What Does The Color Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

The True Profundity of Colors
Ordinary objects or words but packed with powerful meanings, symbolism is a literary technique commonly used throughout all novels that gives the reader unique experiences. Different authors have different styles and use different techniques to represent symbolism. In the novel "The Great Gatsby" Fitzgerald has a strong passion for this literary device. He uses the colors white, yellow (gold) and green to symbolize each character's emotions and characteristics.
The color white plays a pivotal role in the symbolism of the novel. Its importance is clear when referring to the enigmatic Daisy and her friend Jordan. Right in the genesis of the novel, Nick finds the two characters dressed "both in white" (8). Fitzgerald uses the color white as a representation of an honorable and innocent person, which primarily it looks like it fits Daisy, but later when she kills Myrtle and betrays Tom it seems polemic. Daisy reencounters Gatsby and begins to have an affair with him. She is not the same girl who back before was

When Gatsby is "in a white flannel suit, silver shirt, and gold-colored tie" he wants to be seen as rich, pure and as someone who has fulfilled his american dream (84). This avarice in trying to be "wealthy" is because he wants to win Daisy's heart. This wealth becomes problematic when Tom finds out that Gatsby's "big yellow car" killed Myrtle (139). As Daisy was in the wheel, the yellow color shows that even a pure character like Daisy has its flaws. She killed Tom's mistress while driving the car with the man who she was having an affair. This yellow represent Gatsby's luxury and the betrayal of the Buchanans. The gold when used in Gatsby's tie engenders what most of the characters dream which is to have money and live a prosperous life while the use of yellow symbolizes the people that pretend to be something they are