Color Journals

Chapters 1&2:

The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, takes a series of turns

while analyzing the outlook of the 1920s lifestyle. Throughout the
book, readers can see the bold sense of color imagery to connect
them into the true feelings of every scene in the book. In chapter
one, for example, the use of the color red is extremely prevalent.
The narrator, Nick, describes his cousins house as a cheerful
red-and-white Georgian Colonial Mansion, overlooking the bay
(Fitzgerald 6). This color is used to show the elegance and
liveliness that went on in their household, where inside, the
crimson room bloomed with light (Fitzgerald 17). Not only does
this color represent the elegance and classiness of their lives, it
also represents the dangers and shames. Tom, Daisys husband,
openly is having an affair with another woman, which is
something to be shamed for, fencing the bold illusions to the red
shades of his house. The defiance that goes with the red color
makes me feel threatened and weak, as the characters are
continuously making bad choices. It is very clever for Fitzgerald to
use color red this way and it works extremely well for the
defiantly shameful tone that roams throughout the chapter.
In chapter two, Fitzgerald turns his use of imagery on a duller
color: gray. The color gray is carried out tremendously throughout
the chapter. Not only does it symbolize ideas like lifelessness,
non-importance, and bleakness, it also represents important ideas
like moral decay and emptiness. From the gray cars and ashgray men to the gray land and spasm of bleak dust which drift
endlessly over it (Fitzgerald 23), the use of the color is
widespread yet extremely prevalent. Not only is the color gray
overly seen in their rides through the valley of ashes, but also in
the characters themselves. Myrtle, Toms mistress, lives a fairly
bleak and boring life, yet the only way to get out of the gray is
through Tom. For Myrtle, though, grayness also becomes of her
prohibited relationship with Tom, destroying any part of her
morals that she had left. Straying away from these morals creates
a life that can be seen as one that has a hazy cast over it
(Fitzgerald 29), as Nick said when referring to his drunken tales.
Other characters that we meet in chapter two are considered
gray, like Mr. Wilson and the McKees. Each characters desolate
personalities brings up dark and gloomy thoughts when reading

Color Journals

the novel. I feel that the color gray plays an extremely important
role in shaping these characters and developing the rest of the
plot for the story to ride on.
Chapter 3:

Fitzgeralds use of color in his novel, The Great Gatsby, paints

a canvas for a truly inspiring and motivating story. In chapter
three, his paintbrush carries an obscene amount of gold and
yellow. The beginning of the chapter sets the scene when the
orchestra [played] yellow cocktail music (Fitzgerald 40).
Fitzgerald moves on to write about two girls in twin yellow
dresses (42). These distinct uses of the color yellow jump out to
any reader and can definitely be seen to have other connotations.
Since he describes Jordans arm as golden, one could assume a
direct correlation between the two colors. Here, gold is seen as
real money, as apposed to yellow, which is seen as fake money. To
come from real money is to be a truly successful and happy
person. The girls in yellow lack the sparkle and true beauty that
exists in Jordan Baker. This contrast of yellow and gold shows the
conflict of sources of wealth that continues to persist throughout
the story.
Yellow is generally associated as a happy color that brings
smiles to the faces of many. Wealth has a direct correlation to the
happiness that it can buy. Rich characters of the story drink
champagne [that] was served in glasses bigger than fingerbowls (Fitzgerald 46). The elegance and golden lives of the
wealthy are thoroughly described throughout this chapter. For
Nick, this wealth comes from hard work, where he has to wake
with the early morning sun (Fitzgerald 56). The sun, being a
bright yellow mass, shows that hard work and successfulness is
dependent on the dedication of the character. To wake early with
the sun and make money attaches these two topics. As this
chapter filled me with happiness from the lingering color yellow, I
felt up-lifted and in the party spirit. To have a direct glimpse in the
lives of the 1920s wealth, like Gatsby, is very special and
something to never forget. In the scenes where the color yellow
works symbolically, I feel that I have unlocked a direct undertone
that Fitzgerald was trying to portray and am glad, hence the color
yellow, that I am able to find these connotations.

Color Journals

Journal 4:
In the fourth chapter of The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott
Fitzgerald, the repetition of the color white is used to create a
simple and pure tone for the chapter. This chapter holds the
information we have been waiting awhile for: What is it that
Gatsby told Jordan Baker? It is revealed that Gatsby and Daisy
had a fling about five years prior to the setting of the story
Fitzgerald is telling. Continuously throughout the chapter, readers
see the correlation between the color white and the honorable
and morally intact characteristics of Daisy. Although Daisys
husband, Tom, is unfaithful, she continues to stay committed and
happy. This is extremely hard for someone in Daisys situation to
do, leading readers to see her as white and pure. When
recollecting the past, Jordan describes Daisy as dressed in white
(Fitzgerald 74). Jordan also tells of the time Daisy was so
consumed in the rumors circulating about her, that she packed
her bag one winter night to go to New York and say good-by to a
soldier who was going overseas (75). She ended up not going,
showing her pure and morally-unblemished personality, seen in
the white winter, for being honorable enough to obey her parents
commands.
The color white is also tweaked as Fitzgerald describes
Gatsbys car as a rich cream color (64). One could assume
that the cream color of Gatsbys car shows the mix between the
yellow/gold of Gatsbys world and the white of Daisys world. The
car is a method of transportation where they can come together
and blend each others worlds, just as the color of the car implies.
The blending of Daisy and Gatsbys lifestyle is important because
of the past that it is revealed that they have together. The love
that they have for one another is being blended in the color
cream that is described in this chapter. This whiteness of the

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chapter creates somewhat of a hostile and sterile environment for

this part of the story. Gatsbys past with Daisy is extremely
important to him because he believes that it was a simpler,
whiter, time with her. As a reader, the color white makes me feel
basic and simple. Chapter four contains an essential part of the
past of Gatsby and Daisy in understanding their dumbfounded
love towards each other. The color white makes me feel
connected to the truly pure love that once reigned their
hearts. This automatic relationship between the color white and
Daisy is extremely important in understanding her character and
understanding of the book as a whole.
Journal 5:

As readers enter into chapter five, they can find a noticeable

decline in Fitzgeralds use of color imagery. Although other colors
are faint, green is still extremely prevalent throughout the
chapter. The green light, which is directly associated with Gatsby
and Daisys relationship, shows the hope of their romance and
their much-waited reunion. As Gatsby was consumed with
wonder at her presence, he goes to tell Daisy that she always
[has] a green light that burns all night at the end of [her] dock
(Fitzgerald 92). This distinct connection to the borderline creepy,
stalker-like qualities that Gatsby possesses shows how much hope
he has for their relationship to work. This being said, green can
also symbolize hope and money. The use of the color green
foreshadows the fact that Daisy and Gatsbys relationship, like
money, probably will end up in a bad situation. Daisy also sees
the connection of the color to her relationship with Gatsby, as it
had seemed very near to her, almost touching her (Fitzgerald
93). Although the noticeable decline in colors occurs during
chapter five, a key color is released into the minds of readers,
creating a major turning point in the novels story.
The color blue that is represented by the constant rain
throughout the chapter compliments the color green of chapter
five. The downpour of rain that constantly persists throughout the
chapter can represent the downpour of feelings and emotion the
Gatsby believes will happen upon his reunion. As Nick describes:
Gatsby, pale as death, with his hands plunged like weights in his
coat pockets, was standing in a puddle of water glaring tragically

Color Journals

into my eyes (Fitzgerald 86). The meeting runs a bit awkward

and the downpour of emotion doesnt happen as Gatsby had
wished. Although this, the rain can also represent an obstacle that
Gatsby and Daisy must face in their reunited relationship.
Whether this be of Tom or other character is yet to come, but the
rain definitely does sets a mysterious tone leading up to the
much-waited climax. The connection of the climatic scene of
Gatsby and Daisy reuniting to the newly mysterious obstacle
brought on by, what seems to be, everlasting rain, sets the mood
for the rest of book, letting these colors truly shine.

Chapter 6:
The decline in color is continued from chapter six from chapter
five. Gatsbys low usage of color imagery shows that the story
must be leading up to a large climax, where colors will soon begin
to burst again. Although the purposeful decline in colors, the color
white is still used many times in chapter six. It is especially used
in describing the women in the Great Gatsby. During the time of
the story, women were still gaining rights and seen as the inferior
gender. This leads to them seeming white in color, because of
the fragile and innocence that man that they once possessed.
Gatsby describes a woman who sat in state under a white-plum
tree (Fitzgerald 104). This white color used to described women
shows how they were often treated as objects of beauty and
cleanliness. This sets a tone of innocence found in women, yet a
mystery to see how this innocence actually plays out.
The color white comes up more at the end of the chapter when
Fitzgerald begins to describe the night that Gatsby and Daisy met.
He says, they came to place where there were no trees and the
sidewalk was white with moonlight (110). Gatsby believes that
his relationship with Daisy makes his life make more sense. He
wants to return to where he was five years prior and start fresh on
a clean white slate. His and Daisy's relationship in the past was
white and simple and Fitzgeralds characterization of this shows it

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to us clearly. As the innocence of women come up when Fitzgerald

writes, his heart beat faster and faster as Daisys white face
came up to his own (110), he connects women to the same
innocence found in young relationships, liker their own. Gatsby is
lost in his thoughts about love, leaving him pale and white. The
use of the color white makes me feel intrigued to why there is
such innocence found in young love and women. This decline of
colors, though, does set up the story for a ginormous climax to
take place in the next chapter.

Chapter 7:
Chapter seven contains the climax of the book, where we see
the death of Myrtle leading to the mystery of whether Daisy or
Gatsby was the killer. Leading up to when this climax occurs,
Fitzgeralds use of color imagery is shot straight back into life. For
example, he continuously describes Daisy and Jordan with their
own white dresses (Fitzgerald 115). They sit there in their own
innocence awaiting the huge conflict that is soon to come. Nick
continues to describe the only moment when we meet Tom and
Daisys daughter, as white to represent the same innocence that
is in the child as is in the women. The child points out the fact
that Aunt Jordans got on a white dress too (117). This whiteness
being described shows the harmlessness of women, especially
when it comes to the climatic conflict that is about to occur.
The whiteness of the chapter instantly stalls at the point of
the climatic death of Myrtle Wilson. Fitzgerald begins to use more
bold and bright colors like green and yellow. The death car is
first described as being a light green until Wilson is able to
come to his senses and describe it as yellow. Being foreshadowed
when Fitzgerald writes that it was lit only by a yellow light in the
swimming wire basket overhead (138), shows for the inevitable

Color Journals

truth the car was yellow. A man steps forward and says it was a
yellow car, a big yellow car, new (139). This takes the dramatic
chapter in a completely new, colorful direction. Fitzgeralds use of
color brings these events to life and helps readers have a clear
understanding to what they mean. As the whiteness of the
chapter turns yellow with conflict, it shows how when Gatsby
comes in to play, it disrupts the innocence. The contrast of yellow
and white is again shown in this chapter, just as it is in chapter
three. The combination of Gatsby and Daisy was foreshadowed as
ending in a huge conflict, and it does in this chapter. Colors in
these scenes are an interesting way to describe the events, but
definitely play a huge role in the success of Fitzgerald when
writing this book.

Chapter 8:
The yellow in chapter seven is continued into chapter eight as
the mystery of Myrtles death begins to play out. Wilsons
manhunt for the killer of his wife is directly linked to the color
yellow, because of the car, being the main color that stands out in
the chapter. The murder of Myrtle Wilson is caused by a yellow
car and Wilson finds this out by what Michaelis thinks is going
from garage to garage thereabout, inquiring for a yellow car
(Fitzgerald 160). On the moments leading up to Wilsons
mysterious absence and his eventual murder of Gatsby, Gatsby
decides to go for a swim. Fitzgerald writes that he disappeared
among the yellowing trees (161) as he was going for his
unintentionally fatal swim. The use of this yellow color creates a
lingering feeling of death throughout the chapter, also
foreshadowing and creating the mood for more death. Yellow is
often referred to as being an energetic color, bringing life to
certain scenes and this is definitely represented throughout this
novel.
With the excitement and energy radiating from the color

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yellow, it also brings into play a certain instability and cowardice.

As the color is used several times leading up to the scene of
Gatsby and Wilsons death, it shows how the color is creating an
unsure climatic moment in the story. The yellow color represents
energy and cowardice, making it certain that an important scene
is about to occur. Fitzgerald uses this color extremely wisely in his
multiple uses of yellow. The constant talk about the yellow car
(156) brings this color into even more life. The climax of this story
hits and the representation of the color yellow is revealed bringing
much light to the story. Fitzgeralds use of this color imagery is
very important in the success of these chapters and the story of a
whole. As the chapter seven completes, darker feelings of death
occur as the color black comes into play entering the next
chapter.

Chapter 9:

The darker tone continued from chapter eight and the deaths of
Wilson, Myrtle, and Gatsby, shapes chapter nine and the ending
of the book. The investigation of Gatsby and Wilsons death brings
a lingering feeling of death to this chapter. The color black is
easily associated with this chapter because of these deaths. Nick
couldnt have said it more bluntly: 'Look herethis isnt Mr.
Gatsby. Mr. Gatsbys dead' (Fitzgerald 166). Dialogue like this
creates the gloomy, blackened feeling that the chapter contains.
This deep blackness is also seen when Jordan asks the question:
You said a bad driver was only safe until she met another bad
driver? (Fitzgerald 177). Deep questions that are asked, shaping
the book, contribute to the deep blackness that the chapter
entails. This lurking deep creepiness feeling closes the book with
a sad ending, leaving even more questions for readers to ponder.

Color Journals

The color black found in the last chapter of The Great Gatsby,
also is caused by the fact that no one shows up to the funeral,
leading to a solemn and lonely ending to Gatsbys life. Nick
explains that Gatsby haunted the East and distorted the way Nick
viewed life from then on. Nicks straight forward tone also shapes
the blackness of the chapter when he says, The minister glanced
several times at his watch, so I took him aside ad ask him to wait
for half an hour. But it wasnt any use. Nobody came (Fitzgerald
174). This is such sad way for the story and Gatsbys life to end,
automatically associating the feelings of sadness and bleakness
to the color black. While black is the main color that symbolizes
death, is also symbolizes the mystery that is still there from the
confusing information associated with Gatsbys life. This negative,
solemn, and mysterious ending to Gatsbys life carries the
blackness to and beyond the ending of the book.