White Symbolism In The Great Gatsby

Wassily Kandinsky once said “color is a power which directly influences the soul.” The colors used in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book, The Great Gatsby, mean much more than just a physical description. They are symbols and give a deeper meaning to things such as characters, or places, or objects. Colors show more emotion and represent themes throughout the whole novel. White can be tied to carelessness. While green can be connected to Gatsby’s life dream. Gold shows the riches of people and their pretty lives. Gray conveys the misery of hardships in book.
White is very prominent in The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald associates the color with Daisy more than anyone. Normally white would be used to show innocence, but in The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald purposely uses it to show the lack of innocence. Daisy is constantly described wearing white and having her house decorated in all white. Even when talking about a younger Daisy it is said that, “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 night…” (Fitzgerald 75). This is said to
Many people are concerned with money and riches but mainly Gatsby. He has to show that he is as good as anyone else and can provide for Daisy. He buys a big house, a fancy car, and flashy clothes to prove it. At one point Gatsby is described wearing, “… a white flannel suit, silver shirt, and a gold colored tie…” (Fitzgerald 84-85). Using gold and yellow to describe things shows how luxurious they are. It gives a sense of what the characters are really like. How exciting and wonderful their lives are. When telling about Gatsby’s car Nick says, “It was a rich cream color, bright with nickel,…” (Fitzgerald 64). In other words, it was expensive and top-notch. The colors help portray this. They alone tell how fantastic Gatsby and his possessions