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Tara Sullivan

Ms. Michko & Mrs. Ragoza

Junior Lit & Comp

11/21/22

A Deeper Look into Gatsby’s Vibrant Color Usage

In the Novel The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, a lot of symbolism is

Implemented to give the book a deeper meaning. One of the biggest ways Fitzgerald uses

symbolism is through colors and clothing. When the reader looks a little deeper into the text and

utilizes all the information given on the character it gives a broader understanding on what they

may be thinking or feeling and can also give insight on what may happen later in the book.

The first big example of color symbolism in the novel, is the dresses that Myrtle Wilson

wears when meeting with Tom. “Mrs. Wilson had changed her costume some time before, and

was now attired in an elaborate afternoon dress of cream colored chiffon.” (25). Myrtle changed

into a cream colored dress for a fancy cocktail party she is having with Tom and his friends.

Since white largely represents purity or innocence, which are not Myrtle's biggest traits, she is

depicted wearing an off white color because she is arrogantly pretending to be rich and proper.

This means Fitzgerald is depicting her character as impure, dishonest, and fake.

Color symbolism is also used to show how Nick is feeling when talking to Jordan at

his first Gatsby party, “She held my hand impersonally, as a promise that she’d take care of me in

a minute, and gave ear to two girls in twin yellow dresses, who stopped at the foot of the steps.”

(34). While they are talking, two girls in yellow dresses come up to talk to Jordan, it indicates

that he feels happy and excited because Jordan is talking to him and being intimate by grabbing

his hand in a reassuring way, showing she cares about what he is saying. When the reader sees
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the yellow it automatically makes the image in their head a little brighter, further demonstrating

the joyful, optimistic mood Fitzgerald is trying to set on Nick’s relationship with Jordan.

Furthermore, when Gatsby goes to Nick's house for tea his outfit loudly states what he is

feeling about seeing Daisy again; “Gatsby, in a white flannel suit, silver shirt, and gold-colored

tie, hurried in” (65). In this scene white symbolizes innocence and youth, it is his first time

seeing Daisy since he was young, therefore he feels youthful again when he sees her. This may

even suggest that mentally no time has passed at all for him, and since it has been five years and

Daisy now has a husband and child things cannot just continue as they were. While the reader

knows this, Gatsby does not seem to feel that way, giving the reader a sense of foreboding of

what will happen between them later in the book.

In conclusion color symbolism plays a huge role throughout The Great Gatsby,

and paying close attention to what colors certain characters are wearing and relating it back to

the situation can tell the reader a lot about what the character is feeling or trying to say, and can

even give some insight on what will happen later in the book.

Paragraph Scoring Guide

Skill Not Foundational Proficient Advanced

Yet

Identifies the book Identifies a symbol and Identifies the prompt

a theme and makes a specific
claim about the
Topic connection between a
Sentence symbol and a theme

Includes two or fewer Includes 3 pieces of Includes specific and

pieces of evidence evidence from the text meaningful evidence

Evidence
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Summarizes the Explains the figurative Explains the figurative

evidence and mentions significance of the significance of the
an idea in the novel. symbol and a theme in symbol and how that
Analysis the novel. contributes to the
development of a
theme.

Not Includes elements of a Follows paragraph Follows paragraph

Organization Yet paragraph organization, including organization and is
transitions between organized to show how
ideas and a concluding ideas build on one
sentence another

Shows evidence of Most quotes are All quotes are correctly

basic proofreading correctly integrated and integrated
cited
Shows evidence of
Conventions All sentences are careful proofreading
complete

No personal pronouns
used (I, you, us, we)

Shows evidence of
proofreading

You have a couple of good points here about how different colors are associated with

figurative meanings, but there needs to be one guiding theme or idea that they all connect

to—beyond “having meaning.” Try to focus your analysis on how details contribute to the

author's overall purpose/message (what it is). For writing, work on integrating your quotes.

Grade: C+
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