In Chapter 7 of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s famous 1925 novel The Great Gatsby, the author uses color symbolism to convey deeper meanings about the characters and events. Green, white, and yellow are three prominent colors that appear throughout the text and provide insight into Fitzgerald’s motifs and themes. Analyzing the symbolic meanings of these colors in Chapter 7 allows readers to gain a more nuanced understanding of the plot, characters, and overall messages in this pivotal section of the story.
Green as Envy and Ambition
The color green takes on a significant symbolic meaning in Chapter 7 of The Great Gatsby. Green is commonly associated with envy, and this color is used repeatedly to represent the envy felt by various characters as well as the ambitious striving for wealth and status among the social elite.
One prominent use of the color green is in relation to Gatsby’s palatial mansion in West Egg. Nick Carraway, the narrator, describes Gatsby’s house as having “a green light, small and far away, that might have been the end of a dock” (Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, Chapter 7). This green light is located across the water, emanating from the dock outside the house of Daisy Buchanan, Gatsby’s lost love. The green light represents Gatsby’s deep envy for the upper-class lifestyle and social status that Daisy possesses, as well as his ambition to win Daisy back and attain that elite status for himself. The green light symbolizes how Gatsby’s yearning for Daisy is intertwined with his desire for belonging and success.
Green is also associated with the narrator, Nick Carraway, and his own feelings of envy. Nick comes from a modest Midwestern family yet finds himself immersed in the lavish world of the nouveau riche on Long Island. He is both disgusted by and drawn to this lifestyle. The green color symbolizes his envy of their affluence and reckless abandon. For example, as Nick describes the aftermath of Myrtle’s death, he observes “A new world, material without being real, where poor ghosts, breathing dreams like air, drifted fortuitously about…” (Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, Chapter 7). The “poor ghosts” represent his envy of the seemingly perfect lives of the wealthy despite their lack of morality.
Overall, the color green in Chapter 7 represents different facets of ambition and envy, from Gatsby’s desire for Daisy to Nick’s paradoxical feelings about the rich. The green light, in particular, takes on an iconic status as a symbol of this driving force that characterizes both Gatsby and 1920s America more broadly.
White as a Façade
In addition to green, the color white also carries important symbolic meaning in Chapter 7 of The Great Gatsby. White commonly represents purity and innocence. However, Fitzgerald uses this color in an ironic way, often associating white with creating outward appearances or façades. The white suggests a cover up of the underlying corruption and lack of morality among the wealthy social elite.
For instance, Gatsby’s mansion is described as “a factual imitation of some Hôtel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool, and more than forty acres of lawn and garden” (Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, Chapter 7). The “thin beard of raw ivy” attempts to create an illusion of the mansion having history and pedigree when in reality it is “spanking new.” The white of the marble and the lawn creates a veneer of elegance and grandeur masking the house’s artificiality.
Similarly, Daisy’s house in East Egg is often linked to the color white, such as her “white palace” and the “five white circles” of its driveways (Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, Chapter 7). This projects an air of grace and aristocracy, yet hides Daisy’s own artifice and superficiality. The East Egg residences like Daisy’s rely on white facades to present an outward appearance of old money respectability that covers up the moral emptiness within.
White is also connected to Jordan, who wears an elaborate white dress to the tragic gathering in the city after Myrtle’s death. Jordan seems statuesque and above it all, with a “scornful look” and an aura of “contemptuous amusement” at the turmoil around her (Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, Chapter 7). However, her pristine white dress belies her own corrosive cynicism and dishonesty.
Through these symbolic links, Fitzgerald uses white in Chapter 7 to comment ironically on the façade of the upper class. Their white exteriors dangerously obscure their internal flaws.
Yellow as Fake and Cowardly
The third prominent color symbol that emerges in Chapter 7 is yellow, which generally connotes wealth and gold. However, Fitzgerald once again utilizes ironic symbolism, associating yellow with fakeness, cowardice, and even sickness.
One key instance is the description of Meyer Wolfsheim, Gatsby’s unsavory business associate who is linked to organized crime and underground activities. Wolfsheim has cufflinks made from “fine specimens of human molars” and is described as a “small, flat-nosed Jew” with “two fine growths of hair” in his nostrils (Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, Chapter 7). The “two fine growths” resemble the horns of the devil, while the human molar cufflinks hint at his lack of ethics. Additionally, “His nostrils [are] slowly dilating with the effort of his life” as though the air is foul and diseased. Here the yellowness correlates with the corruption and evil in Wolfsheim’s character.
Yellow is also tied to cowardice, particularly through the Yellow Press and sensationalist journalism of the day that sought to capitalize on scandal. When Nick is reluctant to provide details about the events surrounding Myrtle’s death to a reporter, the man responds: “All right… I’m a yellow journalist” (Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, Chapter 7). The “yellow journalist” exposes Fitzgerald’s distaste for such unscrupulous reporting tactics exploiting tragedy for profit.
Overall, yellow symbolizes falsity, disease, and cowardice in Chapter 7. Fitzgerald uses it to make social commentary on the unethical behavior and moral emptiness plaguing society.
Conclusion
In The Great Gatsby, Chapter 7, F. Scott Fitzgerald employs colors like green, white, and yellow to symbolize broader themes and characterize the social elite. Green represents envy and ambition, exposing the desires that drive Gatsby as well as the ambivalence of Nick. White suggests façades of purity masking moral decay. Yellow conveys falsity, sickness, and cowardice.
Through these artistic choices, Fitzgerald provides social commentary on wealth and class in the 1920s. The colors add layers of symbolic meaning to this pivotal chapter when the climactic tragedy of Myrtle’s death deconstructs the glittering façade of the upper class. Fitzgerald’s famous use of color symbolism makes the text more profound and impactful. Examining the deeper meanings of the colors in Chapter 7 allows readers to analyze the nuances of The Great Gatsby on a more symbolic level.
| Color | Symbolism |
|---|---|
| Green | Envy, ambition |
| White | Façade, artificial purity |
| Yellow | Falsity, cowardice, sickness |
