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The Color Green In The Great Gatsby

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Fitzgerald displays an expertise of the english language to tell the story of The Great Gatsby. His use of motifs allows him to further elaborate on events talked about in the story. The complexity of the motifs displays the moral issues that are dealt with in society. Fitzgerald does this to talk about the inescapable effects of wealth and one’s blind pursuit of happiness. The color green is a significant color motif used by Fitzgerald throughout the book. Nick narrates a scenario when he caught Gatsby looking off in the distance and “distinguished nothing but a green light” (Fitzgerald 21)”. The green is a symbol for a longing for more wealth and the desire to become a significant figure in society. Americans “have always been obstinate …show more content…
“The grey land and the spasms of bleak dust (Fitzgerald 23)” located between the prosperous New York City and the wealthy West Egg, this is a place “where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens (Fitzgerald 23)”. The men who failed at executing their dream are now stuck living a miserable life because they were oblivious to what may have came with the unanticipated failure. Gatsby blindly pursued Daisy as his chase to find happiness again. Despite living a lavish lifestyle and hosting eloquent parties, Gatsby died alone at the end of the story and no sum of money can change that. Gatsby got taken advantage of for being so outgoing with his wealth but could not realize this due to the fact that he was so honed in on trying to get Daisy back into his …show more content…
Nick described his house as “a small eyesore (Fitzgerald 5)” in comparison to the ludacris size of Gatsby’s mansion. Fitzgerald included this to show the polarizing difference in size of the house that Gatsby had in comparison to others. The size of the house is a symbol for the emptiness and isolation in Gatsby’s life. Gatsby lives alone and the only purpose is to host extravagant parties in hope to find Daisy and love her once again. When Daisy started crying because she had “never seen such beautiful shirts before (Fitzgerald 92)”, she is flattered by what a man’s wealth can get her, not the favor that he did for her. This same logic applies to Gatsby’s mansion because the people attending these parties had no personal connection to him, yet they felt obligated to take advantage of his wealth. The new money owned by Gatsby and the uncertainty of his rags to riches come up creates a façade that shields outsiders from the internal suffering of Jay Gatsby. All in all, Fitzgerald’s clever motifs accelerated the development of the common themes of the story. These are added in to remind people how much power money possesses; and the fact that when people get too wrapped up within themselves, it directly corresponds with the type of relationships a person will have and develop. The clever use of motif shines light on the issues associated with wealth and the blind pursuit of happiness,

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