Great Gatsby Symbolism Analysis

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Authors use symbolism in most books and movies whether they are colors, or people’s actions. Symbolism helps give insight into how characters really feel without them directly saying it. Colors can show how people are feeling, acting and even how they want to feel. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a novel about a poor man who is now rich and is trying to win back his old love. Jay Gatsby fell in love at a young age to Daisy Buchanan but he had to go to war. During his time in war Daisy got married to Tom Buchanan and had a daughter, but Tom was not a faithful husband. After war Gatsby devoted his life to Daisy and will do anything to convince her to leave Tom for him. Nick, Daisy’s cousin, ends up getting involved in all the different …show more content…
When Nick first went to visit Daisy, he walked in on Jordan and Daisy in the living room “They were both in white, and their dresses were rippling and fluttering as if they had just been blown back in after a short flight around the house”(Fitzgerald 8). The white in this instance symbolizes innocence. Fitzgerald put the girls in white because he wanted to show the girls trying to act innocent while you find out later in the book that the girls are not innocent. A source wrote “White represents the immaculate and pure beauty. It symbolizes nobleness and purity. It is Daisy’s color in the novel” (Haibing 41). The author tended to put Daisy in white things to prove how beautiful she was. Also it helps show how Daisy is perceived as pure to many. Brozak exclaimed “The color white typically symbolizes innocence and purity, as in Nick’s struggle to remain innocent and detached from the self-indulgent and destructive lifestyles of his cohorts” (Brozak). Nick is trying to stay himself and not give into to all the peer pressure surrounding him. Nick can be seen in white to show the struggle of his fight to remain innocence. Haibing also said “however, white actually symbolizes empty, vacuity, superficiality, ruthlessness and selfish to a great extent in the novel. Daisy with the color of white, it indicates that under the pure and beautiful appearance, Daisy owns a superficial, hollow, …show more content…
In Haibing’s journal he expresses “In Gatsby’s eyes the green light just represents Daisy, who is his lifelong pursuit and dream” (Haibing 41). The green light represents the distance between he and Daisy. As Gatsby stares out at the light he realizes Daisy is just across the bay. As nick watched Gatsby one night he says “he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and far as I was from him…nothing except a single green light” (Fitzgerald 20-21). Gatsby is reaching out for Daisy hoping for her to reach back. The green light symbolizes hope for Gatsby that one night Daisy will be reaching back for him. After George Wilson found out about Myrtle’s affair Fitzgerald described him by saying “In the sunlight his face was green” (Fitzgerald 123). George’s face was green of jealousy when he found out about his wife’s affair. To conclude the novel Nick reveals that “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us” (Fitzgerald 180). Gatsby believed that Daisy was yearning for the green light just like him. The green light represented their love for each other and the hope that at one point they would be together

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