*I didn’t know how to add another tab to put my name too

- For this novel, I chose a literary topic for my essential Question - “How do authors use colors to effectively symbolize themes?”
- I decided upon this topic because while reading The Great Gatsby, I found that the author uses colors in a way no other book that I’ve read does

- The first source I found - “color meanings” by Jacob Olesen - is an entire website dedicated to explaining the significance of colors in the world around us
- In the particular article I chose, he briefly goes over each color’s possible meaning in literature and other forms of art

- The second article - “Uses of symbols and colors in The Great Gatsby” - is a literary analysis that precisely notes every use of a color in the novel and organizes them to prove what theme they may be conveying to the reader
- I’m introducing both sources immediately because I can now easily explain the abstract idea that colors are normally used to illustrate and at the same time connect it to the novel

- To begin, I’ll give you a broad sense of how and why colors are often used as symbols in literature.
- According to Olesen, colors impart a deeper meaning to the art piece or words written
- With the basic understanding of what a color represents, a reader can even create a stronger bond with the characters for a richer reading
experience.

- First, Green is known to represent ambition, greed, or envy and it’s possible that Fitzgerald used it to symbolize money and its power in society. Especially because green was selected for new American dollars in 1862 (remember nouveau riche).
- However, the most reasonable symbol for green in the novel would have to be the one of future hope, especially in Gatsby’s case. The often referred to light at the end of the dock becomes a symbol of reunion with Daisy
- At the end of the book, the narrator states, “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter — to-morrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther..”

- White is the most used color in the novel having been mentioned 49 times
- He does stick to the common use of white as a symbol for purity. Daisy’s character is enhanced by Fitzgerald’s use of white to indicate Daisy’s freshness and innocence (as Gatsby sees her), although many of us know her to be the white flower with the golden center - meaning she cares most about her wealth

- Yellow and other precious metal colors like gold, brass, and silver, are all mainly used to symbolize old money wealth in the novel. Most pieces of literature use shades of yellow to represent happiness and I believe there is a connection between the two. Fitzgerald may have used it to illustrate the theme of people finding happiness through money
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- The last three colors are not used as often and don’t carry as important of themes, but they’re definitely worth mentioning
- red is normally used to signify passion or aggression, and in this case, it also stays close to that then of pending danger or intensity. This color is always mentioned right before an event full of passion such as the confrontation at New York or Daisy and Tom’s house
- Mr. Buchanan is a character who Is strictly described with this color, because for Gatsby, Tom’s presence intensifies the scene

- BLUE
- In the Great Gatsby, we are introduced to Gatsby in the beginning of the book and this is where we see most uses of the color blue because it’s supposed to symbolize a mysterious beauty about the not yet well known character

- Lastly, the color black is the most known color to most people as representing melancholy or death which are both used in the novel quite frequently, but Fitzgerald also uses black as a symbol for the low class contrast against the upper class golden yellow
- An obvious example of this is when the setting of the novel is in the valley of ashes between west egg and New York

- “The Great Gatsby” is one of the most “colorful” and “visual” works in literature; F. Scott Fitzgerald uniquely used the purest form of the color which made this so different
- His use of colors throughout the novel prove to be of importance to the development of the theme and to the development and characteristics of the characters in the Great Gatsby

Works Cited