This self-explanatory quote backs how the color green also symbolizes Gatsby’s downfall and not just his dream of becoming old money. Samkanashvile noted that, “Green…is traditionally associated with spring, hope, and youth. However, one possible meaning of green is envy” (Samkanashvile). Green can mean envy because Gatsby despises Tom because he is the only thing between Daisy and himself. Green representing Gatsby and his dream is one of the main ideas in The Great Gatsby so green plays an important role.
Most evidently, the green light was the dominant symbol for hope. In a literary analysis, Uses of symbols and colors in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author gathered seventeen examples of green symbolism; nine of which are symbols for hope (Saakashvili). The green light was mentioned five times, and holds the theme of the book in place. At the end of the novel, Nick shares that “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us” (Fitzgerald 180). Gatsby held optimism and hope for his desire for Daisy, but was cut off by the reality of death.
The color grey often symbolizes dull and lifeless characteristics or a state of depression. During the 1920s people in the working class were described as “grey” as they chased their goals they could never achieve. The Great Gatsby is a story of people who try to gain and reach success in a world where social classes vary significantly. In his novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses the color grey in both characters and settings to portray the disillusionment of the American Dream through his characters' corrupt ambitions and amoral behavior. Fitzgerald uses the color grey pervasively when describing his characters George Wilson and Jay Gatsby to illustrate their failures to obtain the American Dream.
The Great Gatsby Reading Journal Colors prove quite important throughout the novel, in representation of both themes and characters themselves. The most notable color is gold, which captures the allure of wealth and the emptiness beneath it that Fitzgerald portrayed throughout the novel. The epigraph mentions gold twice, emphasizing its attractiveness (in this case, in a significant other.) The “gold hat” which it mentions symbolizes Gatsby and his aggregated false riches which were made to woo Daisy Buchanan. Interestingly enough, the author of the quote, Thomas Parke D’Invilliers, is a pen name for F. Scott Fitzgerald himself from an earlier novel, This Side of Paradise.
“But above the grey land and the spasms of bleak dust which drift endlessly over it, you perceive, after a moment, the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg. The eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg are blue and gigantic” (Fitzgerald, 23). In this short segment from the beginning of the second chapter of The Great Gatsby, we can find some of the recurrent symbols of the book. Twenty-two times is the word “blue” used, to describe anything from Gatsby’s gardens to Mediterranean honey. In Gatsby, colors transcend from being just that, they are symbols.
“Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us” (Fitzgerald 149). This green light represents the hope that Gatsby has in life. The color green represents the money that Gatsby had wanted all his life. It also symbolizes the american dream, to be wealthy. He thought that if he was rich enough, Daisy would want him back.
Nick explains that the fresh green showed signs of life. Green surrounded Gatsby, but he only desired that green light at the end of the dock; the thing of most value to him, even more than his own life. Daisy was his only hope and dream, “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us,” (180). Gatsby, the boat against Daisy’s current, would let nothing stop him from obtaining his life: Daisy, his green
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a classic novel about the pursuit of the American Dream of the 1920s. In this Jazz Age novel, Nick Carraway tells the story of Jay Gatsby and the pursuit of the girl of his dreams. Throughout the piece, Fitzgerald employs the use of color imagery to allow the reader to connect more deeply with the characters. Color imagery provides insight into the social status, personality, and others perceptions of the characters. Color imagery reveals insights into the social status of the characters.
Scott Fitzgerald uses the motifs of colors to bring meaning to the novel. Blue and yellow are the two colors he uses the most. The color blue represents illusion. It also symbolizes loyalty, wisdom, intelligence, knowledge, truth, faith, confidence and power. They're many blue elements in The Great Gatsby, the blue gigantic eyes of Doctor TJ Eckleburg, the blue gardens of Gatsby, a chauffer in a uniform of robin's-egg blue, the expensive blue dress Gatsby offered to Lucille when she broke her old dress, Wilson's blue eyes, the water separating Gatsby from Daisy "blue lawn", Myrtle Wilson's blue dress of dark blue crêpe-de-chine, the first suit of Gatsby, the blue smoke in Gatsby's backyard and Tom's blue car.
In the novel, items that are used for show are always yellow (yellow car, “yellow” music) which is why I included lots of yellow in Gatsby’s house. In Gatsby’s eyes, the green light at the end of the dock represents hope and his dream. Obtaining the green light would mean that his “American Dream” is complete with Daisy in tow. Throughout the novel, Gatsby is trying to make it over to the other staircase and be a part of Daisy’s life as if he was in the past, but no matter how much money he has, he will always be lower on the social hierarchy. Similarly, Myrtle believed that Tom would leave Daisy and she would get her shot at wealth but in reality, Tom was just using her; once he got bored, he could move on to another woman who would also cherish him and want his money.