What Is The Moral Symbolism In The Great Gatsby

The 1920s was an era of pushing boundaries, partying, and good music. Although it seemed to be a very joyous and prosperous time, it was a time of decadence and excess which led to the moral decay of the people of this era. The pushed boundaries were taken too far in hopes of the gain of material possessions and wealth. The partying that took place was largely influenced by alcohol, which was illegal at the time It may have been illegal, but that did not stop many different kinds of people from transporting it and helping to transport it. The American Dream, which was once a search for happiness, became perverted in a search for wealth and In The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald shows his disdain for this decay of morality and the façades people put up to mask it. There are depictions of the values of the 1920s decaying that can be found in the characters who exhibit some of the most immoral qualities which include Gatsby, Tom, and Daisy, and it is

The symbolism in the color yellow shows how the people of the 1920s put up a front and were mainly looking to get wealthy. The idea of putting up a front of wealth is explored when at one of Gatsby’s parties, “A pair of stage ‘twins’- who turned out to be the girls in yellow,” were there. (Fitzgerald, 51) Having the two girls wear yellow in the novel conveys a sense of the moral corruption, because the dresses mask who the girls really are and make the girls look to be wealthy. It makes them look wealthy because the color yellow symbolizes gold and wealth which would convince other people that they have wealth, while it is unknown if they do or don’t. The color yellow could of course also just be a coincidence, but when you consider what else that was yellow and symbolized wealth, Gatsby’s Car, it becomes obvious that this was intentional. The girls try to make others think they have wealth, this shows that the 1920s were a time when people could be entirely content with presenting themselves in