Buchanan. Daisy was married to Tom, but Tom was cheating on her with Myrtle Wilson. There were two islands the story took place in: East Egg and West Egg. East Egg was the “old money,” or money passed down from ancestors, while West Egg represented the “new money,” or self- made money. Fitzgerald used multiple types of symbolism in his book, and his symbolism helped the reader understand the plot. The novel is read throughout schools to teach symbolism. The book can be described as “[…] satisfying as entertainment, thought provoking as a study, and increasingly rewarding the more closely it is examined.” (Koster). A frequently used type of symbolism in The Great Gatsby was color. The colors symbolized in the book were white, green, yellow, blue, gold, and gray.
When Gatsby first meets Daisy, "She was dressed in white and had a little white roadster" (Fitzgerald, 79). When she was younger, she had more innocence. But when she started becoming concerned with wealth and materialism, she started to become corrupt. She's beautiful and always gets her way, which made her selfish and self-centered. Later on in the novel, it is said she was slowly changing into a yellow dress. She was slowly straying farther away from her innocence. Also the flower consists colors of yellow and white. The white represents purity and yellow, in this case represents deceit. The white displays that she seems pure and perfect on the outside, but in the core she is flawed. Fitzgerald shows that Daisy always retreats back to money and carelessness after getting what she wants