Color Symbolism in The Great Gatsby

 “It was dawn now in Long Island and we went about opening the rest of the windows downstairs, filling the house with gray-turning, gold-turning light. The shadow of a tree fell abruptly across the dew and ghostly birds began to sing among the blue leaves”

Colors often represent various sentiments in novels and due to their universality; many writers use them to convey emotions. In The Great Gatbsy there is a very strong use of colors by Fitzgerald. For example of page 152: “It was dawn now in Long Island and we went about opening the rest of the windows downstairs, filling the house with gray-turning, gold-turning light. The shadow of a tree fell abruptly across the dew and ghostly birds began to sing among the blue leaves”. This quote is describing a sunrise in Long Island. The colors represent the dull and sad environments that exist at the moment. Gray and Blue, they both describe that feeling. Gray is commonly associated with dullness and monotony, while blue is associated with sadness and nostalgia. However, there is also gold, it can represent many things: wealth, prosperity, success, and value. The fact that the house is turning gray and turning gold symbolizes the American dream, things may get rough but with hard work  one can turn gray into gold. The “blue leaves” and the “ghostly birds” are some sort of warning that even living the American dream, the most beautiful and simple living things (leaves) can still be blue, even while bathed in gold. That recurring message of the failure of the American dream is present in the quote and Fitzgerald uses colors to represent it. He puts into question the real value of material things and what true happiness is made of (if it does exist).