What Does The Color White Symbolize In The Great Gatsby
Savanah Johnson
Patrick Lynch
English 11
5 May 2023
Spiritually Empty Fitzgerald’s universe in The Great Gatsby represents all that is least noble, least worthy and least heroic in mankind. He achieves this through “rotten” characters and through the use of color symbolism. Jay Gatsby lives in a fantasy world of his own creation and nothing more. He spends all his time transcending Jay Gatz to become Jay Gatsby. Tom Buchanan is a liar and controlling; in other worlds, he wears a facade. The colors white and grey are used in the story to represent the results of Naturalism, taming the reader back from fantasy and down to the natural forces the book will follow. The Great Gatsby is a work of Modernism.
For example, Jay Gatsby is completely lost in his dream and lives only for that dream in his outward appearance to become the Jay Gatsby of his large dream. In a children’s book, Gatsby writes,
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The color white is proved to be bleak in the line when Daisy “[W]anted her life shaped now, immediately—and the decision must be made by some force…” (Fitzgerald 161). The color grey tethers the reader back down to earth in the sentence, “This is a valley of ashes… a line of grey cars crawls along an invisible track…” (Fitzgerald 26). The colors' double-meanings are similar to that of “A Mystery of Heroism,” which indirectly insists that life is a grim losing battle and natural forces will influence one’s life. The color white, associated with Daisy, is described as “[E]mpty, vacuity, superficiality, ruthlessness and selfish to a great extent in the novel” (Haibing 42). The color grey is only ever used when describing real world’s “[D]ecadence, bleakness, corruption and disillusionment…” (Haibing 43). Grey and white are present in the story just to remind the reader that not everything is meaningful or
What Does The Color Symbolize In The Great Gatsby
1394 Words | 6 PagesEach color provides an understanding corresponding to each and every one of the characters true personality, as well as the underlying meaning behind a specific setting, but the most important aspect is how a singular color can have contrasting themes that evolve throughout the novel. Daisy Buchanan is the pure image of “perfection” in the novel and during this time period. The author's use of the color white on Daisy depicts her image of being an idolized wealthy woman. The color white is used to represent purity, innocence, and beauty. The character of Daisy Buchanan is often associated with the color white when she is first introduced wearing a white dress, and her voice is described as "full of money... that was the inexhaustible charm that rose and fell in it, the jingle of it, the cymbals' song of it... high in a white palace, the king's daughter, the golden girl.
Color In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald
759 Words | 4 PagesWhite represents purity and superiority. Daisy seems to always be wearing white as she did when Nick visited her in East Egg. Nick describes Daisy and Jordan by saying, “...as cool as their white dresses and their impersonal eyes in the absence of all desire”(12). Daisy also wore white when she met Gatsby for tea at Nick’s. Many people see Daisy as pure and innocent the first time they meet her because of her beauty and soft personality.
Color Symbolism In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald
792 Words | 4 PagesIn The Great Gatsby, the author, F. Scott Fitzgerald used colors to show personalities of the characters and also to show that colors can also express feelings like hope, depression or innocence. Throughout the book, colors are mentioned and take a deep role in Fitzgerald’s symbolizing which is the reason why you should pay attention every time a color is mentioned in the book. There are many colors mentioned however the most important ones that are thoroughly mentioned are white, gold, green and blue. White is a color used to represent Daisy in this book. White is a color that shows purity and innocence.
What Does The Color Symbolize In The Great Gatsby
658 Words | 3 PagesThe 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.
How Is Jay Gatsby A Dynamic Man
600 Words | 3 PagesThe American novelist, F. Scott Fitzgerald, who wrote the novel The Great Gatsby in 1925, has a character named Jay Gatsby, who makes many appearances throughout the novel. While Jay Gatsby who was first introduced in the third chapter is a character who takes part in the summer activities, Jay Gatsby, with his “tanned skin” that was “drawn attractively tight on his face and his short hair looked as though it was trimmed every day,” makes a wondering impression on the readers (50). After the scene of the party at his house and a day in the city with Tom, Daisy, Nick, and Jordan, Jay Gatsby represents what a character should not be. This man is a dynamic character who changes for the worse: Jay Gatsby begins the novel by being an impressive man, however, as the novel progresses, he becomes a more destructive man.
What Does The Color Gold Symbolize In The Great Gatsby
1227 Words | 5 PagesThe color gold is used to symbolize wealth. Daisy was one of the characters that was born into wealth and class and is often described with the color gold. Daisy was a young, beautiful, blessed woman. She had little to no problems, many men wanted her, and women wanted to be her. She was from East Egg, filled with money, with a beautiful home, and spoiled.
Examples Of White In The Great Gatsby
417 Words | 2 PagesIn The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald the colors white, black, red, and gold are heavily used throughout the novel to show purity, impurity, love, death, and greed of Daisy’s character. At the beginning of the novel, F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays Daisy as pure and innocent through the use of the color white. The novel goes on to explain, “They were both in white, and their dresses were rippling and fluttering as if they had just been blown back in after a short flight around the house” (Fitzgerald 8). In this instance, white is used to represent purity, that’s why this quote in the novel gives the reader the emotion of purity by portraying a scene in which everything is elegant and tranquil. Towards the end of the story, black becomes Daisy’s main
How Does Fitzgerald Use Color In The Great Gatsby
589 Words | 3 PagesColor is an essential part of everyday life and the world around us. Colors convey meaning when words cannot. In The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald uses color as a literary device to progress the story, create setting, mood, and develop and develop characters. Fitzgerald’s use of color shows the differences in class by describing the character, their surroundings, and their possessions with color.
Color Symbolism In The Great Gatsby
724 Words | 3 PagesWhite typically symbolizes beauty, purity, and nobility, but Fitzgerald used it as a mask of those traits, truly symbolizing impurity, corruption, and superficiality. One example of the use of this mask is Daisy’s house being filled with white objects, making her appear pure and noble. White is also seen the first time Nick meets Jordan and Daisy, as they are dressed in white. This is what shows that white is used as camouflage to hide the true nature of Daisy, Jordan, and women from the 1920’s (Nimer, p. 51). Daisy and Jordan are both reckless and impure; Jordan constantly cheats and lies, and Daisy only cares about getting money and superficial item.
What Does The Color Symbolize In The Great Gatsby
554 Words | 3 PagesMany different colors are found throughout F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby”. These colors each have a symbolic meaning of their own: yellow is corruption, green is hope, blue is illusion, gray is lack of life/spirit, and white is false purity. These colors affect the overall mood of the book, and the ironic demise of Jay Gatsby himself. The colors presented in this article, however, are only the blue, the green, and the white. The color blue plays a major part in the affairs and life of Gatsby.
What Does The Color Symbolize In The Great Gatsby
682 Words | 3 PagesThe symbolism of color in The Great Gatsby Colors play a significant role in conveying information, creating moods, and influencing people’s decision-making. In this novel, colors can represent each character’s personality and goals. Fitzgerald uses color to depict character traits in The Great Gatsby. In this novel, green is the most prominent color used as a symbol.
The Color Grey In The Great Gatsby
1081 Words | 5 PagesThe 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.
Color Symbolism In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald
1240 Words | 5 PagesGrey is often used to describe the characters and settings that are associated with the wealthy elite, such as Tom and Daisy Buchanan, who are described as having "hard, clean edges" and "cold, uninterested eyes" (7). The Buchanan's luxurious mansion, with its "gleaming white" exterior and "towering" columns, is also described as having a "grey-green" aura that suggests a lack of vitality and warmth (11). Furthermore, the character of George is often associated with the color grey. He is described as "spiritless" and "anemic," with "ashes of tragedy" in his eyes (25). His garage, where he spends much of his time, is also described as "grey and dismal" (26).
What Does The Yellow Symbolize In The Great Gatsby
1311 Words | 6 PagesIn the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, symbolism is very important all throughout it. Not only does he use objects to show symbolism, but he also uses color symbolism to prove the importance of the theme and development of the characteristics in the Great Gatsby. Color symbolism brings out the visual of the story, so readers can picture it in their mind as they are reading. Fitzgerald took the colors to an advanced level by using key colors to help further deepen the meaning of the book and its characters. Although there are many colors in the novel, Fitzgerald uses the colors green, white, and yellow to symbolize Gatsby’s emotions and riches.
Color Symbolism In The Great Gatsby
1148 Words | 5 PagesColor 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.
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