Color Symbolism in F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby"

Julia Deitermann

sept 2006 · GRIN Verlag

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Seminar paper from the year 2004 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: A (1), San Diego State University, course: Major American Writers, language: English, abstract: F. Scott Fitzgerald’s masterpiece The Great Gatsby was written in a time of social decadence, in which values no longer played an important role among the warshattered population. The “Roaring Twenties” were shaped by the post-war generation and especially by the newly rich and wannabe famous, whose life circled around parties, money and affairs. On the surface, Fitzgerald’s story seems to be about success, money and love - thus about the mentioned newly rich. Although the superficial life of the rich and powerful is a major theme in The Great Gatsby,it mostly explores underlying complexities and depths and therefore reveals the other side of the American Dream to the reader. Corruption, despair and desperate desire come along with idealism, faith and illusions. The protagonist, Jay Gatsby, personifies the American Dream as he is a man with a dubious background who managed to accomplish a luxurious style of living and to achieve everything he wanted to have by his own efforts - except of his great love, that is Daisy.The Great Gatsbyis built upon the desperate desires of the protagonist and reveals a glance behind the glittering facade. Fitzgerald manages to draw the reader’s attention to significant details and symbols in the text in order to make one think about the so-called ‘truths’ in the story. Therefore, symbolism plays a major role in The Great Gatsby. Symbolism is the most powerful device of allowing the reader to gain insight into a character’s personality and of revealing hidden ideas, values and profundity. The most significant symbolism applied in the text is color symbolism. In this paper, I will concentrate on analyzing Fitzgerald’s use of colors as symbols and thus try to expose the meaning of color symbolism on the basis of the most meaningful examples. The most prominent colors that can be found throughout the novel are green, white, gray, blue and yellow so I will analyze their symbolic meaning in the following.