The Great Gatsby: Colors

The Great Gatsby: Symbolism of Colors

Colors within The Great Gatsby

White , Silver, and Gold

The Great Gatsby includes colors throughout the story that contribute to the plot and the theme.

Does the symbol stay or change throughout the novel? What does this change or lack of change mean?

What the Symbol means to

the Characters:

• In chapter 5, Nick and Gatsby were getting ready for Daisy's arrival. Nick describes Gatsby's outfit saying, "... in a white flannel suit, silver shirt, and gold-colored tie, hurried in."
• Each individual color of Gatsby's suit resembles how he is trying to flaunt his riches and impress Daisy.
• The white flannel suit represents the pureness and innocence of Gatsby at this point. The pureness relates to marriage and love.
• Innocence describes Gatsby's actions as he's waiting for Daisy to arrive at his home and his intentions of winning her back.
• Gatsby's silver shirt and gold tie represent his money and wealth. The gold also symbolizes old money. The colors silver and gold show how hard Gatsby is trying to amaze Daisy with all of his money. Gatsby also wears the color gold because he wants to be a part of the old money class. Unfortunately, he never will belong to that social status due to his lack of connections and how quickly he made his money.
• Gatsby's unique suit colors contribute to the theme because it describes how people will try their hardest to go after something they desire.

Green

• At the end of chapter 1, Nick says, "... he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as i was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling."
• Nick is talking about how he sees Jay Gatsby stretching his arms out reaching towards the green light at the end of the dock.
• The green light at the end of the dock represents how Gatsby wants to go after his American Dream. His dream involves being with Daisy .
• Later within in the story, Gatsby finally meets her for a second time and the green light at the end of the dock no longer has any meaning to him.
• The green light contributes to the theme of the story because it shows how all people want to chase after and accomplish their own American Dream.

Color is a very essential aspect to The Great Gatsby. Each color has a symbolic meaning to the characters that gives F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel its edge. Green is used frequently throughout the novel to represent "limitless promises", wealth and envy. The color white is used to represent Daisy and the innocence of her character. While the color gold can also be used to represent wealth, it's mostly associated with old money, beauty , and Jordan.For example,"I rested my arm on Jordan’s Golden shoulder" or "with Jordan’s golden arm".It is implied that colors are important to the characters through the constant repetition of each color.

Throughout the novel the color does not change. It consecutively stays green. However, the meaning does in fact change. Once Gatsby is reunited with Daisy, the green light on Daisy's dock loses meaning because he is finally with Daisy. Green can also represent envy. Gatsby can be described as an envious character because he once had the love of his life, Daisy, but now she is married to Tom. He spends all of his time and effort into getting back with Daisy. He also throws huge parties every weekend to not only show off his wealth and relate to the wealthy, but also to impress Daisy. This shows that Gatsby is green with envy.

Colors:

• In the book The Great Gatsby the author uses many different colors to emphasize the imagery and visualization within the book.

Life Connections:

How Did You Know Color is an Important Symbol?

• Color is used 166 times throughout the novel .
• Almost every chapter of Fitzgerald’s novel uses colors to make readers get an insight into the different characters’ lives.

Pink

How the Symbol Enriches the Book :

• Without color the world would be a very less interesting and diverse place to live. Color plays a important role in the world we live in .
• Color can alter thinking, change actions, and cause reactions.
• Color can also describe emotions, ideas, and even memories.
• For example, if someone has an object made of pure gold, they are considered to be majorly wealthy because gold is very expensive. Gold can symbolize wealth.

The color use throughout the novel enhances the readers' imagination. It gives Fitzgerald's readers a sense of visual insight to the characters lives. The use of colors such as gold and green depict wealth, but two different forms of wealth. Gold is "old money" which Tom and Daisy have whereas Gatsby is represented by the color green which represents "new money". Daisy is also represented with the color white because Gatsby thinks of her as his "innocent bride" when in fact she should be represented by the color yellow for corruption. Red is used to depict elegance and tastelessness such as the wine colored rug and the crimson room. Lastly the color black is used to acknowledge the death, demise, and the sadness that lingers.

• Tom and Gatsby go at it in chapter 7 and Tom makes a remark saying, "An Oxford man! Like hell he is! He wears a pink suit."
• Tom points out that Gatsby is clueless and supports his claim by saying how someone attending such a sophisticated college, like Oxford, would know that the old money class is old fashioned and would never wear something as tacky as Gatsby's pink suit.
• The color pink represents Gatsby's lack of knowledge and misunderstanding of the way that the old money class works.
• This is another reason why Gatsby can never be a part of the people of old money.
• The pink suit also represents the romance that Daisy and Gatsby share.
• The day Gatsby wears his pink suit is when he hangs out with Daisy and the others in the city.
• Gatsby is trying to charm Daisy into picking him over Tom. While they are in the hotel room, Gatsby tries to get Daisy to admit that she never loved Tom but, she confesses that she loves both Gatsby and Tom. At this point, Daisy's response shocks Gatsby and Tom which causes many conflicts to happen between these characters later in the story.
• Gatsby's suit symbolizing Gatsby's lack of knowledge contributes to the theme because it shows how people will do anything to fit in with the rest of society. The suit representing romance relates to people trying to find love which is essential to achieving the American Dream.

• Colors are an important symbol in The Great Gatsby. One way we knew this was a symbol was through character obsession.
• For example, Gatsby is very attached to the color green. The light on the end of the Buchanan's dock was green and Gatsby looked at it every night. It was his way of staying connected to Daisy. In chapter five, when Daisy visited Gatsby, he told her, "You always have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock." This shows that he constantly looks at it because he knows that it burns everyday.
• Another reason why color is an important symbol in the novel is because of the way Fitzgerald describes material objects.
• For example, in chapter five, when Gatsby arrived at Nick's house for his and Daisy's first meeting, Nick says, "An hour later the front door opened nervously, and Gatsby, in a white flannel, silver suit, and gold-colored tie, and hurried in." Fitzgerald could have just said he wore a white flannel suit, but instead he described it with white, to represent the pureness of Gatsby, and silver and gold to represent his wealth.

Defending our Symbol:

In The Great Gatsby, color is the most important symbol. Color is mentioned 166 times throughout the novel. Yes the green light, the white suit, and Gatsby's yellow car are symbols in the novel; however, they are only symbols because of their colors.

• The light is green to represent Gatsby's wanting to achieve his American Dream. At the end of the novel, Nick states, "Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us." Green also represents the future of the characters in the novel. If it were a different color, it would lose its significant meaning of the future and the American Dream. This whole book basically symbolizes the American Dream, so without this color, the book would not have a main purpose.
• Gatsby's suit is white to represent the pureness and innocence of wanting to get Daisy back. He wears it with a silver shirt and a gold tie. He does this to flaunt his wealth to Daisy to prove to her that he does actually have money now. If the suit was a different color, it would also lose its meaning as a symbol.
• Gatsby's car is yellow to represent his newly gained wealth. In the 1920s, if you had a car, you were known as wealthy. Gatsby bought a car, specifically yellow to show off his wealthiness. If it was not yellow, but black for example, it would be a more common color, and he would not be considered as wealthy as he actually is.