The Great Gatsby” is considered by many to be one of the greatest American novels of all time. F. Scott Fitzgerald brought this story to life using colors as symbols. In this case, symbolism means creatively using colors to add emotions and depth to descriptions in the story. Fitzgerald used colors such as white, gold/yellow, gray and blue to highlight the ups and downs of the 1920’s.
In “The Great Gatsby,” white is prominently used as a facade for purity. This color is mostly associated with Daisy Buchanan. Daisy acts as though she is innocent. She puts on a big show for herself. She is a well-traveled and well-cultured woman and she knows it. When Nick when to the Buchanan’s house for the first time Daisy told everyone, “I’ve been everywhere …show more content…
In “The Great Gatsby,” Fitzgerald uses gray mostly used when describing George Wilson and the Valley of Ashes. One can see that the Valley of Ashes was once a thriving place that is now covered in dust and ash. The only thing left to indicate that this was once a flourishing town is a decaying billboard of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg that looks over the valley. In town, “occasionally a line of gray cars crawls along an invisible track, gives out a ghastly creak, and comes to rest” (Fitzgerald 23). George and Myrtle Wilson reside in the Valley of Ashes. Myrtle spend her time with Tom Buchanan trying to forget the class she married into. George Wilson owns a car repair garage and makes just enough money to get by. When George Wilson discovers that the car that killed Myrtle belonged to Gatsby, he decided to kill him. Gatsby had come so far in the last five years, to have it end in the blink of an eye. Nick infers Gatsby’s last moments. “he must have looked up at a unfamiliar sky … where poor ghosts, breathing dreams like air, drifted fortuitously about … like that ashen, fantastic figure gliding toward him through the amorphous trees” (Fitzgerald 162). In this scene, Fitzgerald uses a form of the color gray to symbolize the decay of Gatsby’s …show more content…
Blue is used in “The Great Gatsby” mostly in association with Jay Gatsby and his lost dream. Gatsby and Daisy had fallen in love five years earlier in Louisville when Gatsby was sent to the war. Daisy promised him that she would wait until he returned, but he was not able to make it back to her right away. After Daisy got tired of waiting she married Tom Buchanan, a rich man from Chicago. Gatsby then tried everything in his power to get Daisy back. Daisy was Gatsby’s dream. He worked hard for his money to buy a mansion just across the bay from the Buchanan’s house where “in his blue gardens men and girls came and went” (Fitzgerald 39). He made connections and used them to lure Daisy back to him. Gatsby’s dream was cut short by George Wilson, when George kills him because he believes that Gatsby is responsible for the death of Myrtle Wilson. Fitzgerald used the color blue to describe his lost dream: “He had come a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it” (Fitzgerald 182). Blue shows the sadness of his lost dream. This color is also associated with The Valley of Ashes. This is a place that is run down and depressing. The eyes on a billboard are looking over the valley. “The eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg are blue and gigantic” (Fitzgerald 23). Blue shows the depression glooming over
In “The Great Gatsby,” white is prominently used as a facade for purity. This color is mostly associated with Daisy Buchanan. Daisy acts as though she is innocent. She puts on a big show for herself. She is a well-traveled and well-cultured woman and she knows it. When Nick when to the Buchanan’s house for the first time Daisy told everyone, “I’ve been everywhere …show more content…
In “The Great Gatsby,” Fitzgerald uses gray mostly used when describing George Wilson and the Valley of Ashes. One can see that the Valley of Ashes was once a thriving place that is now covered in dust and ash. The only thing left to indicate that this was once a flourishing town is a decaying billboard of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg that looks over the valley. In town, “occasionally a line of gray cars crawls along an invisible track, gives out a ghastly creak, and comes to rest” (Fitzgerald 23). George and Myrtle Wilson reside in the Valley of Ashes. Myrtle spend her time with Tom Buchanan trying to forget the class she married into. George Wilson owns a car repair garage and makes just enough money to get by. When George Wilson discovers that the car that killed Myrtle belonged to Gatsby, he decided to kill him. Gatsby had come so far in the last five years, to have it end in the blink of an eye. Nick infers Gatsby’s last moments. “he must have looked up at a unfamiliar sky … where poor ghosts, breathing dreams like air, drifted fortuitously about … like that ashen, fantastic figure gliding toward him through the amorphous trees” (Fitzgerald 162). In this scene, Fitzgerald uses a form of the color gray to symbolize the decay of Gatsby’s …show more content…
Blue is used in “The Great Gatsby” mostly in association with Jay Gatsby and his lost dream. Gatsby and Daisy had fallen in love five years earlier in Louisville when Gatsby was sent to the war. Daisy promised him that she would wait until he returned, but he was not able to make it back to her right away. After Daisy got tired of waiting she married Tom Buchanan, a rich man from Chicago. Gatsby then tried everything in his power to get Daisy back. Daisy was Gatsby’s dream. He worked hard for his money to buy a mansion just across the bay from the Buchanan’s house where “in his blue gardens men and girls came and went” (Fitzgerald 39). He made connections and used them to lure Daisy back to him. Gatsby’s dream was cut short by George Wilson, when George kills him because he believes that Gatsby is responsible for the death of Myrtle Wilson. Fitzgerald used the color blue to describe his lost dream: “He had come a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it” (Fitzgerald 182). Blue shows the sadness of his lost dream. This color is also associated with The Valley of Ashes. This is a place that is run down and depressing. The eyes on a billboard are looking over the valley. “The eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg are blue and gigantic” (Fitzgerald 23). Blue shows the depression glooming over