The Great Gatsby Color Symbolism Essay

Color plays an important role in the way we perceive society. People relate colors to certain emotions, as an example, one may say that they are “green with envy” or when they are “feeling blue” when they are sad. In the novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author uses color symbolism throughout the story to represent different aspects of each situation. Fitzgerald uses the color green a great deal in the storyline. It represents Gatsby’s dream and hope to live happily with the love of his dreams, Daisy Buchannan. Another shade of color that plays a major role in the story is gold or yellow, which represent wealth and prosperity. White shows up many times in this novel, and it not only represents innocence, but also supreme power compared to other people. Blue has a great effect on this story, symbolizing Jay Gatsby’s dream of marrying Daisy, and how far he is willing to go to accomplish that dream. On the flip side of this spectrum, dark colors bring death, and decay of man’s spirit. In this novel, colors play an important role in the story, as well as each character’s personalities. White brings innocence, supremacy and happiness. The author uses white mostly when describing Daisy Buchannan or Jordan Baker, who are two very wealthy and successful women. In the story it says that Jordan and Daisy “were both in white, and their …show more content…
These colors symbolize feelings, such as love, yearning, luxury, and even despair. The most important color of this story would have to be yellow and green. Green being Gatsby’s internal flame for Daisy that is ever burning, and yellow, representing wealth, an important aspect of the story, as we follow the wealthiest people of New York in this time. Color brings new perspective to our lives, influences emotion and keeps our minds