ipl-logo

White In The Great Gatsby Essay

1999 Words8 Pages

The color white is everywhere. It can be expressed for anything from pure to boring. In the Great Gatsby it has a deeper and multiple meanings. For example to show the innocence, purity, and riches of an object or person. The forms of white were shown from Daisy’s dresses to The Buchanan’s home. It gave us the idea that everything was clean, pure, and beautiful. Furthermore, that is what we think of when we see the color white. However, everything that was white was not what we thought. An example of this is Daisy because we thought she was the embodiment of white. To understand this, Daisy is like an egg due to being white and pure on the outside but she is corrupt and yellow in the inside. The significance of white was to give the idea of …show more content…

We first see it at Tom and Daisy’s house with red and white to represent high status. Then there was Tom addressing everyone as the white race to symbolize the upper and rich class. Next, was Daisy who was always wearing white clothes as well as her face to represent innocence. We also had Nick wearing a white flannel when he meet his neighbor Gatsby to show wealth. In addition, the purity and riches of white were enhanced when being compared to yellow. For instance Gatsby’s yellow car which showed his failure to be at the top Daisy is there gleaming in her pure white attire. In conclusion, the color white was to display the characters as proper and innocent while hiding their true …show more content…

The first source I found was The Great Gatsby with one character specifically named Gatsby who was fighting for the American Dream. Although Gatsby’s life didn’t end the way he hoped, he did live his American Dream. His American Dream was to be with the women he loved while showing off his riches to get her. Which he did do, he lived in a mansion and after five long years was able to grab her attention. In addition to doing the impossible he started his life as the son of poor farmers and ended as a successful and rich man. Therefore, Gatsby helped show me that anyone can achieve the American

Show More
Related

  • Examples Of Daisy In The Great Gatsby

    443 Words  | 2 Pages

    Along with the innocence and pure beauty white represents it also symbolizes empty, vacuity, superficiality, ruthlessness and selfishness to a large extent in the book. Contrary to her outward beauty, Daisy exhibits corrupt, empty, and selfish intentions. Fitzgerald new use of the color white illustrates the facade Daisy puts up to hide her snobbish and conceited view of her life style. From the very start of the book Fitzgerald uses white to describe the luxury of the upper class when he talks about Daisy and Tom's house saying "their house was even more elaborate than I expected, a cheerful red-and-white Georgian Colonial mansion overlooking the bay" (Fitzgerald 6). Daisy's lives a lifetime full of nothing except luxurious things.

    Read More

  • Examples Of White In The Great Gatsby

    417 Words  | 2 Pages

    In 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

    Read More

  • The Theme Of Superficiality In Dorian Wilde, By Oscar Wilde

    1108 Words  | 5 Pages

    The colour white is continually used in the novel. Dorian’s path from a visible representation of innocence to a visible representation of depravity can be shown through Wilde’s use of the colour white. The colour white commonly represents innocence and purity. This shows in the beginning of the novel when Dorian is first

    Read More

  • Comparing The American Dream In The Great Gatsby And Their Eyes Were Watching God

    881 Words  | 4 Pages

    To attain her would be completing Gatsby’s American

    Read More

  • White Symbolism In The Great Gatsby

    854 Words  | 4 Pages

    The symbolism of the color white appear several times in the book. But, there was one scene that stood out. The author F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote about the color of white in the scene where Nick is visiting Tom and Daisy Buchanan. Fitzgerald described what happens when Nick was going on a trip with Gatsby in his car, “-only half, for as we twisted among the pillars of the elevated I heard the familiar “jug-jug-spat!” of a motor cycle, and a frantic policeman rode alongside. “All right, old sport,” called Gatsby.

    Read More

  • Imagery Of Color In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

    618 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the novel “The Great Gatsby”, F. Scott Fitzgerald, uses the imagery of color throughout the book. Social classes, emotional states,and racial slurs, all reflect back on the many different colors that are used throughout the book. The colors are used repeatedly as symbols, and shades to develop the mood and tone In different scenes of the novel. The color white is a symbol of being clean and fresh, on the contrary it could also be very tainted like the color black. Green is the ruling color in the book which represent confidence and hope.

    Read More

  • Ladder In The Great Gatsby

    1666 Words  | 7 Pages

    Right from the beginning, Fitzgerald establishes that Daisy and Jordan are “dressed in white” (12) and have enjoyed a “beautiful white girlhood [...] together” (24). White archetypally represents purity, but in this case it stands for the old money’s prosperity. Both characters hail from families rooted in money and lavished in the fruits of wealth as children. Gatsby and Nick also dress in white, but for different reasons. Nick “dresse[s] up in white flannels” (46) before heading to Gatsby’s party, and Gatsby wears a “white flannel suit” (89) when he meets up with Daisy.

    Read More

  • The Color Grey In The Great Gatsby

    1081 Words  | 5 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • What Is The Disillusionment In The Great Gatsby

    587 Words  | 3 Pages

    The American Dream is the opportunity to become successful with hard work and initiative. Gatsby himself achieves the American dream of success just to impress the love of his life, Daisy

    Read More

  • Explain The Destruction Of The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

    1143 Words  | 5 Pages

    This is so inspiring and uplifting because most people want to better themselves, especially back in the 1920’s. This idea is portrayed as an important theme in the book, The Great Gatsby. The author of The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald reveals many characters in the book that strive for the American Dream. However, it’s controversial if they achieved the American Dream or failed.

    Read More

  • Color Symbolism In The Great Gatsby

    1148 Words  | 5 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Color Gray In The Great Gatsby

    497 Words  | 2 Pages

    In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald exhausts numerous colors throughout the novel to demonstrate different aspects of the changing times. He associates colors like yellow, white, blue and gray with certain characters as well as specific topics in the novel. The color gray is associated with the character Jordan Baker as well as with the topics of moral and sexual ambiguity. Fitzgerald also demonstrates the use of color psychology in The Great Gatsby, thus causing the audience to acknowledge perceptions of those colors.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Duality In The Great Gatsby

    884 Words  | 4 Pages

    One’s ability to not get caught up in the chaos of the 1920’s is evident in the novel, especially in Daisy. Daisy symbolizes innocence and purity, which is why she is described wearing white clothing and having white powder on her skin. Even though Daisy represents purity, she becomes corrupt throughout the novel. The color black resembles Daisy as a result of Daisy running over and killing Myrtle. Gatsby became worried that Tom would harm Daisy for her murder of Myrtle, so Gatsby travels to Daisy’s house to check on her when he stated, “I waited, and about four o’ clock she came to the window and stood there for a minute and then turned out the light” (Fitzgerald 147).

    Read More

  • Role Of Clothing In The Great Gatsby

    1738 Words  | 7 Pages

    The caramel color likely represents corruption as Myrtle's brown muslin dress did. Gatsby wears the suit before meeting, Meyer Wolfsheim for lunch, who is his partner for bootlegging and other illegal activities. When Gatsby arrives at Nick’s house to have tea with Daisy he wears a white flannel suit, a silver shirt, and a gold-colored tie. The material of Gatsby’s white suit is flannel, which in the 1920s would be the most affordable material for suits. Fitzgerald making the suit flannel could be an allusion to Gatsby’s origins in that although he appears to be from “old money” he in reality was someone living in poverty who did illegal things to get rich.

    Read More

  • The Tragic Hero In The Great Gatsby

    739 Words  | 3 Pages

    He sees her as perfect and worthy of all his affections and praise, while in reality she is undeserving and proves she is more pathetic than honorable. Throughout the novel white imagery symbolizes purity and innocence, while yellow imagery symbolizes corruption and

    Read More

More about White In The Great Gatsby Essay

Open Document