Color Red In The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a tragedy book that’s set in the Jazz Age and tells the story of a millionaire named Jay Gatsby. Gatsby is in love with Daisy, who is already married, and they begin an affair. While driving Gatsby's car, Daisy hits and kills a woman. Gatsby takes the blame, only to be shot by the woman's husband. There is great confusion whether a character is “good”, the understanding of characters shift throughout the story with the use of color symbolism and social status privilege to give the story a deeper meaning and allow readers to see beneath the actions of characters. The distinct message Fitzgerald is trying to get across is that there is no good, and the perception society has is based off of opinion, and favoritism.
During the very beginning of the story, Fitzgerald uses color symbolism to show that there’s evil. An example of that would be when he introduces the house of Tom and Daisy Buchanan, the interior color was red "We walked through a high hallway into a bright rosy-colored space" (p. 13); "Inside, the crimson room bloomed with light" (p. 22). The significance of this is that the color red is a symbol of shame, or rage, giving the reader the an early understanding that although everything may seem peaceful and innocent, deep inside there is anger and shame. …show more content…
A perfect example of this would be Myrtle Wilson, in the story she is upset because of how poor she is and treats her husband terribly. She idolises living wealthy, and having glamour. This affects her personality, which is shown by her mimicking what she sees in Town Tattle ("I thought he knew something about breeding, but he wasn't fit to lick my shoe”-Myrtle Wilson.). This also influences her affair with Tom Buchanan, even though George devotes his whole life to providing for her and trying to make her