He must have looked up at an unfamiliar sky through frightening leaves,” (172). “He shook his head and in a moment disappeared among the yellowing trees… If that was true he must have felt that he had lost the old warm world, paid a high price for living too long with a single dream. Others may argue that yellow represented nature in the novel. Fitzgerald uses the association of yellow with cowardliness, through the vessel of Gatsby’s car, to symbolize Daisy’s cowardliness for not accepting the blame for Myrtle’s murder, all in an attempt to protect her high status. Daisy allows Gatsby to take the blame, which results in Gatsby later being shot by Myrtle’s husband, evidently leading his demise. When Daisy drives Gatsby’s home in his lavish car, she hits, and kills Myrtle. This might be mistaken for symbolizing the Gilded Age because of the dull gold-like color and the presence of the wealthy class, but Fitzgerald places each description of yellow with a purpose to portray the deceitful and cowardly features of high status.įurthermore, Gatsby’s immaculate wealth allows him to own a car, more specifically, yellow car. Nick’s uncomfortable encounter with Daisy is followed by a description of dull yellow hair this characterization, which ties to yellows association to the fraudulent experience he has with his wealthy friends. It made me uneasy, as though the whole evening had been a trick of some sort to exact a contributory emotion from me… The lamp-light, bright on his boots and dull on the autumn-leaf yellow of her hair,” (21). “The instant her voice broke off, ceasing to compel my attention, my belief, I felt the basic insincerity of what she had said. This claim is false because of the frequency in which Fitzgerald describes objects as yellow when discussing scenes that portray deceitfulness among the higher class. One might claim the color yellow represents the Gilded Age, the period of time during The Great Gatsby. I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.” (Fitzgerald, 35) Fitzgerald’s usage of “yellow windows” symbolizes the deceitfulness of the upper class from an outsider looking in Nick is now on the other side of the window, realizing the higher class is not as glamorous as it depicted to be.
Symbols in the great gatsby for gatsby windows#
“Yet high over the city our line of yellow windows must have contributed their share of human secrecy to the casual watcher in the darkening streets, and I was him too, looking up and wondering. Fitzgerald utilizes the color yellow throughout his description of status and luxury, to symbolize the deceitful and cowardly acts of the upper class.ĭuring Nick’s experience among the wealthy class with Tom at Myrtle’s city apartment, Nick begins to ponder the deceitfulness of high status. The Great Gatsby, through the usage of color, examines the less-desirable aspects of wealth and depicts a different perspective of the luxurious lifestyle lived by the novel’s characters. These descriptions, although attractive, also portray the negative features of status.