Continuing the literature trend that I started, here is another short analysis of a classic that I read the other week – The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald. When I started writing this post, I really got interested in the use of color in it and how much symbolism the book uses to showcase the themes it tries to show. There is a lot to write about this book, but to keep my posts relatively short and manageable to read without being too winded and exhausting, I didn’t expand on the other symbols of the book, although I would really want to analyse those as well. Maybe in a separate post? Time will tell.
The Great Gatsby is a relatively short read that I finished in just a few sittings. Set in 1920s America, we follow Nick Carraway, a Yale University alumnus recently returned from World War I, who learns about bond trading and moves to New York. There, he gets involved with the enigmatic millionaire Jay Gatsby, his socialite cousin Daisy Buchanan with her husband Tom Buchanan, and Daisy’s friend Jordan Baker. The main conflicts in the story revolve around the love affairs that Daisy and Tom are involved with. Tom keeps a mistress Myrtle Wilson, and Daisy was in love with Gatsby first, but because of circumstances reluctantly married Tom instead. Drama and tragedy ensues as these truths reveal themselves.
What makes this book great isn’t the plot itself, but rather the subtext and symbolism that it contains. On the surface, you could call it just a banal love story and call it a day, not getting much out of it. But it’s the things said between the lines, or even the things left unsaid, that reveal much more about the characters and the general views prevalent in society of that time. Through the books characters, Fitzgerald subtly critiques the views on social class, gender, and race that were ubiquitous of his time.
Tom and Daisy Buchanan are people who embody the idea of “old money” – wealth inherited through generations instead of earned through their own work. These are people who believe in tradition and put more meaning on their own status over others. On the other hand, Jay Gatsby is of the “new money” camp – a self-made millionaire who is driven by his own ambitions for attaining wealth. As the novel shows though, neither side is really better than the other. While the old money folks are morally corrupt and act completely on their whims, not caring about the devastation they bring about since they can comfortably fall back on the riches they own, the new money people will choose morally questionable ways to earn their own dough, and flaunt their money through flippant ways, hosting parties, buying expensive mansions and cars, but ultimately never achieve the goals they hoped that money could buy them.
This motif is subtly enforced through the use of color and other such intangible properties, most notably the “mysterious” green light that Gatsby looks out to in the dark evenings which flashes at the end of Daisy’s dock next to her house. His only motivation to obtain wealth was to eventually break into the upper class, and in this way obtain his dream of reuniting with Daisy. However, the exclusivity and superiority of old money tradition renders this dream impossible.
The color green can be associated with money, as the American Dollar bills have a distinct green hue, especially in contrast to the golden and silver colors that are more prevalent around Daisy – gold being a more traditional and stable “currency”, although that in and of itself carrying a connotation of superfluousness and deceit, as they only really have superficial value. Green is also often associated with feelings of envy, which Gatsby feels towards Tom and the high society in general.
Lastly, green can also be thought of as the color of nature, symbolising new beginnings and growth, which was the promised American Dream that the characters of the novel were all working towards. This meaning also concerns Nick, who by the end of the novel also noticed the green light, who came to New York looking for new opportunities, but after looking at it, decided he was not cut for this kind of life and went back to the midwest.
The use of blue in the book’s cover I would say is also very deliberate. Blue is often associated with feelings of sadness and melancholy, or well, “the blues”. Blue is a dominant color in Jay Gatsby’s garden, from where he stands often looking at the green light, particularly juxtaposed to his material possessions that he often has in yellow – his car, or his home parties. It’s also interesting to note the difference here, as Jay rarely takes part in his own parties that he throws. We often see him fall into depressive ruts when his love, Daisy, never even attended his parties once, which he kept throwing for the sole reason of having her attend them. Despite Gatsby trying his best to look lavish and rich through the use of yellow possessions, a similar color to gold yet not quite the same, he never really ends up feeling like he ended up integrating fully with the wealthy old money people.
I also found interesting the use of the color red in the novel, which was particularly used in Tom and Daisy’s house decor. Red usually has associations of passion, love, but also war and anger. It’s no surprise then that this color is also prevalent in their own homes, symbolising the deceit and disdain both of them hid against each other (Tom having a mistress, and Daisy still having feelings for Gatsby). It could also show a “war” against the classes. Daisy’s feelings here are quite complex – while she indeed have feelings for Gatsby, her love could also be called superficial. Did she really love him, if in the end she chose the comfort and stability that Tom brought her, with his wealth and upper class disposition? And in Tom’s case, he often shows a pretty straightforward and simple minded personality, throwing out quite blunt statements that discriminate against anyone not of his own class. When we are around Tom, there is a feeling of tension and even fear to secure his upper class position, putting down anyone who could endanger his status.
The novel shows a lot of complexity and divide between people of different social status, race, and gender. While here I mostly showcased the first issue, through the use of colors, there is also a lot to write about the other equally important aspects. Tom embodies toxic masculinity, often making subtle remarks about his beliefs how only white males are allowed to be on the top, referencing only pseudo-scientific sources to back him up. Daisy’s conflict between Tom and Gatsby show how in the end, as a woman, she is at the mercy of the decisions made by the males in the society, and her own personal feelings and ambitions are disregarded, forced to stay with Tom and choose his financial security despite having to reconcile with his infidelity. Jordan is the personification of the modern, liberated woman, a member of the “flapper” subculture, challenging the conventional standards of the time. Despite being a professional golfer, the novel shows how her rise to the higher social ranks through her sport was founded on cheating and lying, further emphasising how difficult it is for women to truly achieve independence without relying on established social structures, conventions and pressures, suggesting that the pursuit of agency for women in a flawed society still comes at a cost.
Well, that was a lot of yapping and I literally made an entire essay just around the “the curtains are blue” meme, but once I started analysing this aspect of the novel I found myself wanting to explore more of it through my own writing. It’s what I found interesting about this novel in general – when I just finished reading it, I wasn’t sure how much I liked it, as it was quite short and on the surface very on the nose, but once you start picking some theme and delving deeper into it, you realise how complex this book can really get. I barely even scratched the surface of other themes prevalent in the book, but then this post would get insanely long, but I thank you every one who showed an interest in this analysis and perhaps piqued your interest to check out this book as well!