Color Symbolism In The Great Gatsby

Color Lover: How Colors are Used to Examine Important Themes in the Novel
Colors segregate themselves from each other. For example, the color white is defined as fair and clean, while the color black is defined as dark and fear. Thus, black will always be black and white will always be white. There are a plethora of references to colors in the novel The Great Gatsby written by Scott Fitzgerald. Colors are used everywhere in this novel to describe individuals and their appearance. If examined closely, it is clear that certain colors pertain to certain individuals. Scott Fitzgerald is implying that colors can represent a person and their intentions. In the novel, Scott Fitzgerald uses colors to explain important themes.
Scott Fitzgerald explains the concept of status through the colors white, blue and gray. By definition, white represents cleanliness and purity. In the novel, all the wealthy citizens of East Egg dress and live in the color white. Tom and Daisy Buchanan keep up with this status quo. They both wear white tuxes
and dresses and live in a house that is a “white Georgian Colonial mansion” (11). Tom also drives a blue coupe which was the ideal car for a wealthy person to drive in the 1920’s. They also host exclusive parties only for their wealthy friends who come dressed in fancy white suites and drive classy blue cars. Tom and Daisy represent East Eggs status and all its wealth.
On the other hand, the poor are described with dull colors such as gray.
The valley of ashes is a town between West Egg and New York City where “ashes grow” and the citizens “move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air” (27). Fitzgerald describes the citizens as a lower class who is alienated from the wealthy class. The valley of ashes is a town that was created by the garbage and wastes from East Egg and represents filth. George Wilson lives in the Valley of Ashes and is described as a “blond, spiritless man” (29). His garage business is very slow and is covered in dust. His wife, Myrtle is first introduced in a brown dress and is having an affair with another man. The poor also throw parties but are inclusive, meaning that random people show up, get drunk and leave. Unlike East Egg, a town known for its high status and low tolerance for chaotic behavior, The Valley of Ashes consists of the working class and their wild
parties.
The colors white and gold address the difference between old money and new money. Tom, Daisy and Nick come from old money. This means that they were born into wealth, maybe because of their parents or great grandparents but none the less, they never had to work for a single dollar in their life. These lucky few are separated by a certain type of status that cannot be earned. They pledge their allegiance by wearing white suits, living in white houses and driving white cars. Old money also allows you to do whatever you desire. These people in fact bought their way out of war by being diagnosed with “flat [feet]” or “short [sight]” (80). Unlike Tom or Nick, Gatsby had to work for his money, thus defining him as new money. Despite having connections to bootleggers such as Meyer Wolfshiem, Gatsby was a self-made man and earned every dollar. With his dream of being reunited with Daisy, he knew that he needed money and status just like her husband Tom. Unfortunately, the type of status that old money offered could neither be earned nor bought.
The color green is used to represent the dream of success. Gatsby is first seen at his beach, reaching towards Daisy’s green lit porch. He longs to be with her and fulfill his dream of an “orgiastic future”. So, throughout the novel, Gatsby is constantly in relation with broken clocks as if he is trying to turn back time. Gatsby dreams of successfully going back into a time where he and Daisy were happily in love. Fitzgerald also explains of a Dutch sailor who dreams of a “fresh, green breast of [a] new world” (189). Similar to a white canvas, the Dutch sailor saw an undefined world with infinite possibilities and no boundaries. They both believed in a fantasy where they envisioned perfection. Unfortunately, Gatsby quickly realized that he couldn’t turn back an era without Tom, and the Dutch sailor’s vision failed to see the corrupted future. The once new and perfect world he imagined turned out to be a city of segregation between the rich and the poor, where the rich live and the poor die.
Throughout this novel, Fitzgerald uses colors to describe reoccurring themes. This novel carries many different themes and motifs that can be examined. The uses of colors are clear and unmistakable, that when studied, they reveal much more than the original story. For example, colors represent the division between social classes and also the American dream. With this focus, the book is examined in a much different light than just a story about Jay Gatsby. Scott Fitzgerald writes a beautiful novel and challenges the readers to find other occurring themes and motifs.