TGG pretty prominently features color symbolism, and is really obvious about doing it. The green light is practically famous, the blue cover of the book itself + the eyes of TJ Eckleburg, Daisy and Jordan’s flowing white dresses, etc. Colors have meanings, of course, so I just thought I’d write down what these colors symbolize in TGG for this blog post.

First and foremost- The green light. Green symbolizes greed/envy, rebirth, beginnings, nature, and harmony. Gatsby yearns for Daisy, who the light belongs to. The yearning would be the envy part of green, while his goal is to start anew with Daisy, which would be the “new beginnings” meaning of green. The light is in West Egg, the old money wealthy egg. This accounts for the greed, though I find the envy symbolism stronger (Gatsby is envious of Tom for having Daisy.) The nature aspect is more ironic- consider the use of green towards the end of the novel, when we are told about the “fresh, green breast of the new world”, as a contrast to the over-development of New York and the Eggs. Because there isn’t proper greenery around East Egg (the green they do have are carefully manicured lawns- which are NOT good for the environment.), the light, an artificial element, replaces it.

White famously represents innocence and purity, which applies to Daisy, especially, and her many white outfits. She wishes to appear ignorant and innocent so that she can simply float through life as the wife of a wealthy man. This innocence is showy and played-up, which connects to her style of dress always being carefully within the latest fashions and very extravagant. Innocence is a shawl she wears. There is also something to be said about Tom’s white supremacy in regards to how Daisy presents herself – that white as a “pure” color has a history of racism.

Blue, especially darker and richer blues, represent sadness, grief, loyalty, reliability, intelligence, and detachment. This is a color used often for both Gatsby and Nick, who share many traits such as detachment and loyalty. Gatsby is a sad type- I would go as far as to say he acts very much towards his missed chance with Daisy how one would act when grieving the loss of a life. He is deeply loyal to her, while remaining always at an arms distance until Nick invites her to tea for him. Nick seems very lonely, likely by his own hand due to his unwillingness to connect with anyone that can’t match his cynicism. When he finds someone he is fond of- Gatsby- he is loyal to him even after his death gets him wrapped up in business that even Wolfsheim doesn’t want to be near.

(Sidebar- My favorite example of blue symbolism is the TARDIS. It shows The Doctor’s struggle to connect with people as well as their vast intelligence, and their grief for the rest of the Time Lords. It’s delightful- and I don’t often see it mentioned by fans!)