F. Scott Fitzgerald

F. Scott Fitzgerald’ usage of color symbolism creates the different feelings and attitudes that are prevalent throughout The Great Gatsby.

Fitzgerald uses different shades of white to veil Daisy Buchanan’s corruption; however, through Gatsby’s eyes, Daisy represents innocence and purity. She is solely described as "dressed in white,” her face whitened by powder, as she mentions her "white girlhood". The millionaire describes this perfect princess figure to be "high in a white palace, the king's daughter, the golden girl." This initial use of color helps characterize her as the unattainable “enchanted princess” who becomes incarnate as Gatsby’s dream. Even her house and its furnishings are tuned in light shades; this fact might be interpreted as: beauty, cleanliness, wealth, innocence, and virginity. But away from the gaze of her innocent guise, she is like an egg, white on the outside and yellow inside.

Yellow stands out as a symbol of corruption and decay. Materialism has corrupted the citizens of East and West Egg because they center everything on money. Silver and gold (or yellow), the colors of wealth, recur again and again, associated especially with vulgar displays of prosperity. When Gatsby entertains this wealthy class,