Theme Of Color Symbolism In The Great Gatsby

The turn of the 20th century brought many things. First, a great awful war, but with war, comes innovation and progress. The times after the war, in which the victors bathed in the enormous riches that the war brought, came to be known as the roaring twenties. People came from nothing, to being very wealthy. They were living the "American dream" and were the new leaders of the world, much to the distaste of the previous possessors of the worlds wealth. The novel "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald speaks volumes to the division of the old and new rich people of America. He uses colour symbolism extensively throughout the story to paint a vivid picture of the decay of the American Dream. The use of grey, white and yellow

First of all, the colour white is used in the novel to show the fall of the American Dream at several points. Firstly, the east and west "egg" are two islands that house many of the wealthiest New York citizens. In calling them eggs, Fitzgerald is describing them as something that used to be pure (Fitzgerald 4). Eggs are white on the outside and yellow inside; this is like the islands because to those who are not residents they only see the purity of the islands, but once there one can see all the impurities and dishonesty which is represented by the yellow of the "yolk". Secondly, Nick describes an El Greco like scene in which "four solemn men in dress suits are walking along the sidewalk with a stretcher on which lies a drunken woman in a white evening dress"(Fitzgerald 167). The drunken

To begin with, the yellow dresses that Gatsby 's female party guests are wearing symbolise the artificiality of their presence. They are not there to be with Gatsby; they are solely there to use him. They happily enjoy his drinks, find men to sleep with, dance to his orchestras and meet new friends. They don 't care who they are taking advantage of and have no respect for the host. This is shown when owl eyes speaks of how "they used to go there by the hundreds" (Fitzgerald 175). It shows how he is surprised that no one else showed up, he has a realisation that no one else cared for him, they only came for his handouts. As well, the orchestra that plays every weekend plays fast paced jazz, referred to as the Charleston dance. Nick once refers to it as the "yellow cocktail music"(Fitzgerald 40). In saying this he is eluding to the fact that all sorts of artificial people are here at his party. The yellow is similar to gold; it symbolises wealth, but it also symbolises the fact that the whole party, including the music, is just a big ruse. The reader finds out later that it has all been an effort to attract Daisy 's attention. Finally, there is Gatsby 's car. It is a bright yellow sports car (Fitzgerald 141). Again yellow symbolises the false facade that Gatsby has created. He acts as though he is a big man and that he is used to the great wealth