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Danielle Burke

Mrs. Pastore

English 11 Honors

1 February 2016

Connection of Jay Gatsby and Colors

Colors are very significant for people around the world. Colors can help influence

emotion and can help readers gain a deeper understanding of a character or setting in a book. For

example, in the novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald applies different

color imagery to Jay Gatsby to help the readers get a deeper understanding of who he really is

and what his personality is. Gatsbys life is described in an assortment of color, including white,

blue, lavender, rose, etc. These colors each portray different emotions and the cultural

connotation of the color help the readers have a deeper perception of Gatsby. Overall, the author

applies different color imagery to the main character, Jay Gatsby, which helps influence the

emotion of the scene and character and helps the readers have a deeper understanding of

Gatsbys personality.

Throughout the novel, Jay Gatsby was a huge mystery. No one really knew his past, his

family, or where he came from. However, with the color imagery used by Fitzgerald, it was

easier to understand who he was. For example, Gatsbys house was described in detail, We

walked through a hallway into a bright rosy-colored space, fragilely bound into the house by

French windows at either end. The windows were ajar and gleaming white against the fresh grass

outside that seemed to grow a little way into the house (Fitzgerald 8). The colors used to

describe Gatsbys house were, bright rosy-colored, and gleaming white. The rose color
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portrays beauty, love and romance. In the future, readers find out that Gatsby is very loving,

being in love with Daisy, so from the beginning when the readers learn about his rosy-colored

house, it is known that Gatsby might be in love. Also, Gatsbys house also seems to be very

inviting because of the rosy-color, and the readers find the truth in this in the future because

Gatsby has amazing parties all the time. In addition, the color white portrays clean, polished,

well-kept and purity. It is clear that Gatsby must be rich because of the perfect condition his

house is in. With the white color, readers can make a suggestion that Gatsby might have some

kind of maid or butler to help keep the house so clean and polished. Also, because Gatsby is rich,

it would be not far off for someone to assume he has a butler or maid. Overall, Fitzgerald

describes Gatsbys house with the colors: rose and white, and these colors help the readers have

a deeper understanding of his lifestyle.

In addition, the author also uses color imagery to describe Gatsbys past. For example,

when Nick and Gatsby are talking, the readers learn that both of them were in the Third Division

during the war. While the two were talking, the author writes, We talked for a moment about

some wet, grey little villages in France (Fitzgerald 47). The color grey was used to describe

villages in France during the war. Grey is a very dull, depressing, and mute color. No one thinks

about happiness when they think of the color grey. Fitzgerald used the color grey to describe the

villages because the war was not a happy time and it would not be described as bright and

colorful. Therefore, the color grey gives a very depressing emotion. At this time of Gatsbys life,

he mustve not been the extravagant person he is now because he was in the war and his

surroundings were very dull and depressing. Overall, the author uses the color grey to describe
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the setting of the war Gatsby was in, in his past, which helped the readers understand the sadness

of the war.

Lastly, Fitzgerald often uses colors to describe how wealthy Gatsby is. For example,

Gatsby buys one of his guests a new dress, after she tore her other one at his last party. The dress

is described by Fitzgerald when he writes, It was gas blue with lavender beads (Fitzgerald 43).

Throughout the novel, the color blue had been associated with wealth. Blue also symbolizes

sophistication, peace, and trust. It is clear that Gatsby wants no trouble with anyone because he

buys a guest a new dress, and this is also shown because of the blue color symbolizing peace.

Also, the dress was also described to have lavender beads. At this time, purple was seen as a

royal color because of how rare it was in ancient times. Honor, wisdom, and arrogance is also

associated with purple/lavender. This gives the idea that the dress was very high-quality and the

person who owned the dress brought some type of arrogance with them. Overall, the blue and

lavender color of the dress expresses Gatsbys wealth and Fitzgerald uses these colors to help

give a deeper meaning of who Gatsby is.

To conclude, in the novel The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald uses color

imagery to help the reader have a deeper understanding of the characters. In particular, the author

uses many different colors to describe Jay Gatsby, one of the main characters. These colors

include: white, blue, lavender, rose, etc. Each color has a different cultural connotation that helps

the reader have a deeper understanding of Gatsbys life. The colors Fitzgerald uses overall gives

an understanding of Gatsbys life filled with wealth, romance, honor, and even sadness. Without

the use of colors in the novel, the readers could not connect the colors with different emotions

portrayed, and the novel would lack emotions and excitement. Overall, the use of color imagery
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by the author helps the reader gain a deeper understanding of Jay Gatsby, and colors are very

important to use because they give emotion and excitement to any novel.
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Works Cited

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 2004. Print.