Jay Gatsby, a hopeless romantic, values two things above all others—love (particularly his love for Daisy Buchanon) and money (which is what he plans on using to win Daisy’s heart) (Kersh 1). Fitzgerald uses the color green as a symbol for love and money as well as Gatsby’s ultimate goal—a reawakening that will erase his past and create a future for his relationship with Daisy. Fitzgerald associates green with life and growth (Colour 47), the life of Jay Gatsby and the growth of a love affair with his beloved Daisy Buchanon.
The color green is first introduced in the beginning chapter, as Nick notices Gatsby with his arms outstretched toward “a single green light, minute and far way, that might have been the end of the dock” (Fitzgerald 21). The light marks the end of Daisy’s dock, “and the beginning of Gatsby’s green hope” (Kersh 1). He reaches out as if the light is Daisy herself. Although Gatsby is a wealthy man full of power and fame, his money cannot buy Daisy’s love. The light represents hope for things that have potential. Each spring, trees that are once bare and lifeless through the winter …show more content…
Fitzgerald associates Daisy with the color white, but to wear white is to be “an absolute little dream” (Schneider 2). Nick discovers white is a corrupt mixture of dream and reality (Schneider 3). To Gatsby, white is not pure, but it is inevitably stained by money. Daisy is a white flower with a golden center. In The Great Gatsby gold, along with silver symbolizes the dream and the reality. When Nick first sees Daisy, he notes they are “like silver idols weighing down their own white dresses…” [qtd in Schneider]. In the beginning, Gatsby is seen gazing up at the “silver pepper of the stars”, Silver and gold is associated with the hope and the promise that dictate Gatsby’s life, as well as the color of money. White, Silver, and Gold combined are a symbol of a corrupt mixture of
The color green is first introduced in the beginning chapter, as Nick notices Gatsby with his arms outstretched toward “a single green light, minute and far way, that might have been the end of the dock” (Fitzgerald 21). The light marks the end of Daisy’s dock, “and the beginning of Gatsby’s green hope” (Kersh 1). He reaches out as if the light is Daisy herself. Although Gatsby is a wealthy man full of power and fame, his money cannot buy Daisy’s love. The light represents hope for things that have potential. Each spring, trees that are once bare and lifeless through the winter …show more content…
Fitzgerald associates Daisy with the color white, but to wear white is to be “an absolute little dream” (Schneider 2). Nick discovers white is a corrupt mixture of dream and reality (Schneider 3). To Gatsby, white is not pure, but it is inevitably stained by money. Daisy is a white flower with a golden center. In The Great Gatsby gold, along with silver symbolizes the dream and the reality. When Nick first sees Daisy, he notes they are “like silver idols weighing down their own white dresses…” [qtd in Schneider]. In the beginning, Gatsby is seen gazing up at the “silver pepper of the stars”, Silver and gold is associated with the hope and the promise that dictate Gatsby’s life, as well as the color of money. White, Silver, and Gold combined are a symbol of a corrupt mixture of