In the handout I gave you in May, I suggested you keep an eye out for Fitzgerald's use of colors as symbols. Have you found any that seem intentional? Yes, yes, I'm be the first to admit that sometimes a brown hat is just a brown hat, but have you come across any descriptions of color that Fitzgerald seemed to use as a way to create meaning?
By the way, if you're wondering whether English teachers are looking for symbols that aren't there (i.e. colors) consider the poem by Thomas Parke D'Invilliers on the book's title page. (Oh, and D'Invilliers wasn't real - it's a pen name for Fitzgerald.) The poem centers around the color gold, and reads:
Then wear the gold hat, if that will move her;
If you can counce high, bounce for her too,
Till she cry "Lover, gold-hatted, high-bouncing lover,
I must have you!"
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In chapter 3 i found two instances where fitzgerald used color to possibly create meaning. Fitzgerald used the color blue to describe Gatsby's gardens during one of his grand parties. To me blue means quiet and calming, and even tranquil. On the next page he used the color yellow to describe cocktail music. When i hear "yellow cocktail music" i think loud and bright cheery sound.
ReplyDeleteThe poem in the beginning of the novel uses the color gold to create a rich meaning. It is referring to Daisy and how she is now attracted to Gatsby and his success as a wealthy man.
Jenny Maneatis
Honors English 11
I believe in some cases Fitzgerald used color to represent the value or worth of people perceived by society. In chapter 2 first paragraph " A line of gray cars crawls along an invisible track, gives ghastly creak, and comes to rest, and immediately the ash-gray men swarm up with leaden spades..." " the eyes of T.J. Eckleburg are blue and gigantic= their retains are a yard high" In this scene he uses color to create an inferior setting (gray cars and men) so it can make T.J. Eckleburg stand out. It describes his eyes with a non existent nose and no face only large spectacles. first it they make him stand out now they say, his face is non existent maybe meaning that he isn't an important person but only his judgment upon other is. I believe T.J. Eckleburg represents the judgment of society.
ReplyDeleteand toward the end of chapter 3 when Nick was with Jordan baker it says "Her gray, sun- strained eyes stared straight ahead, but she had deliberately shifter our relation, and for a moment I thought i loved her. But i am slow thinking and full of interior rules that act as a brake on my desires...." Fitzgerald used the color of Jordan bakers eyes to represent what Nick had felt/desired (not her)
I felt that Fitzgerald especially used his symbolism through colors during the beginning of the novel. In the first paragraph of chapter 2 while driving to New York, Nick describes "a line of gray cars crawls along an invisible track, gives out a ghastly creak, and comes to a rest..." For me, the line allows me to imagine the distance (both figuratively and literally) of the "line of gray cars." Not only that they are far away, but that they are translucent to this world, and slaves to the normality of everyday life. Almost as if our schedules and appointments are an "invisible track."
ReplyDeleteA second use of color, is when Nick first meets Myrtle. He first describes her in a "dress of dark blue" and her later in "a brown figured muslin." This could be referring to nothing other then the colors of her dress, but I believe there could be more. The original dress is a dark blue - that is a color I tend to associate with sadness or withdrawal, so this could be referring to the unhappy state of Myrtle and her husband. Then she changes into a brown muslin; brown is a warmer color, and it could be referring to the warmth and closeness Myrtle feels to Tom.
Or I could be going of the deep end and the dresses are just different colors.
Fitzgerald used color in a unique and descriptive way. In one of Gatsby's parties the ambience was described as "yellow cocktail music." This suggests that the music was bright and full of energy.
ReplyDeleteOn a tour of his home with Daisy and Nick, Gatsby showed them through his gardens. Flowers were described as having a "pale gold odor." I took this as meaning both delicate and beautiful. Fitzgerald was able to use color not only to portray sights, but sound and smell as well.
As said already, Fitzgerald uses colors to describe images more descriptively. Although many examples stood out, on pg. 43. he states “Jordan’s slender golden arm resting in mine...” To me, gold signifies the color of riches and shows wisdom. I believe this could possibly mean two things. It could mean Jordan has beautiful tan skin that as the sun hits it, shimmers like gold. Or since Nick starts to fall for Jordan, it could demonstrate how she is valuable toward him, like gold would be toward Gatsby. Another use of color is on pg. 162, Fitzgerald says “ ... a thin red circle in the water.” This symbolizes Gatsby’s blood when Tom shoots him. I liked how Fitzgerald doesn’t just state “ Gatsby’s blood filled up the water”, but instead uses the color red, which too many signifies blood and death.
ReplyDelete~Renae Leveille
Honors English 2010
Fitzgerald definitely uses colors to better describe the mood and scene of the novel. Often he uses color when trying to convey a feeling or tone of the moment. On page 79, Fitzgerald says "...I put my arm around Jordan's golden shoulder and drew her toward me..." which signifies he cares for her, because gold is something very valuable and he compares her to something that is golden.
ReplyDeleteAnother time he uses color is again about Jordan, when he says, "Jordan's fingers, powdered white over their tan, rested for a moment in mine." (Page 116) This tells me that Fitzgerald is trying to create a personality of Nick that is one that notices details, especially when they pertain to Jordan.
Annie Mishler
Honors English 11
White is used a lot in The Great Gatsby. It signifies purity and honesty, which is ironic because almost all of the characters that wear white or are connected to something that is white (i.e. a white dress, car, window, suit) are actually very corrupted individuals.
ReplyDeleteYellow also comes up quite a few times. I think it represents wealth and corruption. Some examples of this are Gatsby's car, the frames of T.J. Eckleberg's glasses (seeing everything that is happening through corrupted eyes?), and the twin's dresses at Gatsby's party. I have noticed a few ties between yellow and white in the novel, too. For instance, Daisy's name. A daisy is white on the outside (looks pure and innocent) but has a yellow center (actually corrupted and deceptive). Also, the West and East Eggs are symbols. On the outside they are white but the insides are very yellow.
Another color that comes up a few times is green. The light on the end of Daisy's dock is green and to Gatsby is symbolizes hope and success. When he looks out at the green light, he sees his future with Daisy and the wealth and happiness they would share
One color that had particularly stood out to me throughout reading the novel was green. There were many instances in which "the garden" and even “the grass” was brought up, which also gives the implication of the lush, cool color as well. Generally a refreshing color, I think this was intentionally meant to suggest the theme of Gastby re-inventing, and renewing himself in a way.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, another concept that was mentioned several times in the story was the “green light” always at the end of Daisy’s dock. Clearly, we can tell that this was symbolizing his longing for Daisy and his dreams of them being together one day. However, it had a deeper meaning as well; his hopes and promises for the future—“Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us.” (Page 180.)
Amanda Burri
English 11 Honors
In The Great Gatsby, colors are used to set the tone of the scene. One color stood out to me because it was used a lot: the color white. When I read through I saw white being used to imply prestige, respect, and the unobtainable. "They were both in white, and their dresses were rippling and fluttering as if they had just been blown back in after a short flight around the house (page 8)." This gave a feeling that they two women were graceful and more importantly untouchable.
ReplyDeleteOne use of the color white really stood out to me in the book, "A white ashen dust veiled his dark suit and his pale hair as it veiled everything in the vicinity… (page 26)." This gave me the impression that the dusting of white on Tom represented a veneer of gentleness, whilst his dark coat resembled his true, coarse personality which wasn’t the most kind or caring.
I have come across two instances where Fitzgerald uses colors as symbols. The first instance is in the beginning of chapter 3 when Nick Carroway attends one of Gatsby's parties, and as he stared at Gatsby's garden he described it with the color "blue." To me, the color blue dictates importance, extravagance, beauty, and invitation. Secondly, the color white is used to describe Daisy near the end of chapter 4. "She dressed in white, and had a little white roadster, and all day long the telephone rang in her house and excited young officers from Camp Taylor demanded the privilege of monopolizing her that evening," (Fitzgerald 74), the passage reads. In this passage the color white seems to give Daisy a royal attribute, and she is always getting calls from men because of this somewhat royal aspect about her.
ReplyDeleteFitzgerald used colors to help the reader connect with the mood. This helped keep readers drawn in and feel realatable. When he described her arm to be like gold h was emplying it was something that he felt had a strong value to him. The most obvious example was the green light at the end of Daisy's dock. The green symbolized safe to Gatsby, he felt the closer he got, the safer he was. For example, when you wait at an intersection, the green light signifies you are safe to proceed. The green also symbolizes wealth in the American Dream to strive towards success, which, materialistically, is green money. Green is also the color of a healthy relationship, ironic isn't it?
ReplyDeleteJai Ghotra
Yes, i do think that some of the uses of color were intentional, and symbolic. I have noticed more than once ( mainly when nick was with tom and myrtle in the city ) that he uses the color gray, along with other dull colors such as browns, blacks, etc. to give the impression of a lack of prosperity, of hoplessness and of sadness. On the other hand, he used more vibrant colors ( deep greens, yellow, wine, ) in a way to imply happiness and wealth.
ReplyDelete- Bryce Collins
Fitzgerald uses a very unique symbolization through colors. First, in the color green. Normally, green represents envy, greed, money, and is generally used in a negative connotation. However, green is used to describe Daisy's house, an ultimately Daisy. For Gatsby green signifies hope, and his American Dream. Gatsby's green is what keeps him going, in his re-invention of himself.
ReplyDeleteYellow is also used in a peculiar way. Generally yellow has a positive feel, one of brightness and happiness. Quite the contrary, Fitzgerald uses yellow to represent wealth, greed, and corruption. Case in point, Gatsby's car. His yellow car that killed Myrtle. Yellow cocktail music showing his wealth. But his car is the greatest showing of the symbolism. The car represents his and Daisy's corruption in having their affair, their greed, and evil in killing Wilson's wife. The car brought about Gatsby's ugly end. Fitzgerald certainly put his own twist on using colors to symbolize.
Taylor Cummings
2nd Block Mrs. Somers
Fitzgerald uses many colors to sybolize and give a better understanding of what he's trying to say. For example, in the begining of the novel, Fitzgerald uses the line, "a line of gray cars crawls along an invisible track, gives out a ghastly creak, and comes to a rest...," and i feel like by using these colors he gives a more accurate description into what he wants you to see and feel. Consequently when i read this line i felt like this line of cars was just a mundane sight that wasn't out of the ordinary or important, but Fitzgerald wanted to set the scene well for the reader.
ReplyDeleteI have come across a couple instances. Yellow (ex. Two girls in yellow at the party and Gatsby's yellow car)to me symbolizes extravagance along with carelessness. Green (ex. the green light on the dock on the other side of the bay) symbolizes dreams. Pink (Gatsby's pink suit) was kind of hard to figure out. In other parts of the book it sounded like hope but when Gatsby's pink suit was introduced it made me think or arrogance.
ReplyDelete- Anna Paraskevopoulos
I found a couple of places where Fitzgerald used colors to create meaning.One instance was in Ch. 2 when he says "Occasionally a line of gray cars crawls along an invisible track." When I hear gray I think boring and dull. In this paragraph I believe that Fitzgerald is trying to depict how slowly this line of cars are moving. Other instances I found were in chapter 2 when Fitzgerald describes the sound at Gatsby's party as "yellow cocktail music". Yellow to me means jumpy, excited, and bright. I believe he used this color to describe how happy the music was at Gatsby's party.
ReplyDeleteMatt McCormac Blk 1