In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald often uses color symbolism to contribute to the theme of the novel. Fitzgerald chose these colors carefully to specifically draw the reader’s attention to them. Gatsby is characterized by the colors green and gold. Daisy Buchanan is characterized by the color white. Using these colors, Fitzgerald develops a world that is glamorous on the outside but is corrupt below the surface. Fitzgerald uses color symbolism to contribute to the theme that the people living the American Dream are an illusion, and exposes that they are egotistical and selfish and may be hiding something.
The colors green and gold symbolize Gatsby and what lies beneath the surface. While speaking to Daisy, Gatsby points out, “‘You always have that green light that burns all night at the end of your dock’” (Fitzgerald 72). Gatsby starts to speak about his longing and obsessiveness for Daisy that he has hidden under the surface for so long. The green light at the end of Daisy’s dock is a big part of the book. The light is a powerful symbol of Gatsby’s dream to reconnect with Daisy after many years of separation from her. It represents a longing for Daisy that has been going on for a long time. While showing Nick and Daisy around the mansion, Gatsby brings them into his bedroom where Nick describes, “His bedroom was the simplest of all–except where the dresser was garnished with a toilet set of pure dull gold” (Fitzgerald 71). Nick describes Gatsby’s room to be the simplest of all in the mansion, but Gatsby still shows his wealth by having a gold toilet seat in there. It stands out in the room because the rest of the room is simple, and the dull gold toilet seat is just sitting there. The fact that the gold is dull suggests that the gold was once shiny, but now has faded. The dullness represents Gatsby’s dream of Daisy, which has faded over time. Shiny gold may represent wealth and success, but the dull gold reflects a lifeless quality. The dullness shows how Gatsby’s life has been without Daisy in it. He hid his obsession with her under his wealth.
The color white symbolizes Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby describes Daisy as, “ ‘Her voice was full of money,’ he said suddenly.” Then Nick realized, “That was it. I’d 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 king’s daughter, the golden girl…” (Fitzgerald 92). Fitzgerald uses the color white in this quote to symbolize innocence and purity in Daisy. Also, showing her and her husband’s wealth. The white may represent wealth and innocence, but under the surface, Daisy really is immoral and corrupt. Fitzgerald uses white to describe Daisy to show that looks on the outside may be deceiving, but the real person under the skin can be completely different. Daisy is a great example of how the characters in the world that Fitzgerald created in the novel, living the American Dream, are actually an illusion and are hiding under their money.
In conclusion, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s use of color symbolism in The Great Gatsby plays a big role in contributing to the theme of the novel, which is the illusion of the American Dream. By using the colors green and gold to symbolize Gatsby. Also, using red and white to symbolize Tom and Daisy Buchanan. Fitzgerald uses the symbols so the reader will look past their surface meaning. These colors reflect the characters of the novel and how, under the surface, they are corrupt. In this world that Fitzgerald has created, he reveals that characters living the American Dream hide behind their money and are driven by greed and selfishness. Color symbolism was a strong literary device that Fitzgerald used to convey his central message.
