Color Journals

Journal 1:
In chapter 1, Gatsby uses the color yellow as a representation of happiness. The
narrator in the beginning, Nick Carraway, talks about himself as a person who shows good
character with good qualities. Contrarily he begins explaining that Gatsby is a person who he can
judge. Nick Carraway moves to the West Egg which is a happy place and consists of people who
are slowly becoming wealthy, or the new-rich. The color yellow gives descriptive details of happy
things or things that should be such as, The lamp-light, bright on his boots and dull on the
autumn-leaf yellow of her hair, glinted along the paper as she turned a page with a flutter of
slender muscles in her arms (Fitzgerald 17). This quote gives happiness towards Tom and Miss
Bakers actions. A bright color used in chapter 1 is completely opposite of what I noticed more in
chapter 2.
The color gray was what I noticed more in chapter 2. More harm and cheating is done
between couples. There is a space between the West Egg and New York City called the Gray
Valley which in my opinion, set the tone for the setting and action in chapter 2. Fitzgerald gives a
dark description all packed in one sentence, Occasionally a line of gray cars crawls along an
invisible track, gives out a ghastly creak, and comes in rest, and immediately the ash-gray men
swarm up with leaden spades and stir up an impenetrable cloud, which screens their obscure
operations from your site (23). In this quote, Fitzgerald describes cars, people, their clothing, and
the location in a dark manner. With this quote on the first page of the chapter, we can tell good
things wont happen in this chapter which ends up being true. Couples cheat on each other and
use each other for their wealth and everyone is okay with that. Chapter 2 is filled with dark, action
filled events that do not lead up to a great amount of happiness.
Journal 2:
Fitzgerald uses the color blue in chapter 3 to represent a change in mood or change in
tone of the narrator, Nick Carraway. The color blue used in this chapter depicts everyones
personalities and how they act. For example, theres the men who work in the Valley of ashes
(which comes off as a dull color) and Doctor Eckleburg who never stops watching those men
work. In this case, Doctor Eckleburg comes off as creepy but interesting. Through the plotline,
Fitzgerald may not use the color blue in the situations but whenever there isnt any action
happening, he uses the color blue to describe the characters surroundings. Fitzgerald doesnt
mention the color blue often, but I find that when he decides to describe something blue, it ties
together with the characters personalities.
The first page and paragraph of chapter 3 gives off the blue color but talking about Nick
Carraways neighbors gardens. Fitzgerald makes Nick Carraway say that, In his blue gardens
men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the
stars (39). Putting a color, blue in particular, in front of something that is not related to an object
at all, the gardens, I find is random but there must be a reason Fitzgerald uses this method in is
writing. Later on in the chapter, Fitzgerald uses blue again but making more sense in context. The
way he uses blue is in the discussion of clothing, I was going to wear it tonight, but it was too big
in the bust and had to be altered. It was gas blue with lavender beads (Fitzgerald 43). Blue
being used in this situation makes the color relevant but then adds gas in front of blue which
throws off what the actual color of the attire is.
Journal 3:
White stands out throughout chapter 4 in descriptive details. Fitzgerald sets the tone
again of the chapter in color. White can mean various things such as having wealth or something
needing honor. For example, Daisy is a character in which her name is a type of flower. A daisy is
a white flower with a yellow center. The name suites Daisy well because she lives in the East
Egg, which consists of people who know how to spend their money wisely. The yellow of the
flower represents where all the focus goes to, or in Daisys case, possibly her personality.
Fitzgerald uses white throughout the chapter to show the wealth of the characters. For
some things that need details, Fitzgerald puts a white object in front of the color white to ensure
the meaning of what is being described. White is being described for location settings in

particular, And the Ismays and the Chrysties (or rather Hubert Auerbach and Mr. Chrysties wife),
and Edgar Beaver, whose hair, they say, turned cotton-white one winter afternoon for no good
reason at all (Fitzgerald 62). Another example of white being used to describe location again,
Over the great bridge, with the sunlight through the girders making a constant flicker upon the
moving cars, with the city rising up across the river in white heaps and sugar lumps all built with a
wish out of non-olfactory money (Fitzgerald 68). In both of these quotes, white can also relate to
wealthiness of the characters because of money being mentioned.
Journal 4:
Chapter 5 consisted of objects that are green. Fitzgerald may not describe things as
green as much, but he talks about things that are green. He also uses green to describe things in
a few sentences. For example, Nick Carraway narrates The flowers were unnecessary, for a two
oclock a greenhouse arrived from Gatsbys with innumerable receptacles to contain it (Fitzgerald
84). In this specific quote, the word green is in the word greenhouse so it ties in the literal and
figurative meaning of green.
Fitzgerald mentions green things often such as trees and grass (two things in nature).
Seeing this repetition of green throughout chapter 5, green may represent nature. In my opinion, I
think that green means more than nature because of what the other colors in previous chapters
have meant. Green means something good to happen in the future or simply hope. I believe that
green represents the future because of the green light Gatsby can see at Daisys house. Now it
was again a green light on a dock (Fitzgerald 93), it the only time the green light is mentioned in
this chapter, but we see the Fitzgerald makes Nick Carraway talk about money more in his 1st
person narration.
Journal 5:
Chapter 6 showed dark colors more than any of the previous chapters so far. I noticed
the color black used more and darker description compared to than any other chapter. The word
black was only mention a couple times but those couple times really tied the dark meaning
together for this chapter. Dark description such as twilight, darkness, and shadows. Fitzgerald
gives these words all in one specific paragraph on page 107, It was dark here in front; only the
bright door sent ten square feet of light volleying out into the soft black morning. Sometimes a
shadow moved against a dressing-room blind above, gave way to another shadow, an indefinite
procession of shadows that rouged and powdered in an invisible glass. This quote represents
the literal and figurative meaning of darkness.
In my opinion, black represents a time of struggle, sorrow, or mourning. This is ironic that
black is used in the halfway point of chapter 6 when we really understand who the characters are
and how they act. Fitzgerald also describes something black that is suppose to be happy and
peaceful. I stayed late that night, Gatsby asked me to wait until he was free, and I lingered in the
garden until the inevitable swimming party had run up, chilled and exalted, from the black beach,
until the lights were extinguished in the guestrooms overhead (109). This is ironic that Fitzgerald
describes the beach as black because when you think of a beach, you think of more bright and
cool colors like light blues and yellows. There may be a meaning behind why Fitzgerald does this
in particular.
Journal 6:
Chapter 7 was a difficult chapter to just pick one color to represent something particular. I
noticed a variety of colors used in this chapter which made it hard to understand what point was
trying to be made in this chapter. Because of the vast color use, I believe that it means something
else. The different mentions of colors in this chapter could depict all of the characters emotions
and their behaviors. The colors used range from cool to warm colors. On one particular page,
Fitzgerald uses five different colors: white, gold, green, blue, and red. Our eyes lifted over the
rose-beds and the hot lawn and the weedy refuse of the dog-days alongshore. Slowly the white
wings of the boat moved against the blue cool limit of the sky. Ahead lay the scalloped ocean and
the abounding blessed isles (Fitzgerald 118).
Though in this paragraph there may be the color usage describing things, these colors
mean something different. This part of the book is a little over the halfway mark of the story. It

seems that Fitzgerald creates this use of color imagery in various ways to prove his point. On
page 120, Fitzgerald uses, That was it. Id never understood before. It was full of money-- that
was the inexhaustible charm that rose and fell in it, the jingle of it, the cymbals song of it. . . .
High in a white palace the kings daughter, the golden girl. . . .. This quote is just another
example of the various colors mentioned in one paragraph. I believe that Fitzgerald uses this
technique of a variety of colors in this chapter because he wants to ensure that readers have a
better understanding of all of the characters moods and actions.
Journal 7:
In Chapter 8, we notice a color change through Fitzgeralds writing. The characters in
chapter 8 all seem to be hopeless. I chose black for chapter 8 because there seems to be no
color in their lives anymore. It seems that once Gatsby is killed, all the characters start to change.
The ashheaps are mentioned later on which represent lifelessness or something bare. Nick
Carraway narrates, When I passed the ashheaps on the train that morning I had cross
deliberately to the other side of the car (Fitzgerald 156). This quote seems to bring together what
Nick has realized about the West and East Egg.
Fitzgerald mentions other terms related to black such as dark, night, dust, shadow,
ghostly, and vanishing. The first line of the chapter sets the tone for the rest of the book. Nick
Carraway starts off saying what is going on after Gatsbys death, I couldnt sleep all night; a foghorn was groaning incessantly on the Sound, and I tossed half-stick between grotesque reality
and savage, frightening dreams (Fitzgerald 147). Gatsbys death causes Fitzgerald to change
the dynamic of the story and turn around the tone from wealth and happiness to weeping and
reflection.
Journal 8:
The final chapter of The Great Gatsby seems to be colorless. Though this is not a color, I
notice that Fitzgerald does not use a repetition of colors. If Fitzgerald does mention color, its in
random spurts. Because of how Fitzgerald choose to start off the final chapter, readers can know
that this chapter will most likely be about reflection of each character. The start of the final chapter
is two years after Gatsbys death, After two years I remember the rest of that day. and that night
and the next day, only as an endless drill of police and photographers and newspaper men in and
out of Gatsbys front door (Fitzgerald 163). This quote is dramatic and sets the tone of this last
chapter.
Towards the very end of the book, Fitzgerald starts to use the color green again. The
color green was important in this book because it signified wealth and hope for the future. It is
ironic that Fitzgerald uses this color again as he closes the book. Green objects begin to come up
again like money, grass, garden, and trees. The most important quote with green mentioned is,
Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us
(Fitzgerald 180). I love how Fitzgerald uses the green light again to finish the book and tie
everything together.