HE GREAT GATSBY, AN ANALYSIS ON THE SYMBOLISM IN COLOR Rough copy
Nick Carraway’s first glimpse of Jay Gatsby is of him seeming to reach out across the way towards a mysterious green light. The moment invites the reader to look for symbolic meaning. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is very rich in symbols particularly in the use of different colors. Throughout the novel different colors are used symbolically to help reinforce certain ideas, both real and illusory, whether it be Gatsby’s hopes, the wealth of characters, or Daisy’s innocence. The colors in the novel place the real and the false side by side with tragic results and questions whether the American dream itself is a sham.
Green is used to symbolize the false hope that unattainable dreams will come true. The green light embodies the unattainability of Gatsby's dream life with Daisy. Reaching out towards her neighbourhood in longing, a mysterious light …show more content…
“Gold, the real stuff, the authentic, traditional, ‘old money’ – not these new-fangled dollar bills.” Gold is present at Gatsby's party, where the turkeys are "bewitched to dark gold,". The party is a place of wealth, and of class that Gatsby tries to have. Daisy the "golden girl", and Gatsby wears a gold tie to see Daisy at Nick's house. Daisy's golden girl image represents how Gatsby sees her, full of class, social standing, wealth, richness. He sees her as the dream girl, the only one he wants, and her golden-ness is a symbol of the authenticity of her character. But yellow is different. Yellow is fake gold; it's veneer and show rather than substance. As seen with the "yellow cocktail music" at Gatsby's party and the "two girls in twin yellow dresses" who aren't as alluring as the golden girls Daisy and Jordan. Gatsby's car is also yellow, an important symbol of his desire—and failure—to enter New York's high
Nick Carraway’s first glimpse of Jay Gatsby is of him seeming to reach out across the way towards a mysterious green light. The moment invites the reader to look for symbolic meaning. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is very rich in symbols particularly in the use of different colors. Throughout the novel different colors are used symbolically to help reinforce certain ideas, both real and illusory, whether it be Gatsby’s hopes, the wealth of characters, or Daisy’s innocence. The colors in the novel place the real and the false side by side with tragic results and questions whether the American dream itself is a sham.
Green is used to symbolize the false hope that unattainable dreams will come true. The green light embodies the unattainability of Gatsby's dream life with Daisy. Reaching out towards her neighbourhood in longing, a mysterious light …show more content…
“Gold, the real stuff, the authentic, traditional, ‘old money’ – not these new-fangled dollar bills.” Gold is present at Gatsby's party, where the turkeys are "bewitched to dark gold,". The party is a place of wealth, and of class that Gatsby tries to have. Daisy the "golden girl", and Gatsby wears a gold tie to see Daisy at Nick's house. Daisy's golden girl image represents how Gatsby sees her, full of class, social standing, wealth, richness. He sees her as the dream girl, the only one he wants, and her golden-ness is a symbol of the authenticity of her character. But yellow is different. Yellow is fake gold; it's veneer and show rather than substance. As seen with the "yellow cocktail music" at Gatsby's party and the "two girls in twin yellow dresses" who aren't as alluring as the golden girls Daisy and Jordan. Gatsby's car is also yellow, an important symbol of his desire—and failure—to enter New York's high