Gold In The Great Gatsby

“Gatsby’s ostentatious car, which he buys only to impress Daisy, is yellow and the girls dressed in “twin yellow dresses” at Gatsby’s’ party are painted in stark contrast to the “golden” Jordan (Examples of the Symbolism of colors in “The Great Gatsby”).” The yellow car symbolizes Gatsby’s desire to be in a higher class whereas “golden” Jordan symbolizes how valuable she is to Nick as a person. She is as valuable as gold is to the average person. On the other hand, yellow also symbolizes destruction and death. Myrtle, married to George but having an having an affair with Tom is killed by a yellow car symbolizing

Green is archetypally associated with wealth, envy, and life. One example of green being used in the novel is that it is the color used for furnishing Gatsby’s car. Although the outside of his car is yellow to certify that everyone is aware of his wealth, the area that he inhabits while driving is green to remind him of the wealth he had built himself. When Nick is in the car, he describes it as a, “green leather conservatory” (47). The use of the word conservatory reveals to the reader that Nick feels like it is something of a spectacle seeing how a conservatory holds things that should be looked at.

Color is everywhere. Although color may not seem important, they might have a greater, deeper meaning. Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, is set back in the Roaring 20’s, when the economy was booming. A newly rich man named Jay Gatsby is one of the richer people in this time that enjoys his money. He throws overgenerous parties, hoping that the love of his life, Daisy Buchanan, attends.

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, tells a story revolving around the life of the wealthy folk. Throughout the book, Fitzgerald describes and involves cars in the plot on several occasions. In The Great Gatsby, cars come to represent the carelessness of the wealthy. The cars’ symbolism first appeared in the novel after Gatsby’s first big party.

The color yellow is often represented as corruption, greed, evil, and death. Two young women who show up at Gatsby’s eloquent party are wearing yellow dresses. Gatsby’s car is yellow. The author describes Daisy as “the golden girl”. So, yellow also symbolizes the luxuriousness of their lives.

The things Gatsby has bought are mostly associated with the color green which represents the money Gatsby has earned to buy these things and impress Daisy

Fitzgerald might have chosen to make his shirt silver to represent Gatsby’s wealth, but his tie which sits on top of his shirt is described as gold-colored instead of gold which could be because Fitzgerald only uses gold to describe “old money”. The gold-colored tie on top of the silver shirt could symbolize that Gatsby’s illegal actions have more of an impact than his wealth nullifying his money’s value. After some time at Nick’s house, Gatsby asks Daisy and Nick to come over to his house to give them a tour. Showing Daisy and Nick, his house he presents everything like he is a magician and each thing he shows them is a new trick. When they get to his bedroom, he tells Daisy and Nick about the Englishman

Yellow surrounds Gatsby enormously; his car at the beginning of the novel is described as “a rich cream color”, but it is not white, which is a sign that it’s already impure (64). Later, after killing Myrtle, Gatsby’s car is described as “a big yellow car”, completing its corruption (139). The color of Gatsby’s car was also unusual for that time period, making the car stand out and helping the trail of death lead to Gatsby. The last time readers see yellow attached to Gatsby is at the near end of the novel, right before he dies when he “disappeared among the yellowing trees” representing his own coming death (161). An area surrounding loss of life is The Valley of Ashes; The Wilson home “was a small block of yellow brick sitting on the edge of a waste land” where the Wilsons have a terrible life (24).

The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, deploys color symbolism in order to further develop characters and the plot. Fitzgerald’s use of color symbolism within The Great Gatsby not only defines the characters but adds depth to them. The most recognized color within the novel is “the single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock” (26). In addition to the green light, there are many other colors within the novel that embody characters, objects, and ideas. The most significant and memorable colors, other than green, are white and yellow, both of which are intertwined in Fitzgerald’s fictional world of materialism and scandal.

“It was a rich cream color, bright with nickel, swollen here and there in its monstrous length with triumphant hatboxes and supper-boxes and tool-boxes, and terraced with a labyrinth of windshields that mirrored a dozen suns. Sitting down behind many layers of glass in a sort of green leather conservatory we started to town.” (68). The color yellow is to symbolise wealth in the novel. This describes how lavish, eye catching and extravagant Gatsby’s car is and how it is meant to catch your attention when you look at it.

Another symbol seen often in the novel is the color green and gold. These colors symbolize wealth and greed. Gatsby is seen standing on his dock staring into a green light, which is coming from Daisy 's house. This green light symbolizes his desire for wealth and an attraction like that of moths to light. Gatsby also creates a false image of himself towards the public.

The Connection of Wealth and Personality in Fitzgerald’s Works In our society, money is seen as the most important factor in decision making and in our overall lives. This is shown throughout all of Fitzgerald’s works and in many of his characters. His stories continually mention the effect that money has on the community. In one of her criticisms, Mary Jo Tate explains that “[Fitzgerald] was not a simple worshiper of wealth or the wealthy, but rather he valued wealth for the freedom and possibilities it provided, and he criticized the rich primarily for wasting those opportunities.

Thought out the whole novel the color yellow symbolizes Gatsby’s wealth and has something to do with Daisy. Around the world the color yellow usually means happiness and in “The Great Gatsby” the author stated, "now the orchestra is playing yellow cocktail music" (Fitzgerald 42). Gatsby was having another party to show his money, while the music had a rich tone and the people there felt that the music was soothing. Also in the novel, Fitzgerald mentions, "two girls in twin yellow dresses" (44), and it is to talking about the happiness. The two girls in the yellow dresses are admiring Jordan, the golden girl, and are jealous of how amazing she looks.

The color green has its own significance in the novel, as it is mainly attached to Gatsby. The color green is usually attached with nature as in rebirth of spring, growth, wealth, hope and envy. Green embodies Gatsby’s dream and the perpetual pursuit of it. The green color is visited by the reader for the very first time through the element of the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock.

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby illustrates that materials and possessions are crucial to the plot development and represent the social status of the characters. First automobiles subsist throughout the story to highlight the differences between “new money” and “old money”. Consequently, automobiles are crucial to the conclusion of the novel. In addition, some characters live in small apartments and homes others live in elaborate mansions, which is signifies their social classes. Clothing is used as a means to show social class or pretend to be in a higher one.