What Does The Color Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

The Painting of a Book
Many great writers use color to further describe the nature of objects and characters; therefore, helping the reader develop a specific sentiment towards a story. In other words, colors expand on a person’s personality by creating feelings reflected by their clothing, general appearance, or attitude. Fitzgerald, the author of The Great Gatsby, portrays one of those writers who uses colors to further analyze the way a character and object presents itself, hints given to show hidden, at the time, qualities. Throughout the book, characters, places, and objects revived by colors, presented with “life,” add emphasis to key points by communicating a deeper meaning, connecting the story to other main ideas.
False innocence, a lack of honesty
and honor, and unreality connect through the colors white and blue. In fact, this states that every character hides behind a stereotypical image throughout the novel. Daisy, always clothed in white, presents an innocent appearance for herself where she uses excuses when she does something ridiculous or childish, but in reality she knows exactly what her actions can do: “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever kept them together” (179). This hiding behind white also applies to Jordan, acting as a superior to everyone else. When Nick first sees her, he claims “she extend[s] full length at her end of the divan, completely motionless, and with her chin raised a little” implying even her posture shows her arrogance. Under her fame, she has a rude attitude and acts “incurably dishonest”: “When [Nick and Jordan] were at a house party together… she [leaves] a borrowed car out in the rain with the top down, and then lied about it” (57, 58). Hiding under a white image appears most visibly when Daisy and Jordan place themselves in an uncomfortable position where dishonesty plays a key role. As “Daisy and Jordan lay upon an enormous couch, like silver idols weighing down their own white dresses against the singing breeze of the fans,” Jordan, who’s fingers display a “powdered white over their tan” decides to announce that Tom’s mistress lies on the other line of the phone, creating a silence in the room (115, 116).
Furthermore as Tom leaves, Daisy kisses Gatsby on the mouth, casually, then tries to pressure Nick into kissing Jordan, showing both Daisy and Jordan playing their childish games, without thought or respect of their actions or words. Even West Egg describes itself as white. Although the city may look harmless and innocent, it actually represents false purity: “men in dress suits walking along the sidewalk with a stretcher on which lies a drunken woman in a white evening dress” (176). Even Gatsby frequently describes himself in white. When he finally sees Daisy after five years, he wears a white flannel suit, silver shirt, and gold-colored tie to give the impression of a pure and innocent man in order to appease Daisy. Therefore these uses of white demonstrate false, hidden innocence. When Gatsby takes Nick in his car, a policeman stops Gatsby, who takes “a white card from his wallet… waving it before the man’s eyes” causing the policeman to excuse himself (68). At first, Gatsby makes Nick believe that a
police officer sent him a Christmas card, but later he learns that Gatsby had bribed the officer, which represents white as a lack of honesty and unreality in a situation. In addition, blue uses its color to represent fantasy where in Gatsby’s “blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars” providing a place where people can go to escape reality; his parties prove out of touch with the real world and in a period of dreams and illusions (39). Even through Dr. T.J. Eckleburg’s “blue and gigantic” eyes, unreality presents itself; it presents itself as a hope in a land that clearly has no life, and God, as George describes Dr. Eckleburg’s eyes, may exist as a non-existent dream (23).
Death, destruction, and a loss of hope distinctly embody themselves through gray and yellow with different characters, places, and events. Gray, representing a lack of life, clearly demonstrates Jordan, who has “grey, sun-strained eyes” showing her dullness and boredom in life because she surrounds herself with everything she wants, having no dreams for the future (58). Even when Nick first met Jordan, he claims she has “sun-strained eyes” and a “wan …discontented face,” where she looks at him showing her unhappiness, even towards a man whom she might end up with in the future (11). Furthermore, the Valley of Ashes, seen as the low end of society, represents a “gray land” (23). As Nick passes this “bleak” territory, he describes the ashes, “desolate” and “grotesque,” as taking the form of houses and chimneys, along with obtaining the location of Myrtle and Tom’s apartment, portrayed as “unprosperous and bare” (23, 25). Through this, the valley of ashes represents the location of the destruction of marriage between both Daisy and Tom and Myrtle and George. In addition, the valley of ashes quarters “the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg” (23). Hours after the death of Myrtle and before the death of George and Gatsby, George looks at the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg and his “enormous yellow spectacles” with “shock” and says “God sees everything,” as if the eyes on the advertisement symbolized God’s eyes (23, 159,160). Therefore, yellow also represents death and destruction. Along with this, Myrtle, killed by Gatsby’s yellow Rolls Royce in front of her yellow brick house under the yellow spectacled eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg, ultimately leads to the death of Gatsby, who “in a moment disappear[s] among the yellowing trees” just before murdered (161). Moreover, the name Daisy represents a flower with white petals and a yellow center. While white on the outside, seen as innocent and pure, the yellow center shows she her rotten personality on the inside, which supports when she kills Myrtle and ultimately leaves Gatsby for Tom.
In contrast to green, gold portrays old money, whereas green represents new money. Both Daisy, known as a “golden girl,” and Jordan, with a “slender golden arm” come from old money, whereas Gatsby wishes and pretends he has old wealth by dressing in gold ties and playing “yellow cocktail music” and having turkeys “bewitched to dark gold” at his parties (40). Gatsby, who comes from new money, hopes to restore his ancient relationship with Daisy that has long seemed impossible, though Gatsby fails to realize this because he blinds himself with the hope generated by the green light. This false hope connects with the false hope given to someone as they posses new wealth. The colors green and gold exist among the most important colors, where green represents the false hope created by new wealth and brought among people, and gold represents divine wealth and the recklessness old money brings.
The innocence of characters throughout The Great Gatsby, symbolized by the color white, mask the characters corruption and yearning for death or destruction, illustrated by the color yellow. Even through these spurs of lost hope, some characters continue to dream, but end up believing in false hope, represented through green, but unfortunately these reality checks preserve a fantasy, shown through blue. Color symbolism in literature is important because it is one of the only ways that an author can convey feelings. It allows the author to describe a scene without describing every aspect of the scene, where not everyone develops the same meaning.