What Does The Yellow Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby bursts with vibrant and captivating language, which vividly paints a picture of the dazzling life in the Roaring 20’s. His use of literary devices, ranging from symbolism to metaphors to similes, coordinate into an enchanting tale that on a deeper level deals with the destructiveness of American materialism and greed. Fitzgerald’s language is rich and dense, but once dissected, reveals a criticism of and disillusionment with the American Dream and what it means to be discontent in a world where material items so often equate to happiness. Color symbolism is a major element of the narrative, and Fitzgerald subtly fuses it into nearly every scene to create a well-painted world with deeper meaning into what is really occurring between characters. First, the color yellow is practically another character in this novel because of how often it is mentioned. The use of the color yellow in The Great Gatsby serves to convey the idea of wealth, opulence, and power. This is evident by when and where Fitzgerald chooses to incorporate the color. In Chapter Three, when readers are introduced to Gatsby’s wild parties, yellow is the color most often described. Gatsby’s car is yellow, the orchestra plays “yellow cocktail music” (44), two girls wear “twin yellow dresses” (47), and …show more content…
Tom discredits Gatsby’s intelligence by exclaiming, “An Oxford man! Like hell he is! He wears a pink suit” (129). Gatsby attempts to recapture the past, a time when he was once innocent and life was easier. In fact, he recreated himself into “just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen year old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end” (104). His pink suit recaptures his boyhood, and even Nick points out that Gatsby behaves like a boy around Daisy (93). He is trapped in the past, and the pink only serves to emphasize his lack of