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Nahid Ahmed Ms. Randolf Diverse Perspectives 3 April 2014

The Great Gatsby Essay

In Scott Fitzgeralds, The Great Gatsby, many colors are used to represent various meanings. One color in particular that signifies a deeper meaning in the novel is the color, white. In Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby, the color white is used to symbolize both fake innocence and fake purity as well as to develop the character perception. The two leading female characters in the novel, Daisy Buchanan and Jordan Baker, are frequently seen in white. Daisy's character is developed by Fitzgerald's use of the color white to reveal Daisy's clarity and virtuousness. He states the luminous white house, the vivacious white rooms, and Daisy dressing in a white dress. When Daisy initially appears, she represents both privilege and purity. The use of white aids to portray her as the captivated princess who becomes embodied as Gatsby's dream. Nevertheless, the diverse shades of white specify that Daisy may not be an epithet of innocence. The privilege of being in a high social class may also have a demeaning effect on her. This example correlates exactly to the appearance of Daisy's character through color imagery. White is mainly used to describe the characters simplicity, dishonesty, and exploitation. The color white appeared numerous times throughout the book. It is used in the first chapter by Nick when he meets Daisy and Jordan in East Egg. They were both in white and their dresses

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were rippling and fluttering as if they had just been blown back in after a short flight around the house (Nick, 8). In this passage, the color white is utilized to label Daisys and Jordans purity and innocence. Though, the real characteristics of Daisy are revealed later, Our white girlhood was passed together here (Daisy, 24). This conveys that when Daisy was younger she was naive, but later on in life she changed. Jordans fingers, powdered white over their tan, rested for a moment in mine (Nick, 116). This quote implies deceit and it states that Jordan is a shallow woman just like Daisy. They pretend to be something that they are not, merely because they feel the need to fit into the high society. Fitzgerald also mentions the footsteps to Gatsbys house as being white. Not only that, but even the windows at Daisys house are white. The windows were ajar and gleaming white against the fresh grass outside that seemed to grow a little way into the house (Nick, 8). This demonstrates that Daisy and Gatsby appear innocent from the outside, however not from the inside. In reality, they both are corrupted people. This idea is additionally articulated when Gatsby takes Nick for a car ride. When he is stopped by a police officer, Gatsby shows the officer a white card, which represents dishonesty. When the commissioner sees the white card, he lets Gatsby leave. Nick at first assumed it was a Christmas card sent to him by the officer, but later on found out that Gatsby bribed the police officer. The color white can also be linked to Tom, who is a racist man. He is really concerned about a book he read called, The Rise of the Colored Empire. Both colors, white and black are used to display how discrimination affected people from the upper classes at that time. In a passage of the novel, Nick sees a limousine driven by a white chauffeur and ridden by black supporters of the high social class. This reveals how intensely African Americans battled to fulfill the American Dream, which was more difficult for them than it was for white people.

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The color white was critical in order to have a deep interpretation of all that happened throughout the novel. The color white is repeatedly connected with purity, hope, and innocence. Yet, in The Great Gatsby the color has a profound meaning of false innocence over goodness. With the taboo personalities that Fitzgerald's white bears, the reader is directed to a wrong sense of security in the course of the book. It is later exposed that the representation of white plays into the weird theme of misconception versus reality. The characters in the book are not the only ones flabbergasted at the misperception of life; Fitzgerald's new use of the color white further epitomizes the misunderstanding of illusion versus realism amongst people during the American modernistic era.

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Works Cited Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2004. Print.