The Significance of Color in The Great Gatsby

In his novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald used the colors green, white, and yellow for symbolism-representing money, innocence, and corruption respectively. The use of symbolic color occurs throughout the novel, helping give a better understanding and description of characterization and setting. In literature, green is often used to symbolize money, envy, and in Gatsby, Jay Gatsby's love for Daisy Buchanan. Fitzgerald most often used green to represent old money. This is a factor …

…Gatsby's blind love for Daisy and Daisy's corruption and deception of Gatsby. The use of colors in literature to symbolize characters, moods, and settings is seen often in Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. Green, the most dominant color, representing money, love, and envy, white, a symbol of innocence and a veil over corruption, and yellow, symbolizing new money, corruption, and deceit, play a large role in setting the mood and aiding understanding of the novel.