the great gatsby essay color symbolism

Color Symbolism

Color Symbolism in The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby , F. Scott Fitzgerald’s famous novel, is one of the greatest pieces of literature out there. But, perhaps, it is best remembered and spoken about for its color symbolism.

For example, at the end of the novel, green color symbolism is used to depict the limitless promises of an unachievable dream that the main character, Gatsby, pursues until the very end.

The main reason why color symbolism in The Great Gatsby is a highly studied topic is due to the fact that the writer also happens to be a painter. Naturally, he has used various colors to make this literary work extremely visual .

Let us study some of the most symbolic representations of different colors in The Great Gatsby.

Almost every chapter of Fitzgerald’s novel uses colors in their purest shades to give readers an insight into the different characters’ lives. Naturally, to fully fathom these colors mentioned, readers must also first understand the situations within which they are used.

Green has been mentioned around 18 times in the novel. Traditionally, green is associated with wealth, growth, and spring. It is also used to convey envy. Thus, Gatsby is shown to be an envious character as he is jealous that Daisy belongs to another man (Tom).

Green is also used to represent the power of money which Gatsby has plenty of. Until the end, Gatsby is hopeful that he can win Daisy with this power of money.

Another area depicting green color symbolism in The Great Gatsby is the  green car  which is called the “death car’. Michaelis describes the car that kills Myrtle as light green, though it’s yellow. The witness of the tragic accident towards the end of the novel is actually not even sure whether the ‘death car is indeed green or yellow in color’ – so experts believe this to be representative of the fact that only  money brings death .

Perhaps the greatest and most important representation of green color in The Great Gatsby is the green light mentioned at the end of the novel, which is used to depict that Gatsby remains a dreamer throughout. This color represents an orgastic future or  romantic reunion  which Gatsby continues to believe in. Sentences such as ‘tomorrow we will run faster and stretch our arms wider’ also reinforce this belief.

Golden, brass, or gold is used nearly 15 times in the novel. Traditionally, these colors symbolize wealth and riches, particularly old wealth. So gold and green used in the book contrastingly symbolize  old wealth and new riches  (gold for Daisy and her husband Tom’s old wealth and green for newly acquired Gatsby’s wealth). Tom himself is also believed to be gold, while Gatsby is green.

Jordan, another character in the story, is also represented with gold (‘I rested my arm on Jordan’s golden shoulder’ or ‘with Jordan’s golden arm’). The color is again used to represent old money.

In chapter 7, golden tea is served at the grey tea hour, which indicates the turning light. Gold turning to yellow is often used through sentences like yellow press or yellow cocktail music to symbolize beauty, old money, and sometimes, negativity .

Daisy is, of course, the golden girl, but the author has also used white (49 times) to show the  fairness and innocence  of her character. In fact, Fitzgerald used white color symbolism very effectively to portray Daisy‘s character.

Experts who have studied the novel in depth use the example of an egg (white on the outside, yellow inside) to explain the Daisy character. She seems pure and innocent on the outside, but inside, she is yellow and corrupt.

White is also vital to the novel as it is used to portray beauty, cleanliness, wealth, laziness, purity, and virginity .

Red color symbolism is also to be found in The Great Gatsby.

Red and gold books, a wine-colored rug, a crimson room, a pink suit, a red circle on water, etc., are used to depict richness, elegance, danger, tastelessness, and death , respectively.

In The Great Gatsby, black wheels represent mourning , black wreaths show nervousness , and black rivulets mean sorrow .

Black is also used to symbolize injury and gloomy settings.  Words like black  morning and black beach show gloominess or impending doom , and Tom’s black eyes are used to represent hostility and anger .

In Conclusion

The Great Gatsby is one of the most visual pieces of literature , and many different colors are used repeatedly for its different characters. For example, white is used for Daisy as Gatsby continues to think of her as his innocent bride, whereas she is actually yellow or corrupted. Gatsby, on the other hand, is mostly linked with green, representing envy and money, but there is also blue, representing Gatsby’s hopes and illusions.

Fitzgerald has used color symbolism in The Great Gatsby to literally paint a vivid canvas that will be discussed, appreciated, and remembered for centuries.

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The Great Gatsby

F. scott fitzgerald, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions, the green light and the color green.

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Gatsby's Mansion

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The Great Gatsby Symbolism

Symbolism means an artistic and poetic expression or style using figurative images and indirect ideas to express mystical concepts, emotions, and states of mind.  It also refers to symbols writers use to convey specific meanings, and they vary depending on the circumstances. Symbolism in The Great Gatsby carries different meanings to different readers based on their perceptions. Some of the significant symbols used in The Great Gatsby are discussed below.

Symbolism in The Great Gatsby

Gatsby’s Mansion

Gatsby’s grand and lavish mansion symbolizes his high lifestyle. It also shows the inner conflict of Gatsby and foreshadows his loneliness hidden behind his lavish estate. It also symbolizes his unbound love for Daisy. Gatsby uses his new money to buy the grand house, thinking it is similar to the house of the old money taken away from him. Though he progresses a lot in life, ironically his luxurious lifestyle does not bring satisfaction to him. It rather seems a falsifying dream. In fact, he struggles to reach at this position to win Daisy back.

The Green Light

The green light pops up many times in the novel and represents Gatsby’s dream and hope. It also represents everything that haunts him and takes him to the past. It also signifies the green stuff (money), his memories with Daisy and the gap between his past and his present. He deliberately chooses the house in a direction from where he can have the enchanting sight of green light. He loves to stand at the dock to stare at that green light which represents his innermost desire to revive his past. He is hopeful that one day he will win the lost moments. The artificial green light also stands for his artificial and unrealistic aims in life.

The Eyes of T. J. Eckleberg

Another symbol we see in the novel is the eyes of T. J Eckleberg. These are faded bespectacled eyes printed on the billboard over the ‘valley of ashes’.  The eyes represent the commercialism which is the backbone of the American dream. It is clear from the fact of how Gatsby earns a lot of wealth to get Daisy back in life. These eyes also represent the hollowness and solidity in Gatsby’s eyes, for despite having all the glitters in life, his eyes reflect emptiness. To George Wilson, they are the eyes of God that watch over every segment of the society. To Nick, they represent the waste of past which sticks around, though, vanished.

The Valley of Ashes

The valley of ashes is a symbolic place in the novel that first appears in chapter two. Nick goes there to search for his mistress. It is a place between East and West Egg created by dumping the industrial waste. It represents how morality and social code of conduct are dropped out of the industrial society. It also depicts the miserable plight of people like George Wilson who live among the ashes without ambition. This is a highly effective symbol that represents the divide between the poor and the rich class in the society of that time and even the present.

East and West Eggs

East and West Eggs are two fictional villages Fitzgerald has created to represent the different ideas of the new rich and the old rich. East Egg represents the old rich. Tom and Daisy belong to East Egg. It represents the people, who are born rich and are considered classy, with an arrogant stance toward West Egg. West Egg stands for newly rich people like Gatsby. It is the world of those who make their own fortune and are not rich by birth. East symbolizes corruption, whereas West symbolizes goodness.

The name Daisy is also symbolic. A daisy is a flower with white petals and a yellow center. Universally of white color represents purity, chastity, and innocence whereas yellow stands for corruption. Similarly, Daisy appears to be innocent and pure, but her heart is filled with lust, carelessness, and corruption. She lets Gatsby believe that she will leave Tom for him, but later it is found that money is the most important thing for her.

Green Color

Just like the Green Light, Green color runs throughout the novel. It universally represents vitality, wealth and growth. In the novel, green stands for Gatsby’s hope and short life. It symbolizes the bulk of wealth which Gatsby earns to win Daisy back in life. It is the symbol of death too, as Michalis describes the car that kills Myrtle as a green light, though, it is a yellow car. The green light thus represents the false status of dream and hope that win nothing for Gatsby.

Other Colors

Colors are widely used in the novel having deeper meanings. For example, Gatsby’s car and T. J. Eckleberg’s glasses are yellow. It represents the corrupt and false standards of Gatsby and the society of that time. Blue color stands for illusions and falsifying dreams ; Gatsby’s garden is blue, Eckleberg’s eyes are blue, and chauffer’s uniform is also blue. While white color is a symbol of purity, in the novel it symbolizes immorality. Gatsby, Daisy, and Jordan wear white, but none of them is a morally ideal character . The valley of ashes is grey symbolizing hopelessness, or filthy side of the society.

Cars in the novel symbolize the display of vanity. The rich and complex description of Gatsby’s car is an epitome of ostentation and excess. It describes the dominance of commercialism how wealth is the center of attraction for the society.  The car of the drunk man is also symbolic, as he runs his car off the road and breaks the wheel. It represents the careless attitude and ignorance of the rich society.

Clock / Time

The clock in the novel symbolizes the passage of time that has passed and the moments Gatsby wants back. He wins the high living standards to rewind the clock to the times, change what happened between him and Daisy. In chapter five “the defunct masterpiece clock” represents that Gatsby is still living in the past with Daisy, while Daisy has moved on. The end of the novel also signifies the value of time and the dilemma faced by humans; the more we try to escape from the past, the more we get close to it.

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Color Symbolism in The Great Gatsby

Introduction, the symbol of green light, works cited.

The novel Great Gatsby depicts the unique vision of the American dream and its impact on life of a person during the 1920s. The mystery of which Fitzgerald wrote the novel was based on mystery of the American ideal and romantic love. In this novel, Fitzgerald uses symbolism and unique images to create a story conflict and unveil reality of life. He alludes to and employs the language of the mystery in elucidating the symbols surrounding Jay Gatsby, the effect ultimately is to call into question the very possibility of any genuine intersection between the ideal and the real, any truly valid incarnation. Green light, as one of the symbols in the novel, means future hopes and ideals of Gatsby which never come true.

Green light is a symbol of philosophy and knowledge. Carraway’s characterization of Gatsby favorably invokes the highest of philosophical and religious conceptions, his comparison of Gatsby to Jesus must seem ironic to anyone familiar with the traditional doctrine of the Incarnation. The merely mortal work is styled a “son of God” not because of any literal fact but because of a poetic act which ignores rather than overcomes the gap between the Ideal and the real. Fitzgerald indicates: “Involuntarily I glanced seaward—and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock. When I looked once more for Gatsby he had vanished, and I was alone again in the unquiet darkness” (Fitzgerald). In the novel Gatsby is faithful to his dream but disdainful of the factual truth which finally crushes him and his dream. As a romantic hero, Gatsby commands Carraway’s admiration not because of the facts of his life, not even because of the fabulous rumors surrounding his life, but because of his. “”If it wasn’t for the mist we could see your home across the bay,” said Gatsby. “You always have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock” (Fitzgerald). Fitzgerald allows his respective heroes to pursue their dreams, but remain themselves sufficiently outside of the dream to remind the reader that those dreams cannot be reconciled with hard fact. Both romantic heroes attempt to bridge the gap between time and eternity, history and myth, but are finally caught in and destroyed by time. Indeed, as typical romantic heroes, Fitzgerald’s Gatsby enjoys ephemeral and illusory success in pursuing their dreams, but both are finally frustrated and destroyed by the intractability of an external world which refuses to conform to ideals (Gross and Gross 44).

Green light symbolizes relations with Daisy and romantic love. Gatsby, however, is so enamored of his transcendental vision that not even the love of a woman can recall him from it. It completes, rather than interrupts, the incarnation of self. Gatsby must transform Daisy into the virginal counterpart of himself, or into the maternal source of his own self-conception. He kisses her in order to suck on the impalpable pap of life, gulping down the milk of wonder that nourishes his vision. Because this vision flowers from within him, he can safely deflower it. He can protect himself from the same contagions of sexuality and biological connectedness from which his initial self-incarnation also attempts to free him. “The flowers were unnecessary, for at two o’clock a greenhouse arrived from Gatsby’s, with innumerable receptacles to contain it. An hour later the front door opened nervously, and Gatsby in a white flannel suit, silver shirt and gold-colored tie hurried in. He was pale and there were dark signs of sleeplessness beneath his eyes” (Fitzgerald). Daisy reveals her essential discomfort with the idea of love. Gatsby would purify history back to the essential paradigm, which, relocated within the world of self, can mean only self-incarnation and self-destruction (Gross and Gross 48).

Gatsby’s sexual repression is as conventional as repressions come. It splits sexuality and love and preserves the wife separate from the whore. But this sexual repression is not peculiar to Gatsby. Specifically, it recapitulates an essential aspect of American experience as Fitzgerald understood it. The American revision of the past was a flight from history, which in Fitzgerald’s view was also a flight from biological time and place. Although Fitzgerald’s novel primarily proves another set of American texts, Gatsby’s strangely imprecise version of dream evokes the same relationship between biblical promise and American misperception that circulates throughout American fiction. Gatsby’s ladder also reaches from the earthly to the spiritual. It also concerns the urgency of the seed and of the future blessing that seed may insure. Compared to the great distance that had separated him from Daisy it had seemed very near to her, almost touching her. It had seemed as close as a star to the moon. Now it was again a green light on a dock. His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one” (Fitzgerald). Gatsby’s ladder secures no place on earth. Gatsby ascends never to return to earth. The biblical Jacob changes his name to Israel to move history forward. James Gatz changed his name to Jay Gatsby and finds himself headed in the wrong direction. Borne back ceaselessly into the past of its own preverbal, preconscious origins, Gatsby discovers that total incarnation, total completeness, is absolute nothingness. “At his lips’ touch she blossomed for him like a flower and the incarnation was complete,” And he concludes: “he must have felt that he had lost the old warm world, paid a high price for living too long with a single dream. Gatsby is a literalist for whom property does not mean quality but ownership. What he sees when he looks at the world is what he might possess” (Gross and Gross 65).

Green light is a symbol of hopes and life chances for Gatsby which never come true. The Great Gatsby is finally concerned with speaking a truth that is neither a replication of a dream vision that exists in an condition of displaced meaning, nor a simple and therefore false statement of substantive fact. Rather, Gatsby is about a truth that recognizes the limitations of human speech and yet still undertakes to speak. Gatsby, however, wants literally to “recover something” in the past, a self- conceived idea of self and not a real or historical self (Fitzgerald). Gatsby’s religious conversion is an immaculate self-conception of self. His American dream is replicating what is repressed, concealing its meanings, and preventing any mechanism for change. “And as I sat there brooding on the old, unknown world, I thought of Gatsby’s wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock” (Fitzgerald). Each incarnation of Gatsby’s vision, from the national self-conception on which it is based, to the personal self-conception, to the love, which further reproduces that self‐ conception, reductively translates or restates nothing more than an ineffable and untranslatable idea, remaining forever beyond the powers of speech or action (Gross and Gross 28).

In The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald focuses on the implicit subject of the romances. Fitzgerald links this relationship to the other major source of American identity. Gatsby is the real hero of Fitzgerald’s text (and of Nick’s) as he is the object of its criticism. “Gatsby… represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn,” Nick confesses. He continues, “Gatsby turned out all right at the end; it is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and short-winded elations of men” (Fitzgerald). What redeems Gatsby as the American hero is the hope that Fitzgerald retrieves from within Gatsby’s dream and self-sacrificial fantasy. Upending the physical world, Gatsby imagines himself ascending to heaven, which is a barely disguised version of the maternal breast. “On the green Sound, stagnant in the heat, one small sail crawled slowly toward the fresher sea. Gatsby’s eyes followed it momentarily; he raised his hand and pointed across the bay” (Fitzgerald). This heaven is also the “secret place” from which all human life emerges. Gatsby’s vision is “unutterable.” It is preverbal and too horrible to be spoken. He must, then, deny it by wedding it to Daisy’s “perishable breath.” Gatsby on some level desires to link himself to sexuality and mortality. His self-conception denies this consciously, but when Daisy later contracts a cold, she becomes even more attractive to him. Yet Gatsby idealizes Daisy, immortalizing her perishable breath. “Gatsby believed in the green light, the future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther…. And one fine morning“ (Fitzgerald). For Gatsby, breath does not evidence mortality. For the man persuaded that the creations of his own imagination, even when mendacious, are more valuable than factual truth, the Christian Incarnation is simply impertinent, and any other incarnation is finally impossible (Gross and Gross 87).

In sum, the green light is a unique symbol which runs through the novel and symbolizes romantic love and relations with Daisy. Thus, this symbol underlines false ideals and unachievable dreams of Gatsby. The Ideal and the real have come together, but rather a human demonstration that only frustration can result from the attempt to incarnate the ideal in the real. No one committed to a self-created imaginative ideal would ever look for salvation in the Truth which revealed Himself—nor could he ever be satisfied with any incarnation whatever.

Gross, D., Gross, M. Understanding the Great Gatsby: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents. Greenwood Press, 1998.

Fitzgerald, S. The Great Gatsby n.d. Web.

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The Use of Color Symbolism in the Great Gatsby

This essay will explore the use of color symbolism in “The Great Gatsby.” It will discuss how Fitzgerald uses colors like green, yellow, and white to represent themes such as wealth, envy, innocence, and moral decay, and how this symbolism contributes to the overall narrative. PapersOwl offers a variety of free essay examples on the topic of Daisy Buchanan.

How it works

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, one of the main characters of the novel, Gatsby, tries to win back the already married Daisy Buchanan’s love. After fighting in World War One, a determined Gatsby earns a fortune through illegal channels and purchases a mansion in West Egg, across from East Egg where Tom and Daisy Buchanan live. The novel takes place through the perspective of Nick Carraway, who recently moved to New York as a stockbroker after World War One.

Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald uses vivid symbolism by associating colors to certain characters. He uses the color white to describe Jordan Baker, Daisy Buchanan, and Jay Gatsby. For the duration of the novel, the color white represents purity, elegance, and innocence; however, as the novel progresses, the meaning of the color white morphs into inequality, unfairness, and disproportionate wealth. In the beginning of the novel, the color white symbolizes both saintliness and purity.

When Nick first arrives in New York, he is invited by the Buchanans to visit their elegant house and eat dinner. Once he sees Daisy and Jordan, he describes them dressed, in white, and their dresses were rippling and fluttering as if they had been blown back in after a short flight around the house, illustrating the pureness of the two women (Fitzgerald 8). Both Daisy and Jordan come from wealth and can afford any lavish clothes. White, a color difficult to keep clean, demonstrates both the elegance and effeminate qualities of the two women, free from any impurities. The purity and royalty of the two women is also shown when Nick is, almost surprised into murmuring an apology by having disturbed her by coming in(Fitzgerald 8). Later on in the novel, Gatsby asks Nick to arrange a meeting between Daisy and him. Gatsby, nervous about the meeting, decides to dress in all white with a gold tie. Nick recounts, the door open[ing] nervously, and Gatsby, in a white flannel suit, silver shirt, and gold-colored tie, hurried in, revealing Gatsby’s innocence as he foolishly attempts to recreate the past. Although Daisy left Gatsby when he went to war, Gatsby tries to recreate old times as he attempts to rekindle their previous relationship. Inside Nick’s home, Gatsby accidentally knocks over a clock while sitting with Daisy and Nick. The clock represents the lost time Gatsby missed with Daisy and how he tries to make it up as he attempts to rewind his past. Gatsby’s childish innocence shown by his belief that he can repeat the past is demonstrated by the symbolism of Gatsby’s white shirt while Jordan and Daisy’s innocence and beauty is shown through their expensive and elegant dresses.

As the novel progresses, the meaning of the color white evolves into unfairness and injustice. In chapter 4 of the novel, Gatsby invites Nick over for a car ride in order to discuss his past and show his war insignias. Along the way to lunch with Meyer Wolfsheim, Gatsby gets pulled over for speeding. When the officer pulls over the car, Gatsby, [took] a white card from his wallet [and] waved it before the man’s eyes, revealing Gatsby’s influence over others due to his wealth and status (Fitzgerald 68). The white card represents corruption as Gatsby can use the card to get away with crimes ordinary people could not have, revealing the criminal side of Gatsby’s life in contrast to his undying love for Daisy. After meeting Meyer Wolfsheim, Nick goes to tea with Jordan. While talking to Nick, Jordan describes Daisy as, dressed in white, and [she] had a little white roadster, and all day long the telephone rang in her house and excited young officers demanded the privilege of monopolizing her that night, illustrating Daisy’s desire for attention as she displays her wealth through her white clothes and car. Daisy dressing up in white represents unfairness as she falls in love with the materialism of money rather than the personality of men. Once Daisy sees all of Gatsby’s expensive clothes, she weeps into them, demonstrating her excitement over money; however, once Daisy realizes the origin of Gatsby’s money, she quickly withdraws with him, leaving Gatsby’s crushed dreams behind. Daisy leaving Gatsby for money represents both unfairness and disproportionate wealth as well as Daisy’s cruel nature through the symbolism of the color white.

To conclude, the color white represented guiltlessness and saintliness; however, these two meanings are shown to be a facade as the true representation of corruption and unfairness is unveiled. Throughout the novel, almost all the characters keep secrets from others to conceal undesirable qualities. Gatsby has his criminality, Tom his infidelity, and Jordan her mendacious personality. The only character who swears to be honest is Nick Carraway. After talking with Jordan, Nick describes himself as, one of the few honest people that [he] has ever known, setting him apart from other characters in the novel. Nick also often wears white, such as when he wore white flannels when he first visited one of Gatsby’s parties. Although the meaning of white changes throughout the novel, white represents Nick’s honesty, which will always remain the same.

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Sat / act prep online guides and tips, best analysis: green light in the great gatsby.

Book Guides

One of the most arresting images in The Great Gatsby is Nick's vision of Gatsby stretching his arms out towards a small green light on the opposite shore of the bay. The mysterious, almost mystical nature of this gesture is a sure-fire sign that this green light is a symbol.

What is a symbol? It's something that is given extra meaning beyond itself. Something that stops being simply an everyday object, and instead represents thoughts and ideas that are bigger than itself.

What are the abstract ideas behind the green light in The Great Gatsby ? Read on to see where this symbol pops up in the novel, what themes it is connected to, which characters are most closely associated with it, and some ideas for essay topics on this symbol.

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What Is the Green Light in The Great Gatsby ?

Before we delve into the symbolic meaning of the green light, let's first establish what this object is in concrete terms.

The green light is a permanently lit electric lamp that marks the end of Daisy and Tom's boat dock. It's a way to warn boats at night or during inclement weather that there is a structure there—this is why it is always on.

Because the Buchanans' mansion is directly across the bay from Gatsby's mansion, Gatsby can always see the green light.

Key Quotes About the Green Light

In order to figure out what the green light means as a symbol, let's do some close reading of the moments where it occurs in The Great Gatsby.

The Green Light in Chapter 1

The image of the green light at the end of Daisy's dock occurs for the first time at the end of the novel's first chapter . Before we have even met Gatsby, we get a description of him stretching out his arms towards something he can't reach —a gesture he will repeat over and over again.

...a figure had emerged from the shadow of my neighbor's mansion and was standing with his hands in his pockets regarding the silver pepper of the stars. Something in his leisurely movements and the secure position of his feet upon the lawn suggested that it was Mr. Gatsby himself, come out to determine what share was his of our local heavens.

...he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and far as I was from him I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward--and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock. When I looked once more for Gatsby he had vanished, and I was alone again in the unquiet darkness. (1.151-152)

One thing in particular is interesting about the introduction of the green light: it's very mysterious . Nick seems not to be quite sure where the light is, or what its function might be:

• Although physically bounded by the width of the bay, the light is described as impossibly small ("minute" means "tiny enough to be almost insignificant") and confusingly distant.
• Even though we find out later that the light never turns off, here Nick only seems to be able to see the light when Gatsby is reaching out towards it. As soon as Gatsby disappears, Nick is in "darkness."
• This vagueness and mystery is a good way for the novel to underscore the fact that this light is a symbol —it stands not just for the physical object that it describes, but for an idea within the book. What's the idea? I'll talk all about it in the next section of this article.

The Green Light in Chapter 5

We return to the image of the light exactly halfway through the novel, in the fifth chapter , when Gatsby is showing Daisy around his mansion after he "accidentally" runs into her at Nick's house.

"If it wasn't for the mist we could see your home across the bay," said Gatsby. "You always have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock."

Daisy put her arm through his abruptly but he seemed absorbed in what he had just said. Possibly it had occurred to him that the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever. Compared to the great distance that had separated him from Daisy it had seemed very near to her, almost touching her. It had seemed as close as a star to the moon. Now it was again a green light on a dock. His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one. (5.117-118)

This appearance of the green light is just as vitally important as the first one, mostly because the way the light is presented now is totally different than when we first saw it. Instead of the "enchanted" magical object we first saw, now the light has had its "colossal significance," or its symbolic meaning, removed from it. This is because Gatsby is now actually standing there and touching Daisy herself, so he no longer needs to stretch his arms out towards the light or worry that it's shrouded in mist.

However, this separation of the green light from its symbolic meaning is somehow sad and troubling . Gatsby seemingly ignores Daisy putting her arm through his because he is "absorbed" in the thought that the green light is now just a regular thing. Nick's observation that Gatsby's "enchanted objects" are down one sounds like a lament—how many enchanted objects are there in anyone's life?

The Green Light in Chapter 9

The last time we encounter the green light is in the final paragraphs of the novel.

And as I sat there brooding on the old, unknown world, I thought of Gatsby's wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy's dock. He had come a long way to this blue lawn and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him, somewhere back in that vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the night.

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--tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . . And one fine morning----

So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past. (9.152-154)

Now the light has totally ceased being an observable object. Nick is not in Long Island any more, Gatsby is dead, Daisy is gone for good, and the only way the green light exists is in Nick's memories and philosophical observations. This means that the light is now just a symbol and nothing else .

But it is not the same deeply personal symbol it was in the first chapter. Check out the way Nick transitions from describing the green light as something "Gatsby believed in" to using it as something that motivates "us." Gatsby is no longer the only one reaching for this symbol—we all, universally, "stretch out our arms" toward it , hoping to reach it tomorrow or the next day.

You can read a more in-depth analysis of the end of the novel in our article on the last paragraphs and last line of the novel .

Finally, as Gatsby's dream is dashed, the green light stops being something that is his alone, and instead takes on a universal quality . Now it stands for the unreachable dream that lives inside all people. For Nick, life is a constant struggle between our past mistakes, experiences, and sense of reality, which pull us back and weigh us down, and the green light of unrealistic hope that drives us to think we will do better and achieve more the next day.

The green light ends up standing for this dream of an "orgastic future" —that's right, that means a future lived at the height of orgasm—which is constantly getting farther and farther away, and that we keep trying to grab for, despite the impossibility of reaching it.

Characters, Themes, Motifs, and Symbols Connected to the Green Light

Jay Gatsby . Gatsby is most closely associated with the green light. He is the one who obsessively stares at this light at the end of Daisy's dock, dreaming of reuniting with her. He is the one who reaches his hands towards it, showing us that it is a symbolic representation of his dreams that are always just out of reach. And he is the one whose belief in the green light and its promise of a future of perfect happiness so profoundly affects Nick that Nick ends up admiring Gatsby.

Daisy Buchanan . The green light is located at the end of Daisy's dock, and is Gatsby's only physical sign of her before he meets her at Nick's house. For a long time, the green light, Gatsby's ambitious hopes, and Daisy are all symbolically one and the same. Only when Daisy has an affair with Gatsby, showing that she is a flesh and blood person with her own desires, fears, and flaws, does she separate from this idealized symbol of hope.

Nick Carraway . Nick is the one who realizes the significance of the green light for Gatsby when he sees Gatsby stretching his arms out towards it. He is also the one who connects the green light with everyone's hopes and dreams at the very end of the book.

Society and Class. For Gatsby, just as Daisy is visible through the green light, but in reality out of reach, so is the old money contingent of wealthy Long Island society. No matter how high Gatsby rises and how rich he gets, he still can't break through that final barrier—and he can never quite grasp the green light.

The American Dream . The green light comes to represent not just Gatsby's dream, but the aspirational American Dream that the novel shows in both its positive and negative aspects. Like this national myth, the green light is forever just out of reach, but also forever motivating feats of improbable achievement.

Symbol : Colors. That the light is green is very significant in a novel that is methodically color-coded. Somewhat in opposition to its culturally positive associations, in The Great Gatsby, green tends to be a sign of either hopeful rebirth, or sickness, greed, and death.

Essay Ideas and Tips for Writing About the Green Light

Now that we've explored the layers of meanings behind the green light at the end of Daisy's dock, you're in a good place to think about how to write about this symbol.

How to Write an Essay About the Green Light

Here are some tips on how to write an essay about the role of a symbol in a novel:

• Build from the text out. In this article, I first looked at the green light in context and discussed its meaning in the exact places where it appears, and only afterward wrote about its general significance in the novel. The same basic rule of thumb is good to keep in mind for your own essay. Work from small ideas to big ones, and your argument will be well supported.
• Make an argument. It's not enough to just describe the symbol and explain its possible meanings. Instead, you have to make sure that you're making some kind of point about why/how the symbol works. How do you know if you're making an argument and not just saying the obvious? If you can imagine someone arguing the opposite of what you're saying, then you've got an argument on your hands.
• Don't overthink it. Sure, the green light can be said to represent lots of things: Gatsby's dreams, Daisy, or the quest to grab the elusive brass ring. But that doesn't mean that it also stands for world peace, environmental degradation, or Nick's pining for his war days. In other words, watch out for stretching your symbol analysis too far from what the text is telling you.

Essay Topic Ideas on the Green Light

Here are some possible essay arguments. You can build from them as-is, argue their opposite, or use them as jumping-off points for your own interpretation.

The green light is a kind of affiliation test for Gatsby. Those who imbue it with meaning like he does (like Nick) end up sympathizing with Gatsby; those who only see it as an object (like Daisy and Tom) are doomed to dismiss Gatsby also.

Gatsby's downfall starts at the moment when he stops seeing the green light as a symbol for his dreams and goals.

Ultimately, the green light means far more to Nick than to Gatsby.

Green Light in The Great Gatsby: The Bottom Line

• The green light is a permanently lit lamp that marks the end of Daisy and Tom's boat dock.
• The image of the green light occurs:
• At the end of Chapter 1, when Gatsby is reaching towards it and it is very mysterious.
• In Chapter 5, when Gatsby and Daisy have reconnected, taking the symbolic meaning away from the green light
• At the end of Chapter 9, when it transitions from being a symbol just for Gatsby and instead becomes a universal symbol of hope for the future.
• The significance and symbolic meaning of the green lights shifts:
• In the beginning of the novel, the light stands for Gatsby's dreams, hopes, and desires to reunite with Daisy.
• During the course of the novel, Gatsby's dream is revealed to be delusional and unrealizable, so the symbolic meaning behind the green light collapses.
• Finally, as Gatsby's dream is dashed, the green light stops being something that is his alone, and instead stands for the unreachable dream of an "orgastic future" that is constantly getting farther and farther away and that we keep trying to grab for.
• The green light is associated with:
• Jay Gatsby, who obsessively stares at this light at the end of Daisy's dock, dreaming of reuniting with her.
• Daisy Buchanan, since the green light, Gatsby's ambitious hopes, and Daisy are all symbolically one and the same.
• Nick Carraway, who is the one who realizes the significance of the green light for Gatsby and who connects the green light with everyone's hopes and dreams.
• Society and class, the upper echelon of which is just as out of reach for Gatsby as the green light.
• The American Dream, which is the aspirational hope that the novel shows in both its positive and negative lights.
• Colors, which are very significant in this methodically color-coded novel.

What's Next?

Review where the green light appears to get a better sense of its context: Chapter 1 , Chapter 5 , Chapter 9 , explore the way the end of The Great Gatsby connects to its beginning through the recurring image of the green light and compare and contrast Nick and Gatsby to see what the different ways they relate to the green light says about them.

Want to get some of that green light into your own life? Get yourself some Gatsby accessories from our list of the 15 must-have items for every fan of The Great Gatsby .

Check out all the other symbols that enrich this novel.

Decide whether Gatsby primarily treats Daisy as an object , or whether he does have a sense of her as a person and loves her for herself .

Read along as we walk through other works of literature with our analyses of " Do not go gently into that good night " (Dylan Thomas), The Cask of Amontillado (Edgar Allan Poe), and The Crucible (Arthur Miller).

Anna scored in the 99th percentile on her SATs in high school, and went on to major in English at Princeton and to get her doctorate in English Literature at Columbia. She is passionate about improving student access to higher education.

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Silver & Gold: Color Symbolism in The Great Gatsby Essay

Introduction.

Color symbolism plays an important role in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby (1925). The author uses various colors to accentuate different aspects of life in the United States in the 1920s. In particular, a great deal of attention is paid to representing differences in social status while emphasizing richness and prosperity with the help of gold and silver. Although the color palette presented in Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is rich, the problem of differing social status is most vividly described in the novel through the use of golden and silver colors that stand for wealth, success, the Golden Age, and the American Dream.

Symbols of Wealth in The Great Gatsby

From his first days in the city, Nick Carraway begins to associate life in New York with gold and money. Carraway plans to spend his time reading on “banking and credit and investment securities,” and these books stand on his shelf “in red and gold like new money from the mint, promising to unfold the shining secrets” (Fitzgerald 4).

When Carraway comes to Tom Buchanan’s house, he also associates the mansion with prosperity and success while noting that its French windows glow with “reflected gold” (Fitzgerald 6). Thus, Fitzgerald represents Carraway as a person of lower social status than Buchanan but also as someone who wants to achieve success in his life and learn the secrets of the bond business.

When Fitzgerald tells the reader about Jay Gatsby, the use of gold and silver adds to Gatsby’s image as a prosperous man and a person who represents the wealthiest class of the Golden Age in the United States. Indeed, when Carraway sees a silhouette of his neighbor for the first time, Gatsby is “standing with his hands in his pockets regarding the silver pepper of the stars” (Fitzgerald 15).

Silver is also used in the novel to accentuate the unique sparkle of the moon in New York: “A silver curve of the moon hovered already in the western sky” (Fitzgerald 120). The silver shining of the moon and stars is also associated with the sparkling jewelry worn by women from upper classes of society and only dreamt of by poorer people.

Gatsby uses silver and gold in order to emphasize his status and add gloss to his image and appearance. When he prepares for his date with Daisy, he chooses “a white flannel suit, silver shirt, and gold-colored tie” (Fitzgerald 54). He wants to draw Daisy’s and the public’s attention to his wealth. This intention can be observed even in Gatsby’s parties, which are so glamorous and showy that turkeys are “bewitched to a dark gold” (Fitzgerald 26).

Moreover, the author describes Gatsby’s house as a luxurious mansion, and the man’s bedroom, though the “simplest” in the house, is also full of gold. From this point, gold and money help Gatsby distinguish himself from the other people around him. His wealth is accentuated so vividly that no one can doubt Gatsby’s success and status in New York.

However, not only Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby are represented as having a high social status; Jordan Baker and Daisy Buchanan are other characters who have wealth and status in line with these two men. Fitzgerald refers to Jordan as having a “slender golden arm” (28) and a “golden shoulder” (51).

The accentuation of this color is important to demonstrate her status as a rich professional golfer and celebrity in New York social circles. It is significant to note that Fitzgerald uses both silver and gold to present his visions of Jordan and Daisy. In this way, both women are associated with “silver idols” (Fitzgerald 79). At the same time, these rich women seem to shine in their high social circles like gold.

From this perspective, much attention is paid to accentuating the difference between other women and Daisy, who is “the golden girl” with a voice “full of money” (Fitzgerald 84). Thus, Daisy’s high status is presented as an inherited feature that is reflected in her appearance and all of her actions, as well as in her voice. These details are important because they highlight a key difference between Daisy and Gatsby: even though Gatsby has a high social status today, he has no such voice, and his silver shirts are only outer covers that are typical of the Golden Age. The conflict between Daisy’s and Gatsby’s statuses is also observed with reference to Fitzgerald’s representation of Daisy’s memories about the sounds of saxophones.

When the characters return from their thoughts to reality, they observe that the house becomes filled with “gray-turning, gold-turning light” (Fitzgerald 96). This combination of gray and gold, as well as dust and shining, demonstrates the contrast between the glamorous cover of Gatsby’s life and reality.

Despite the fact that Fitzgerald uses many colors in his writing, gold and silver seem to play a unique role in the author’s palette. The distance between the rich and the poor in 1920s America is accentuated with the help of some colorful strokes. Indeed, Fitzgerald uses the expressive combination of colors to demonstrate differences in the characters’ statuses, as gold and silver represent both their real wealth and their attempts to give off an impression of success.

Fitzgerald, Francis Scott. The Great Gatsby. Wordsworth Publishing, 2013.

• Short Summary
• Summary (Chapter 1)
• Summary (Chapter 2)
• Summary (Chapter 3)
• Summary (Chapter 4)
• Summary (Chapter 5)
• Summary (Chapter 6)
• Summary (Chapter 7)
• Summary (Chapter 8)
• Summary (Chapter 9)
• Symbolism & Style
• Quotes Explained
• Essay Topics
• Essay Samples
• Questions & Answers
• F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Biography
• Chicago (A-D)
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IvyPanda. (2023, October 29). Silver & Gold: Color Symbolism in The Great Gatsby. https://ivypanda.com/essays/silver-gold-color-symbolism-in-the-great-gatsby/

"Silver & Gold: Color Symbolism in The Great Gatsby." IvyPanda , 29 Oct. 2023, ivypanda.com/essays/silver-gold-color-symbolism-in-the-great-gatsby/.

IvyPanda . (2023) 'Silver & Gold: Color Symbolism in The Great Gatsby'. 29 October.

IvyPanda . 2023. "Silver & Gold: Color Symbolism in The Great Gatsby." October 29, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/silver-gold-color-symbolism-in-the-great-gatsby/.

1. IvyPanda . "Silver & Gold: Color Symbolism in The Great Gatsby." October 29, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/silver-gold-color-symbolism-in-the-great-gatsby/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Silver & Gold: Color Symbolism in The Great Gatsby." October 29, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/silver-gold-color-symbolism-in-the-great-gatsby/.

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Home / Essay Samples / Literature / The Great Gatsby / The Great Gatsby: Decoding Symbolism in Fitzgerald’s Classic

The Great Gatsby: Decoding Symbolism in Fitzgerald's Classic

• Category: Literature
• Topic: Scott Fitzgerald , The Great Gatsby , The Great Gatsby Symbolism

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