Great Gatsby Essay
3. Show how the author’s use of imagery and/or symbolism reveals them OR reinforces aspects of character in a work studied in this course.
The Great Gatsby, written by F.Scott Fitzgerald, is a novel about the love story of the main character Gatsby during the 1920s. In the novel, the author uses colours to reinforce the aspects of characters. Each colour has symbolic meaning from the beginning of the novel, but as the story develops and as the true nature of characters are revealed, the symbol of the colour changes
Thesis: As the story develops and as the true nature of characters are revealed, the symbol of the colour changes. 1. White: Purity, Wealth -> Hollowness * In the beginning of the novel it symbolized the purity and innocent * Daisy and Jordan’s childhood is full with the colour white. * “She dressed in white, and had a little white roadster…” (pg 74) * Describes Daisy and Jordan as pure and innocent women with the colour white. * “They were both in white, and their dresses were…” (pg 8) * Symbolize hollowness * Readers realize the true nature of Daisy and Jordan * Immorality of Jordan. Hollowness of Daisy * Crying over shirts. (Chapter 5) 2. Green: “Go”, Gatsby’s dream -> Jealousy * In the novel, the colour green is used as an encouragement for Gatsby to continue his love towards Daisy * By showing the colour green multiple times, readers