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Great Gatsby Color Analysis

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Great Gatsby Color Analysis
The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a renowned classic in American literature. The novel follows Nick Carraway in his new life in Long Island, during the roaring 1920’s. Nick lives in West Egg, while his cousin, Daisy, lives with her husband, Tom, in East Egg, across the Long Island Sound. Daisy and Nick’s neighbor, Gatsby, rekindle their old love, and are the main conflict of the story. Along with several other motifs and symbols, Fitzgerald uses color to connect themes and characters in numerous ways. The two most frequently appearing colors in The Great Gatsby are white and yellow. White represents purity, wealth, and simplicity while yellow represents corruption, attention, and guilt. White and …show more content…

As the story progresses, the use of white is used to describe Daisy, while hinting at her corruption. Later in the novel, Nick and Gatsby converse about Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship. Gatsby recalls an “autumn night, five years before… the sidewalk was white with moonlight… [Gatsby’s] heart beat faster and faster as Daisy’s white face came up to his… [Gatsby] knew that when he kissed this girl… his mind would never romp again like the mind of God” (110). Gatsby knew, even five years before, that behind Daisy’s pure white facade, is a yellow harshness. Days later, Nick and Gatsby are invited have lunch with the Buchanans and Jordan Baker. Walking into the living room, Nick is once again greeted by, “Daisy and Jordan [lying]... like silver idols weighing down their own white dresses” (115). Being described as silver idols wearing white dresses gives a very definite sense of innocence and purity. However, Nick notices the changes in Daisy as he talks with Tom before leaving for the city. Tom describes Daisy’s voice as “full of money,” and Nick agrees, saying, “the inexhaustible charm that rose and fell in [her voice], the jingle of it, the cymbals’ song of it. . . . high in a white palace the king’s daughter, the golden girl” (120). The “white palace” ties to Daisy’s previous purity, as she has now become a more harsh “golden girl.” Gatsby’s new influence causes Daisy to be blinded and become a new

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