F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby contains infinite examples of symbolism. Fitzgerald uses a color scheme throughout his book as he discreetly labels specific objects and people with a color. Not every color is limited to one meaning. Green, yellow, gold, white, blue and gray all assist the plot, setting, and the emotions that the characters encounter. As the story line progresses the color schemes seem to lighten, darken, or fade in pigmentation. The arrangement of color also changes with the connotation of the places in which the scenes take place. The burst of color that the readers explore as they turn the novel’s pages allow Fitzgerald to share the gift of involvement while also providing them with the privilege of vividly witnessing it. Fitzgerald adopts an array of symbolic colors in order to join the interwoven motifs of hope and unsuccess together.
The color green is the boldest color presented in the book and the author uses it to demand the reader's attention, as well as, to draw attention to its numerous examples of symbolism that the color is attached to. As Gatsby is standing on his dock looking out over the immense darkness that consumes the waters, unfortunately, separating him from his desires; his hope is just as daring as the color green:
…he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and far as I was from him I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward–and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock. When I looked once more for Gatsby he had vanished, and I was alone again in the unquiet darkness. (Fitzgerald, pg 20-21)
Gatsby’s desires and dreams of the future resided in the light that dimly illuminated the somber area between the East and West Egg. The green light prompted Gatsby to oversee a bootlegging company, therefore, allowing him to live the life of a millionaire; of which he assumed would undoubtedly assist him to accomplish his goal. He molds his life around the green light as he wishfully strives for the impossible. Fitzgerald employs the green light to symbolize Gatsby’s disillusion of his hopeless desire to relive the past with Daisy who lies just out of his reach, yet who will never be attainable.
The color green provokes the understanding of the germination that Gatsby experiences as he endeavors on his new path of wishfulness. Kevin Rea suggests that the color green symbolizes several emotions, objects, as well as future advancement or success:
Green seems the most striking colour employed: it carries religious overtones of cardinal sin (envy); sensations of potential fruitfulness or growth as the colour of spring; the obvious interpretation of jealousy; and, as the colour of the dollar, a sense of purely material richness. (Kevin)
The light itself symbolizes the confidence that Gatsby allocated to his wealth of which brought promises of the prosperity of the love that Daisy and he would one day be able to share. Gatsby wanted to forge himself into a life of wealth that was foreign to him as a young man. He was hopeful in that this new life that he would soon create would aid him as he strove for wealth and love. As Gatsby sought a solution to capture the attention of Daisy he began by using illegal tactics to earn substantial amounts of money, as well as hosting ridiculously excessive parties, thus symbolizing his greed. The more that he attempted to flaunt his fortune the less fortunate he became. The green light seemed to be at an arm's length to Gatsby, but in reality, it was never at a feasible distance for him to grasp.
The color green also symbolizes Gatsby’s excessive wealth and material success.
Daisy’s old money heritage ultimately disqualified Gatsby as a potential lover because of his past life of poverty. His determination provided him with many materialistic items such as a humongous mansion, clothes aplenty, as well as, elaborate cars. Fitzgerald paints an unimaginable picture of Gatsby’s gaudy mansion as a representation of his prosperity. He also employs the scene in which Gatsby removes all of his fine shirts from his draws to impress Daisy as a way of forming his wealthy reputation. Fitzgerald enforces the fact that Gatsby is known around town for his shiny new car after Daisy’s hit and run accident Gatsby is found quickly trying to cover the car to dispose of the identity that it possesses. Although he had everything that money could buy there was still one thing that his money could not afford-Daisy’s love. Gatsby depended on his wealth, a symbol of the American Dream to fulfill his dream and to ultimately bring him closer to the green light.
Fitzgerald emphasizes Gatsby’s jealousy towards Tom Buchanan, Daisy’s husband as he uses the color green as a standing symbol. As Gatsby reaches out over there gloomy dark waters towards the green light he not only reaches for Daisy but also for the old money society that has claimed Daisy as its own. As Fitzgerald presents that scene in the novel he alludes to Gatsby’s covetous nature for the possessions of Tom. He became jealous of the fact that Tom was born into the life that Gatsby had sacrificed plenty for. As Gatsby becomes overly envious of Tom, the green light that once drove his ambitions, now taunted him as a reminder of what will never be his. Tom is also an advocate for the color green considering his excessive wealth as well as his envious feelings towards Gatsby’s success. As Gatsby became richer Tom became more assertive in his attempts to keep Daisy away from him. Daisy and Tom’s appearance in Gatsby’s car symbolizes Tom’s desire to live Gatsby’s life of freedom from responsibility. Tom’s affair with Myrtle represents his wild craving for a nonrestrictive life such as that of the rich bachelor Gatsby.
Fitzgerald subtly employs the colors yellow and white to describe Gatsby’s new life of wealth and dreams of prosperity:
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. The city seen from the Queensboro Bridge is always the city seen for the first time, in its first wild promise of all the mystery and the beauty in the world. (Fitzgerald, pg 68)
Yellow and white evoke an awareness of abundance and purity. These two symbols function collectively as they form a picture of a newcomer entering into a foreign land full of promise for the future and a lack of real-life experience, therefore, leaving him unblemished by disappointment. Yellow is present in the light, music, and girls that make an appearance at Gatsby’s parties. Gatsby’s parties are drenched in the bright, optimistic color as he awaits the propitious moment in which he is able to possess Daisy’s love. Yellow symbolizes Gatsby’s future as it lies just at his fingertips like on the night of a bold full moon. It feels as if you could reach out and capture all of its beauty and promise.
Jordan Baker’s gold arm symbolizes Nick Carraway’s and Gatsby’s covetous idol worship as they endeavor into their artificial world of wealth. Dilworth presents the comparison by stating, “Gold, used in the Old Testament as the colour of the coveted idolatrous calf, hints at the idea of idol worship(Dilworth). Gold symbolizes Gatsby’s complete adoration for Daisy as he adjusts his focus solely on her. He isolates himself from his guests at his parties as he utterly seeks to find Daisy among the massive crowd of attendees. Gatsby also idolized the past as he tries to relive his life with Daisy while trying to maintain his present situation. Gatsby not only idolizes his past with Daisy but also his future with her. As the story goes on, the colors begin to gradually grow darker in pigment, henceforth predicting Gatsby’s dark demise.
The color blue symbolizes the foreseen disaster of affairs, the mournful loss of Myrtle Wilson, as well as the forthcoming theme of unsuccess. The reader is introduced to the color blue when Fitzgerald uses the color to describe Myrtle’s dress and as he compares the eyes of George Wilson to those of T. J. Eckleburg’s. Dilworth adds that Myrtles blue dress was not the correct size for her when he includes: “Taking pleasure in Tom's appearance, Myrtle comes down dressed in blue. Yet she moves somewhat inelegantly as if the dress does not quite fit”(Dilworth). Tom’s affair with Myrtle not only affected themselves but also everyone who was involved in their lives. Myrtle knew that the life she desired to live with Tom was not possible, therefore, she settled for pleasure instead of possibility. Just as Myrtle’s blue dress was not quite the most comfortable fit the lie that she was living with Tom certainly did not pleasantly fit her unpolished lifestyle. The color blue symbolizes Myrtle’s failure to live a life of fortune. Fitzgerald compares George Wilson, Myrtle’s husband’s eyes to those of T. J. Eckleburg as he relates those eyes with the eyes of God. T. J. Eckleburg’s eyes overlook the sadden desires of the novel as an omnipotent, all-knowing God figure witnessing the occurrence of sin throughout the novel. Unlike the eyes on the billboard, George's eyes did not witness Myrtle’s act of adultery nor were they privileged with the knowledge of the culprit who murdered his wife. The grieving eyes of Mr. Wilson that were unsuccessful in solving his wife’s murder case symbolize judgment as he brings the innocent life of Gatsby to an end.
Gray is the tattered, corrupted version of the vivid yellow tint that once represented Gatsby’s zeal and determination. It is no longer saturated with hues of color, but instead, it suddenly becomes achromatic. Gray symbolizes the reality of unsuccess that Gatsby found difficult to recognize, as well as his tainted moralistic views of sin. This is proven when Gatsby willingly offers to take the blame for the death of Myrtle Wilson. He is found protecting Daisy with no concern for the consequences that would soon follow. His endless love for Daisy is proven true as he is murdered by George Wilson and lay dead in his own swimming pool. Dilworth suggests that Gatsby is displayed as an image of Christ dying to take away the sins of the world when he says, “And Gatsby is ultimately a Jesus figure in that he dies for Daisy’s sin. Her killing Myrtle is accidental and therefore cannot be a sin, but she flees the scene of the accident, and that is a sin as well as a crime. Gatsby has intentionally taken her crime upon himself”(Dilworth). The lifeless hopes and dreams that once established reign over Gatsby’s life now lie in the colorless Valley of Ashes. The Valley of Ashes is a time capsule that stores the wreck and ruins of attempted failures as an unwanted reminder of what was never attainable.
Without the corresponding colors in The Great Gatsby, the book would lose its effect to connect with its audience’s emotions and its ability to efficiently support the details of its main themes of aspiration and unsuccessfulness. The colors aid the reader in discovering the diverse identities that the characters possess. The different shades of colors help the exposure of Gatsby’s compelling journey of shining hope, but as the story progresses it gradually becomes a duller version of hope. Without careful examination one might miss the importance of such a subtle accessory; although, once noted the colors of the novel bring life to the inanimate objects that it is associated with.