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Literary devices in the great gatsby novel
Literary elements of the great gatsby
Literary elements of the great gatsby
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The device of symbolism is exercised numerous times throughout the course of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, but none more prominent than that of color. Fitzgerald uses color to not only develop the setting but enhance characterization. Through the colors grey, white, green and gold, Fitzgerald categorizes major characters and reveal their inner thoughts and driving forces. By using the color grey to represent characters like Myrtle and George, white to represent Daisy Buchanan and Nick Carraway and green and gold to represent Jay Gatsby, Fitzgerald warps our vision and makes us see them through his eyes. The color grey is weaved through the novel and laced with the ideas of hopelessness and submission. The first people we …show more content…
Though several characters are pictured with the color, none are more important than Daisy Buchanan and the narrator, Nick Carraway. Though both are pictured with white, it is for different reasons. Daisy is portrayed in white from the beginning. When Nick first walks into the room in which Daisy and Jordan were in, he describes “[Their inconsequential conversation] as cool as their white dress and their impersonal eyes in the absence of desire” (Fitzgerald 12). In this case the use of white is to portray class, leisure and haughtiness. It is the perfect illustration of everything Daisy is, in the eyes of those around her. The unattainable girl. Innocence and factors of society aside, Daisy was meant for wealth and she has taken ever opportunity to attain it. Nick Carraway, much like his cousin, is surrounded by the imagery of white. The first time the color truly comes into to play is when Nick “went over to his [Gatsby’s] lawn a little after seven…” “dressed up in white flannels” (Fitzgerald 41). In this situation Nick wearing white represents social purity and his eagerness to make a good first impression on his wealthy neighbor. These two stark different symbols reflected through the color white represent opposing ends of the
The two leading female characters in the novel, Daisy Buchanan and Jordan Baker, are frequently seen in white. Daisy's character is developed by Fitzgerald's use of the color white to reveal Daisy's clarity and virtuousness. He states the luminous white house, the vivacious white rooms, and Daisy dressing in a white dress. When Daisy initially appears, she represents both privilege and purity. The use of white aids to portray her as the captivated princess who becomes embodied as Gatsby's dream. Nevertheless, the diverse shades of white specify that Daisy may not be an epithet of innocence. The privilege of being in a high social class may also have a demeaning effect on her. This example correlates exactly to the appearance of Daisy's character throu...
In literature, colors are often purposefully chosen for different characters to represent the character’s personalities. In The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the colors green, yellow/gold, and gray are used to represent the attributes of the colored person or place.
When first introduced, Daisy was in a white dress, fluttering because of the breeze that came through the white window. Daisy has been dressing in white since she was a child, she talks about her beautiful “white girlhood” which shows that she had looked pretty and innocent since she was born (Fitzgerald 19). Since Daisy has been rich and white like the color of a daisy since she was a child, she is still the white person she is today. By having Daisy dress “in white” it shows her exterior, but not her gold interior. “Describing Daisy with the color of white… indicates that under the pure and beautiful appearance, Daisy owns a superficial, hollow, cold and selfish heart inside”(Zhang 42).
Nick describes daisy's beautiful dress in the sense of "[Their inconsequential conversation]... was as cool as their white dresses and their impersonal eyes in the absence of desire" (Fitzgerald 12). The use of white is to portray class, leisure, and haughtiness. The color itself shows purity or being clean in the world, though it also shows selflessness or even the power of sophistication. Such as daisy’s dress as well as her car, both showing the beauty of her as well as her sophisticated personality. The significance and symbolism of an individual color can vary greatly depending on the culture and traditions of a particular person. The color white is beyond one meaning, yet it is the purest of them
Upon first impression, one might believe Jay Gatsby is nothing more than a self-satisfied, well-to-do bachelor living in luxury in West Egg. However, as his story unfolds, the reader finds out that he is an industrious man and a hopeless dreamer. The quintessential colors of yellow, green, and blue are used by F. Scott Fitzgerald to describe Gatsby’s characteristics in his magnum opus, The Great Gatsby. Yellow, an incandescent color, stands for his vivacious outward disposition, the shallow people around him, and his seemingly self-indulgent spending habits, for which he has an ulterior motive. Green represents the extreme lifestyle changes Gatsby has made in adulthood and his staunch hopefulness in finding love. Blue is a symbol of the
Scott Fitzgerald used colors in the The Great Gatsby to portray more than just imagery. Fitzgerald used colors to convey emotions, the setting, and underlying tones for motives. The character Daisy can be interpreted as a metaphor. One can connect the colors used to describe Daisy in the book to interpret her motives and emotions through the dichotomy of a daisy flower. One way to interpret Daisy is the green of the stem describes the structure of her character, the white of the flower describes what others see of her, and the yellow inner of the flower describes what is really on the inside of her
People all around the world, in literature and even in everyday life see white as these meanings. In The Great Gatsby, it represents innocence, a new beginning, and purity. When Nick Carraway first enters Daisy and Tom’s house, he’s seeing them for the first time. All of their affairs are yet to come and Nick still sees them as regular, innocent people. Everything is described as white. He noticed that, “The windows were ajar and gleaming white against the fresh grass outside” (Fitzgerald 8). To Nick, everyone is innocent. The white composition of everything symbolizes their façade of innocence. He is unaware of all of their scandals. Everything is new and pure. Even Gatsby was portrayed in white. “In literature, the color white typically symbolizes innocence and purity” (Brozak). He’s starting over so everything is still white, fresh, and pure. White shows more than just innocence and a new start, “White is also vital to the novel as it has been used for portraying beauty, cleanliness, wealth, innocence, and virginity” (Olson). Because Fitzgerald uses white to describe Daisy and Jordan, it can be inferred that they possess these qualities. They are new people in Nick’s life who hide their private life from the public very well. Fitzgerald wrote that, “sometimes she and Miss Baker talked at once… that was never quite chatter, that was as cool as their white dresses” (Fitzgerald 12). Again, by referring to their
In the book The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald uses a vast amount of colors to represent characters in the book. For instance, Gatsby is one of, if not, the main character in the book. Every single color in the book has to do with Gatsby. The three main colors in this book or most used colors are red, yellow, and black. These three colors seem to have the most meaning. When it comes to Gatsby, these colors represent him in many ways.
Fitzgerald also refers to the steps to Gatsby’s house as being white. Even the windows at Daisy’s house are white. “The windows were ajar and gleaming white.” (Pg.13) this tells us that Daisy and Gatsby look innocent from the outside but not from the inside, instead they are corrupted people. This thought is also expressed when Gatsby takes Nick for a ride in his car. When he is stopped by a policeman, Gatsby shows the officer a white card, which symbolizes corruption. When the commissioner sees this, he lets Gatsby go. Nick thought it was a Christmas card sent to him by the officer, but later on we learn that Gatsby had bribed the police officer.
Color Symbolism in The Great Gatsby & nbsp; Colors can symbolize many different things. Artists use colors in their paintings when they want you to see what they are trying to express. Like if an artist is trying to express sorrow or death. he often uses blacks, blues, and. grays. Basically he uses dreary colors. You automatically feel what the artist is trying to express. When the artist uses bright colors you feel warm and you feel happiness. In the novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald is like an artist. He uses colors to symbolize the many different intangible ideas in the book. He uses the color yellow to symbolize moral decay, decadence, and death. Then he uses the color white to symbolize innocence. He also uses the color green to express hope. Fitzgerald's use of the color green the strongest.
"White" can also be related to Tom, who is the perfect example of a racist man. He believes that black people should disappear, and is very concerned about a book he has recently read called The Rise of the Coloured Empire. He believes that white is the superior race. So, black and white are used to show how racism affected people from the high classes at that time. While riding in Gatsby´s car, Nick sees a limousine driven by a white chauffeur and ridden by black passengers, members of the high society. This shows how strongly black people fought to conquer or fulfil their so-called "American Dream", which at that time was even more difficult for black people (former slaves) than for white ones.
Fitzgerald’s use of symbolism and colors in The Great Gatsby is prominent in every chapter of his novel. To fully understand the meaning of his color use, a reader must recognize the situations in which these colors are used. Throughout the novel Fitzgerald uses the color green. Green has many possible interpretations, and its’ use to reveal insight into Gatsby’s character is probably the most meaningful.
F. Scott Fitzgerald uses many colors as symbols in his book, The Great Gatsby. Among them: silver, gold, and green are all colors that represent Gatsby. Not only that, but they also connect Gatsby to a major theme of the novel, The American Dream. Silver symbolizes and relates to Gatsby through his glamour, his mysteriousness, and his distinguished nature. Gold signifies Gatsby through his enormous amount of wealth, and how extravagantly he shows it off. Green has to do with Gatsby by illustrating his desires. The Great Gatsby is a great book that has endured for almost a century, and is a classic about the Jazz Age. It is filled with symbols and themes, describing what were the great times and hardships of the 1920s.
For most people, a certain colour may represent something meaningful to them. While in the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, many of the colours used in the novel are meant to represent something. The novel’s setting is in East and West Egg, two places in New York. Our narrator, Nick Carraway, lives in the West Egg. Along with living in West Egg is a friend of Nick’s, Jay Gatsby; a character that is in love with Daisy Buchanan. Unfortunately, Daisy is married to Tom. As the plot unravels, the reader notices the connection between certain colours and their importance to the novel. The use of colours within The Great Gatsby symbolizes actual themes, as grey symbolizes corruption, blue symbolizes reality, and green symbolizes jealousy and envy.
To Gatsby, Daisy represents innocence and purity; however, Fitzgerald uses different shades of white to veil her corruption. Daisy is solely described as "dressed in white", she powders her face white, and she mentions her "white girlhood". The millionaire describes this perfect princess figure to be "high in a white palace the king's daughter, the golden girl." On the other hand, Fitzgerald portrays the way of life in West Egg as a wretched place when "four solemn men dressed in suits are walking along the sidewalk with a stretcher on which lies a drunken woman in a white evening dress. Her hand, which dangles over the side, sparkles cold with jewels. Gravely the men turn it at a house - the wrong house. But no one knows the woman's name, and no one cares."