Journal of Education; ISSN 2298-0245

Uses of symbols and colors in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Maia SAMKANASHVILI*

Abstract

In Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, symbols are an important and integral part of what makes it a great novel. Though there are
numerous and different aspects that could be explored, this article emphasizes several colors used for symbolism in the novel, for
example, green, white, silver, yellow and golden. The writer is simultaneously a painter who makes his writing very visual and
bright, as he mostly uses “pure” colors, not shades, to make the picture clear. These colors give us a great insight into the characters
and their lives. Symbolism reflects what life in the 1920’s was like, through Fitzgerald’s eyes.

Key words: Colors As Symbols, Green, White, Silver, Yellow, Golden.

1. Introduction
They say that good writing is using the right words in the and stretching out his arms to the green light. The light be-
right place. This is certainly so in The Great Gatsby by Francis comes, for Gatsby, the symbol of a reunion with Daisy. This re-
Scott Fitzgerald He has a prominent style, an important part union seems justifiable, yet it is so far away from coming true:
of which is color symbolism, especially notable in The Great “Involuntarily I glanced seaward — and distinguished
Gatsby, in every chapter of this novel. The writer is simultane- nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that
ously a painter who makes his writing very visual and bright, might have been the end of a dock” (chapter 1).
as he mostly uses “pure” colors, not shades, to make the picture In chapter 4 we read about Gatsby’s car: “Sitting down be-
clear. These colors give us a great insight into the characters hind many layers of glass in a sort of green leather conserva-
and their lives. Each case when a color word is applied does not tory, we started to town”.
have to be symbolic, but the majority of them are. To fully un- The use of a green light at the end of a landing stage to
derstand the meaning of his color use, a reader must recognize signal a romantic reunion, is intriguingly similar to the green
the situations in which these colors are mentioned. Fitzgerald’s light at the end of Daisy’s Buchanan’ s dock, which becomes a
color symbolism was studied before to some degree (The use, key image in The Great Gatsby:
n.d.; Schneider, 1964), but I decided to carry out a thorough “You always have a green light that burns all night at the
analysis. end of your dock.” (chapter 5, Gatsby speaking about Daisy’s
house).
2. Method However, once green is certainly associated with jealousy
– with Wilson, whose sunlit faces is paradoxically green: “With
The analysis I held is both qualitative and quantitative, as, an effort Wilson left the shade and support of the doorway and,
on the one hand, I tried to find out the symbolic meanings of breathing hard, unscrewed the cap of the tank. In the sunlight
color words and, on the other hand, find regularities in how his face was green” (chapter 7).
often each color word is used. Once more – the green color of Gatsby’s car is used para-
doxically – so stay for “death car”: “The “death car,” as the
newspapers called it, didn’t stop; it came out of the gathering
3. Analysis & discussion darkness, wavered tragically for a moment, and then disap-
peared around the next bend. Michaelis wasn’t even sure of
Green (18 times mentioned in the novel, even 19, if we its color — he told the first policeman that it was light green”
count the geographic name Greenwich) is traditionally asso- (chapter 7). Probably this is because hope based on money can
ciated with spring, hope, and youth. However, one possible only bring death?
meaning of green is envy. Gatsby can be seen as an envious, Whatever happened, Gatsby remained a hopeless dreamer:
jealous character. He once had the love of his life, Daisy, but “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year
now she is married to another man. He spends all of his time by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter
and effort in an attempt to win Daisy back. It is also possible — to-morrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. .
that Fitzgerald uses green to symbolize money and its power in . . And one fine morning——“ - (ending remarks of chapter 9).
society. Money rules the lives of the people in the story. Gatsby Some color words deal with precious metals (gold/brass/
needs money to live the life that he does. Gatsby also feels he silver), they more often stand for riches, but also for every-
needs the money to win Daisy’s love back. The green color thing beautiful, sometimes dealing with nature (the sun and
may both symbolize envy and money. Because the green color its light) as well. Gold/golden/brass (used 15 times) and yel-
was seen as a symbol of stability, it was selected for new Amer- low (+ crème - used 28 times) are colors that symbolize old
ican dollars in 1862 (do not forget that Gatsby was a nouveau wealth. The colors green and gold contrast in a significant way.
riche – new rich!). These bills were known as “greenbacks” In old times people used gold as a means for exchange, but
for their color and started a tradition of the United States’ print- as a national currency was established green money replaced
ing the back of its money in green. In contrast to the currency the gold and gold no longer even backed the dollar. So, gold
notes of many other countries, Federal Reserve notes of vary- represents the old money and green represents the new. In the
ing denominations are the same colors: predominantly black same way, gold symbolizes Daisy and Tom’s old money and
ink with green highlights on the front, and predominantly green green symbolizes Gatsby’s new money (only a couple of times
ink on the back (Wikipedia, n.d.). However, the most reason- it is mentioned in connection with him, e.g. his gold-color tie
able symbol for green in the book would have to be the one of may symbolize how little of the old money he possesses – just
future hope, especially in Gatsby’s case. a touch). One might say that Gatsby is green. To contrast this
The initial appearance of the green light occurs when Nick Tom is gold. In the same way that green and gold contrast,
sees Gatsby for the first time, standing in front of his mansion so do Gatsby and Tom. Jordan and Daisy are also represented
* Ph.D. student, Faculty of Education, International Black Sea University, Tbilisi, Georgia; E-mail: [email protected]

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 Maia SAMKANASHVILI
Journal of Education; ISSN 2298-0245
by gold. “...Jordan’s slender golden arm resting in mine...” 7) — the silver, of course, symbolizing both the dream and the
(chapter 3)”, “turkeys bewitched to a dark gold” (chapter 3) (at reality, since as the color of the romantic stars and the moon
Gatsby’s parties even the turkeys turn to gold – an allusion to (the first time we observe Gatsby he is gazing up at the “silver
King Midas)”,…high in the white palace the king’s daughter, pepper of the stars”) it is clearly associated with the romantic
the golden girl” (chapter 7). hope and promise that govern Gatsby’s life, and as the color of
Jordan Baker - the golden girl of golf - is associated with money it is obviously a symbol of corrupt materialism.
that color. “With Jordan’s slender golden arm resting in mine” Red usually interpreted as luxury and rage for me in this
(chapter 3); “I put my arm around Jordan’s golden shoulder” novel symbolizes danger: the description of Tom’s and Daisy’s
(chapter 4). With a few sentences Fitzgerald throws a light at house is full of red and its shades (this luxury involves blood).
the turbulent months while Daisy is waiting for Gatsby during And this is where the danger comes from in the book.
the war. “All night the saxophones wailed the hopeless com- Yellow is the color of the gold that Gatsby thought he
ment of the “Beale Street Blues” while a hundred pairs of gold- needed to purchase his dream. Moreover, “cream”—the adjec-
en and silver slippers shuffled the shining dust. At the grey tea tive that discriminating Nick uses to describe the car (chapter
hour ...” (chapter 7). Here even the dust in the rooms, usually 4), and a color that the dictionary defines as “pale yellow to
grey, is shining, while the usually golden tea is served at the yellowish white” - is a blend of the two colors most frequently
grey tea hour. We find that contrast between golden and grey associated with the lovers, Daisy’s white and Gatsby’s gold or
once more in “we went about opening the rest of the windows yellow.
downstairs, filling the house with grey-turning, gold-turning Sometimes the gold at Gatsby’s house turns to yellow.
light” (chapter 7). Thus the richness is only a cover, a short sensation, like the
The golden girl is, of course, Daisy. Daisy is the white yellow press for the more offensively sensational press. “Now
flower with the golden center. Daisy’s character is enhanced by the orchestra is playing yellow cocktail music” (chapter 3). In
Fitzgerald’s use of white (mentioned 35 times, to say nothing contrast to the golden girl Jordan, her admirers are only yellow:
about a Mr.Whitebait) to indicate Daisy’s alleged freshness and “two girls in twin yellow dresses”. “You don’t know who we
innocence (as Gatsby sees her). He notes the gleaming white are”, said one of the girls in yellow, “but we met you here about
house, the airy, white rooms, and Daisy lounging in a white a month ago”. “... we sat down at a table with the two girls in
dress. Daisy also talks of her white girlhood. Fitzgerald evokes yellow” (all chapter 3). Remarkably Daisy’s daughter has old
two meanings of white: one is the traditional meaning of pu- and yellow hair: “Did mother get powder on your old yellowy
rity; the second is the empowerment of whiteness. Daisy, as she hair?” (chapter 7).
is initially presented, represents both privilege and purity - a Silver represents jewelry and richness. In The Great Gats-
kind of a princess figure. The use of white helps to character- by the moon or moonlight or the stars are often silver: “the
ize her as the enchanted princess who becomes incarnate as silver pepper of the stars” (chapter 1); “The moon had risen
Gatsby’s dream. However, the different shades of white indi- higher, and floating in the Sound was a triangle of silver scales”
cate that Daisy may not be an embodiment of purity and that (chapter 3); “A silver curve of the moon hovered already in the
privilege may have a corrupting effect, at least when it is used western sky” (chapter 7).
to veil or whitewash misdeeds. An egg is white (pure and in- When Gatsby talks about Daisy dancing at a ball, he off-
nocent) on the outside, but yellow (corrupt) on the inside. This sets her cheerful idealism with saxophones wailing “the hope-
example corresponds precisely to the presentation of Daisy’s less comment of the ‘Beale Street Blues’ while a hundred pairs
character through color symbolism. Because of the number of of golden and silver slippers shuffled the shining dust” (chapter
times it is mentioned throughout the text, white proves to be 8).
a color that is vital to the novel. From Fitzgerald’s use of the The second chapter which introduces to us the Wilsons is
white color in these various scenarios, the color could be inter- full of grey color (7 cases!) which symbolizes facelessness,
preted as: beauty, cleanliness, wealth, innocence, virginity, and melancholy and low class. However, changing the gloomy dark
also laziness. blue dress for a crème one, Myrtle Wilson changes as well,
The first time Nick Carraway meets his cousin Daisy Bu- as the color of the dress symbolizes the social class: “With
chanan at Tom’s and Daisy’s home, she was dressed totally in the influence of the dress her personality had also undergone
white. So as the house and its furnishings are also tuned in light a change. The intense vitality that had been so remarkable in
shades. This fact might be interpreted as: beauty, cleanliness, the garage was converted into impressive hauteur. Her laugh-
wealth, innocence, virginity and also laziness. Daisy’s color is ter, her gestures, her assertions became more violently affect-
white, she wears white dresses and recalls her “white girlhood” ed moment by moment, and as she expanded the room grew
(chapter 1), and this use of color helps her to characterize her as smaller around her, until she seemed to be revolving on a noisy,
the unattainable “enchanted princess” who becomes incarnate creaking pivot through the smoky air.”
as Gatsby’s dream.
The white (champion of the colors, used 49 times) Dai- 3. Results
sy embodies the vision which Gatsby seeks to embrace - but
which Nick, who discovers the corrupt admixture of dream
and reality, rejects in rejecting Jordan. For, except in Gatsby’s Table 1. Color application in “The Great Gatsby”
extravagant imagination, the white does not exist pure: it is in- Table 2. Statistics of color words application in The Great
variably stained by the money, the yellow. Daisy is the white Gatsby
flower - with the golden center. If in her virginal beauty she
was “dressed in white, and had a little white roadster” (chap-
ter 4), she is, Nick realizes, “high in a white palace the king’s You can see that each chapter has a dominating color: 1-2,
daughter, the golden girl (chapter 7)”. Her voice is “full of 4, 6 and 7 – white, 3 and 8 – yellow, 5 and 9 -green, It is also
money” (chapter 7); she carries a “little gold pencil” (chapter noticeable how, in chapters 5 and 6 the shining colors decline,
6); when she visits Gatsby there are “two rows of brass buttons foretelling the tragedy that is going to happen. Chapter 7 con-
on her dress” (chapter 5). As for the “incurably dishonest” Jor-
dan (chapter 3), the lamplight shines “bright on ... the autumn- tains the climax – the car driven by Daisy kills Myrtle, it is
leaf yellow of her hair” (chapter 1), she displays a “slender very emotional, and the color words immediately increase in
golden arm” and “a golden shoulder”; however, her fingers number. The eighth chapter takes us back to Gatsby’s youth
are “powdered white over their tan” (chapter 7), which signi- (flashback) – naturally it is full of colors. And the last chapter is
fies feigned innocence. When she enters the hotel with Daisy, the least colorful – Gatsby is dead! On the other hand, green is
both are wearing “small tight hats of metallic cloth” (chapter
7); and when Nick sees them both lying on the couch a sec- the dominating color. It means that no longer Gatsby, but other
ond time, they are “like silver idols weighing down their own people should/will hope, “beat on, boats against the current,
white dresses against the singing breeze of the fans” (chapter borne back ceaselessly into the past”, but still hope.

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 Uses of Symbols and Colors in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Journal of Education; ISSN 2298-0245
Table 1. Color application in “The Great Gatsby”
Table 1. Color application in “The Great Gatsby”

color number collocations meaning character it is

of times associated with

green 5 green light romantic reunion, Gatsby

hope + once - death

2 green leather conservatory nature, hope Gatsby

1 green house hope, money Gatsby

1 apple-green shirts hope Gatsby

1 green jersey hope Gatsby

2 green card hope Gatsby

1 green Sound nature Gatsby

1 green face envy Wilson

1 green golf-links nature Jordan Baker

1 green tickets money Gatsby

1 green breast of the new world nature Gatsby

gold(en) 1 red and gold - book-cover / money old money Nick

1 gold window panes old money Tom

1 turkeys turn into gold money/riches Gatsby

1 golden arm beauty, old money Jordan Baker

1 golden shoulder beauty, old money Jordan Baker

1 gold-colored tie money/riches Gatsby

1 gold odor beauty, old money Daisy

1 toilet of pure dull gold money Gatsby

1 golden billow of foamy clouds sun, beauty

1 gold pencil beauty, old money Daisy

1 golden girl beauty, old money Daisy

1 golden slippers beauty, old money

1 gold--turning light sun, beauty

brass 1 brass rail riches Gatsby

1 brass buttons riches Daisy

yellow 1 the autumn-leaf yellow of her hair beauty, old money Jordan Baker
33
1 yellow spectacles on the advertisement old money
 brass 1 brass rail riches Gatsby
Maia SAMKANASHVILI
1 brass buttonsJournal of Education; ISSN 2298-0245
riches Daisy

yellow 1 the autumn-leaf yellow of her hair beauty, old money Jordan Baker

1 yellow spectacles on the advertisement old money

1 yellow brick on the advertisement old money

1 yellow windows old money Tom

1 tanned skin money Gatsby

1 yellow bug (=car) money Gatsby

5 yellow cocktail music beauty

1 yellow dresses old money, beauty girls of high society

6 yellowy hair old money, beauty girls of high society

4 yellow car old money, beauty +

death
1 yellow light old money Tom

1 yellow trolley old money

yellowing trees beauty, death

1
effort to look rich
1 dress of cream-colored chiffon Myrtle
riches
1 cream color car Gatsby
riches
1 faint orange shirt Gatsby

white 1 white palaces of fashionable East Egg beauty, riches high society

1 red-and-white Georgian Colonial mansion beauty, riches Tom

4 gleaming white windows success, riches Tom

2 in white (dresses) success, riches Daisy, Jordan Baker

1 white race privilege

1 White Star Line (street name)

2 white girlhood happy, innocent Daisy, Jordan Baker

2 whitewashed railroad fence/alleys cleanliness

1 white ashen dust veiled his dark suit his soul torn Wilson
between light and
darkness

1 white dog feet innocence

1 white sheep innocence

1 white cake of apartment-houses beauty, riches high society

1 one of gypsies (dressed) in trembling opal ??

1 powdered milky white claimed innocence Myrtle’s sister

1 a white spot of lather on his cheekbone claimed nobility high society

1 white flannels innocence Nick

34 1 the white chasms of lower New York ??? (paradoxical, as

chasms are normally
black)
 1 powdered milky white claimed innocence Myrtle’s sister

1 Uses of Symbols
a white spot of and Colors
lather on hisincheekbone
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott
claimed Fitzgeraldhigh society
nobility
Journal of Education; ISSN 2298-0245
1 white flannels innocence Nick

1 the white chasms of lower New York ??? (paradoxical, as

chasms are normally
black)
1
cotton-white hair ? (it turned white for
1 no reason)
white shirt Tom
cleanliness, riches

1 white knickerbockers
cleanliness
1 white card
innocence
1 the city rising up across the river in white Daisy
heaps and sugar lumps riches
1
a white chauffeur
1 cleanliness Gatsby
the red, white, and blue banners
2 riches Gatsby
white roadster
1 cleanliness, claimed
whitewashed alleys innocence
1
white flannel suit cleanliness
2 Daisy
white duck trousers cleanliness, riches
2
white plum tree cleanliness, riches
1 Tom/Daisy
sidewalk was white with moonlight beauty
1 Gatsby
white face beauty
1 high society
white shirtwaist beauty
2
white car cleanliness
2
white steps (=stairs) riches
2
white evening dress riches
1
white wings of the boat riches

1 intermarriage between black and white beauty, freedom

white evening dress riches

riches

silver 2 silver polisher; silver service luxury

1 silver pepper of the stars beauty

1 moon = silver scales beauty

1 silver shirt luxury Gatsby

1 silver fields beauty

1 silver idols beauty Daisy, Jordan Baker

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 Maia SAMKANASHVILI
Journal of Education; ISSN 2298-0245
1 silver curve of the moon beauty, melancholy Daisy

1 gleaming like silver beauty, luxury Daisy

1 silver slippers beauty, luxury

1 dog-leash, made of leather and braided luxury

silver

shades of 1 red and gold books richness Nick

red
1 new red gas-pumps ??

2 through a high hallway into a bright rosy- elegance, richness, Tom & Daisy
colored space; rosy-colored porch danger

red-and-white Georgian Colonial mansion elegance, richness, Tom & Daisy

1 danger

1
wine-colored rug Tom & Daisy
elegance, richness,
crimson room danger Tom & Daisy
2
elegance, richness, Myrtle’s sister, one
1 danger of guests
red hair
1 ??
red-belted ocean-going ships
1 ??
red cross
2
coral, (shirt) ?? Gatsby
1
pink clouds dream Daisy
1
pink suit tastelessness Gatsby
1
red circle on the water blood/death Gatsby

black 1 black wheel mourning Daisy

1 black rivulets sadness

1 Blackbuck dirty money

1 Blackwell’s Island gloomy setting

1 black-and-blue knuckle ?? Tom

1 black silk bow injury

1 black knotted tree nervousness Gatsby

1 black wreath (in Gatsby’s house) nervousness Gatsby

1 black morning gloominess

1 black beach gloominess

1 intermarriage between black and white impossibility Tom

1 black hostile eyes hostility

1 a motor hearse, horribly black death Gatsby

grey 2 gray sun-strained eyes facelessness Jordan Baker

36
1 gray cars facelessness, low
 1 intermarriage between black and white impossibility Tom

1 black hostile eyes hostility

Uses of Symbols and Colors in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
1 Journal
a motor hearse, of Education;
horribly black ISSN 2298-0245
death Gatsby

grey 2 gray sun-strained eyes facelessness Jordan Baker

1 gray cars facelessness, low

class
2 ash-gray men
facelessness, low
class

1 gray land melancholy,

fruitlessness
1 gray, scrawny Italian child
facelessness, low
1 gray upholstery class Myrtle

1 Gilda Gray facelessness

1 cement color of the walls facelessness, low

class
a gray old man
facelessness, low
1 class

1 gray little villages in France ???

1 gray names
unimportance
1 gray haze of Daisy’s fur collar Daisy
melancholy
small gray clouds
forecasting
1 something sad

1 gray beard sadness Gatsby’s father

brown 1 brown dog ??

1 a brown riding-habit ??

1 brown body ??

1 brown beetles earth/death??

blue 1 black and blue knuckle ?? Tom

1 The eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg are omniscience God

blue
1
light blue eyes ?? Wilson
1
dress of dark blue crepe-de-chine Obscurity Myrtle
1
blue honey of the Mediterranean beauty
2
blue gardens Gatsby
1
blue uniform obscurity
1
red, white and blue banners ???

1
blue paint across her cheek melancholy, mystery Daisy
1
monograms of Indian blue sadness Gatsby
1
blue nose ?? Wilson
37
1
blue coupe (=car) obscurity Gatsby
 1
blue paint across her
Maia SAMKANASHVILI melancholy, mystery
cheek Daisy
1 Journal of Education; ISSN 2298-0245
monograms of Indian blue sadness Gatsby
1
blue nose ?? Wilson
1
blue coupe (=car) obscurity Gatsby
1
blue coat obscurity
1
Beale Street Blues (song) melancholy
1
blue cool limit of the sky low class
1
blue leaves Gatsby
1
blue room coolness, Gatsby
1 indifference
blue outside Gatsby
1 melancholy/death
blue smoke in the air Gatsby
1 melancholy/death
blue lawn
melancholy/death

TableTable 2. Statistics
2. Statistics of color
of color words words application
application in The Great Gatsby
in The Great Gatsby
Chapters/colors gold(en) brass yellow silver white green red gray blue black total
1 2 0 1 3 9 1 5 0 1 2 25

2 0 0 3 0 8 0 1 6 4 1 23

3 2 1 7 1 2 0 1 3 3 1 21

4 1 0 0 0 10 1 6 1 1 2 20

5 4 1 1 1 2 4 2 1 2 2 20

6 1 0 0 1 5 3 0 2 2 2 16
green

7 1 0 7 2 9 4 0 0 3 1 27 yellow
white
8 2 0 5 3 2 1 1 2 3 0 19
silver

9 0 0 1 0 2 5 0 1 2 2 13 red
black
total 13 2 25 (+3 11 49 19 16 16 21 13 185(+3
blue
crème) crème)

2. Daisy
Diagrams: color distribution per major characters
You can see that each chapter has a dominating color: 1-2, 4, 6 and 7 – white, 3 and 8 – yellow, 5
and 9 -green, It is also noticeable how, in chapters
green 5 and 6 the shining colors decline, foretelling yellow

the tragedy that is going to happen. Chapter 7 yellow

contains the climax – the car driven by Daisy kills white
white silver
Myrtle, it is very emotional, and the color words
silver immediately increase in number. The eighth red

chapter takes us back to Gatsby’s youth (flashback)

red – naturally it is full of colors. And the last black
black gray
chapter is the least colorful – Gatsby is dead! On the other hand, green is the dominating color. It
blue blue
means that no longer Gatsby, but other people should/will hope, “beat on, boats against the
current, borne back ceaselessly into the past”, but still hope.
1.Gatsby 2. Daisy
2. Daisy 3. Tom

38 Diagrams: color distribution per major characters

 Uses of Symbols and Colors in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
3. Tom
Journal of Education; ISSN 2298-0245

References:
Fitzgerald, F. Sc. (n.d.). The Great Gatsby. Retrieved
yellow November 11, 2012 from http://ebooks.adelaid.edu.au/f/
white fitzgerald/f_scott/gatsby/contents.html
red The Use of Colors in The Great Gatsby (n.d.). Retrieved
black April 2, 2013 from http://www.lesekost.de/amlit/hhl252c.htm
Schneider, D.J. (1964). Color-Symbolism in „The Great
blue
Gatsby“. University Review (formerly University of Kansas
City Review), XXXI (Autumn), p. 13-18. Retrieved April 3,
2013 from http://www.bigfoot.k12.wi.us/~staff/brower/11-
lit%20gatsby/Color%20symbolism%20essay.pdf
3. Tom
Wikipedia. (n.d.). History of the United States dollar. Re-
trieved May 1, 2013 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/His-
tory_of_the_United_States_dollar
4. Conclusion
By my quantitative analysis I never mean that Fitzgerald
was sitting and counting the words he used while writing The
Great Gatsby. But he has that wonderful instinct of an artist
who felt very well which color and how much color to use to
create the canvas he had in his mind.
“The Great Gatsby” is one of the most “colorful” and “vis-
ual” works in literature – so high is the density of color words
per page. Almost each time the color symbolizes some human
value or feature, a character of the novel.
In the novel “The Great Gatsby” F. Scott Fitzgerald uses
the literary technique of symbolism to reflect what life in the
1920’s was like, through Fitzgerald’s eyes. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s
uses of colors throughout the novel prove to be of importance to
the development of the theme and to the development and char-
acteristics of the characters in the Great Gatsby. These colors
give us a great understanding of the characters and their lives.
Daisy is mostly associated with gold/yellow/brass/white/silver,
as for Gatsby she is still his innocent beautiful bride, however,
gold and yellow are often mentioned with her, to underline that
her innocence has been corrupted by gold. What is interesting,
is that red is an important color for her (her house), as her false,
only outward beauty is dangerous. Gatsby is mostly linked
with green – the color of hope, however, he is various (round
character). What is interesting, colors symbolizing old money
and riches (gold, yellow, white) are used only a few times about
Gatsby, as if to say that he may try much, but he will never
become a member of the high society, about which these colors
are abundantly used (even anonymous “girls in yellow” are
mentioned 5 times).
Tom is the gloomiest figure – fewer colors are “wasted” on
him, and mostly they deal with danger.
The majority of color collocations in the book are unique,
some are used twice, but the ones that are used repeatedly are
certainly the key words in the text (such as green lights). Colors
also constitute part of setting – a shiny summer (gold, yellow,
white), the poor quarters of New York (gray), the luxury of the
East Egg (gold, yellow, white).

39