Duncan 1

Michael Duncan
Lawver
American Lit.
11 march 2015
Colors of The Great Gatsby
You cant repeat the past, why of course you can (Fitzgerald 110). The Great
Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, was published during the 1920s. This is a novel
full of romance and betrayal. Nobody had ever seen these certain things being depicted
in writing during this time. Also in this novel Jay Gatsby has the dream of winning back
the love of his life, Daisy. In F. Scott Fitzgeralds novel, The Great Gatsby, the author
uses color to illustrate the different social classes and specific events that happen
throughout the novel.
In The Great Gatsby we see the three different social classes being represented.
The color white clearly represented riches, wealth and purity. They were both in white
and their dresses were rippling and flattering as if they had just been blown back in after
a short flight around the house(8). This shows the purity of the color of white. Also
people who wear it are flattering and perfect. This quote explains the character Daisy
very well as she is pure and perfect. Daisy looked like an enchanted princess(25) This
quote shows the elegance of white and what Daisy looked like wearing it.
Along with white, yellow is a key color symbol throughout this novel. Now the
orchestra is playing yellow cocktail music (exciting songs) (42). Yellow in this quote is
saying that the music was happy or vibrant. It also says that yellow was a happy color
and the music played at Gatsbys was feel good music. It was a yellow car (167).

Duncan 2

However yellow could mean something a whole lot different. It could symbolize death
and sorrow as the car that killed myrtle was yellow. And because yellow was a color
portrayed as the new rich people could speculate who was at fault of the death of
Myrtle.
The Death of Myrtle is really shocking. This is a very devastating event in The
Great Gatsby. The gruesomeness of the accident is portrayed with the color red. Dark
blood mixed with dust (137). This quote portrays not only the gruesomeness but also
shows her social status throughout the book as she lived in the Valley of Ashes. There is
also a different side to the color red. We walked through a hallway into a bright rosy
colored space (13). This shows happiness and a nice cozy place. Red does not just
show death and blood, it can show happier things as well.
In F. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby, the author uses color to illustrate the
different social classes and specific events that happen throughout the novel. Color in
The Great Gatsby symbolizes many ideas, the plot, and the social classes. It really
gives you a picture in your head when you use color as a symbol to tell a story. Many
other symbols are used to tell this story. Symbols really help you not only understand
the book better but help you engage in the novel.