Fitzgerald incorporates colors in the novel to demonstrate the corruption of the American Dream:
White represents honorable wealth and the upper class population.
Daisy and Jordan are the two main characters who wear white, constantly.
East Egg has fashionable palaces that are painted white- symbolic of the higher class
Jordan and Daisy's childhood is "beautifully white"
Nick and Tom are also seen wearing white because they both have feelings and emotions for the two women, Jordan and Daisy
Gatsby also dresses up in white to represent "Daisy's color" to show his true affection and passion for being with her
Yellow and Gold represent superiority, class, high maintenance
Gatsby owns a yellow car
Myrtle dies from a yellow car, near her yellow house
Twins wear yellow dresses to the party
When Gatsby first realized he loved Daisy he was wearing gold
Inside of a Daisy is yellow
TJ Elckleburg
Blue: HOPE
George Wilson's eyes- damp gleam of hope
Myrtle is wearing a blue dress when she first meets Nick
Gatsby's garden is blue
the chauffeur who delivers the invitation to Gatsby is wearing blue
Green symbolizes the hope and desire for change
Green dock light at Daisy's
symbolic of Gatsby's hope to show his love for Daisy and to win her over Tom
he believed in the "Green light"
Griffin,
ReplyDeleteYou're definitely on the right track here (I like that you have already begun to track down various references to colors), but you need to nail some of these colors down. White, for example, while perhaps representing the upper class, doesn't necessarily seem "honorable." I think yellow/gold might more succinctly be understood as material wealth (thus, perhaps the 'corruption' of 'blue' hope by the need to amass 'yellow' wealth would result in green, the demise of the American Dream as a result of an over emphasis on material (rather than spiritual) wealth?
I look forward to your essay.