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Color Symbolism in the Great Gatsby Essay Example

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Color Symbolism in the Great Gatsby Essay Example
Color Symbolism In The Great Gatsby Color symbolism refers to the use of colors as a symbol throughout culture. There is also color psychology, these refers to the effect of colors on the human behavior and feelings. Colors can symbolize many different things. Artists use colors in their paintings when they want you to see what they are trying to express. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is full of symbols and symbolic ideas. Fitzgerald portrays important messages in the novel by his symbolic use of colors, names, places, weather and characters. Colors are an important part in Fitzgerald’s description of the lives of Jay Gatsby, Nick Carraway and the other characters. F. Scott Fitzgerald uses the colors yellow and white to express an image to the reader of what is going on in the story. F. Scott Fitzgerald uses the color yellow to symbolize moral decay, and death. He also uses white to symbolize innocence, and honorable.

The color white in The Great Gatsby symbolizes innocence and honorable. In the beginning of the story, the reader can see that F. Scott Fitzgerald uses the color white when he refers to Daisy and Jordan. “They were both in white” (p.8) Even the windows at Daisy's house are white "The windows were ajar and gleaming white" (p. 8).Daisy’s character is enhanced by Fitzgerald’s use of the color white to indicate Daisy’s freshness and innocence. Fitzgerald evokes two meanings of white: one is the traditional meaning of purity; the second is the empowerment of whiteness. Daisy, as she is initially presented, represents both privilege and purity, a kind of princess figure. However, the different shades of white indicate that Daisy may not be an embodiment of purity and that privilege may have a corrupting effect, at least when it is used to veil or whitewash misdeeds. This example corresponds precisely to the presentation of Daisy's character through color symbolism. Another character that hides behind the white symbol is Jordan Baker, who

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