The Spiritual Wasteland Intertwined with colors in The Great Gatsby

【Abstract】The Great Gatsby is the most excellent work of Fitzgerald and it is one of the most important classic novel of American literature. The Great Gatsby is hailed as a prose version of Eliots “The Waste Land” in which Fitzgerald displays the American society in that time of wasteland with an abundant description of colors and symbolism. Under the veil of the wealthy life lies a spiritual wasteland full of desperation and death. The colors of gray， white， yellow， and green are the most dominating ones， which are intertwined with the main character and plots in this novel. This paper， will explores the spiritual wasteland of that age through the employment of color and its symbolism.

【Key words】The Great Gatsby； spiritual wasteland； color； symbolism

【作者簡介】张重涵，贵州师范大学外国语学院。

1. Introduction

F.Scott Fitzgerald as a great writer of American literature in the 20th century， is the spokesman of “Lost Generations”. The Great Gatsby is the most excellent work of Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald vividly reproduces the spiritual outlook of American society and the life styles of the young generation after World War I in his masterpiece， The Great Gatsby. The most striking feature of this work is that it uses a large number of color descriptions and exquisite symbols and metaphors to bring readers into a poetic scene， which depicts a colorful American society of the jazz age. Under the veil of the wealthy society， Fitzgerald displays a spiritual wasteland of moral decay， destruction and death with his keen eyes.

America in the 1920s was a tumultuous period. The prosperity of economic fostered the prevalence of consumerism and money worship after World War I. The Great Gatsby was hailed as a prose version of Eliots “The Waste Land” by critics. Fitzgerald observed the wasteland age with keen eyes and faithfully recorded many features of this wasteland age. Fitzgerald s masterpiece， The Great Gatsby， used a lot of colors to show the wilderness age， which was not only playing a vital role in deepening the theme of the novel， but also completing a serious criticism of the whole American society.

2. The Wasteland Color in The Great Gatsby

2.1 Gray

The color gray has a very important symbolic meaning in The Great Gatsby. The second chapter of the novel at first introduces the valley of ashes， a desolate and dusty place in the novel. The valley of ashes presented in Chapter 2 is dusty，

obscure， and， above all， gray. It is a very important spot where the story begins. “This is a valley of ashes—a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges ...which screens their obscure operations from your sight.” Fitzgerald shows us a picture where a world without any colors but gray. The valley of ashes， where the working class lives in， takes on the color of gray. Everything you can see is gray ashes， here and there， taking forms of everything including humans. This is a desolate valley， filled with industrial waste and dusts， and where inhabitants are lacking of moral attainments and spiritual belief and deprived of vigor and vitality.

The lifeless poor George Wilson and Myrtle Wilson just like marionettes lived in the valley of ashes. All the hope， vitality， and the meaning of life are buried in the ashes. The people like Tom and Daisy， lacking of brief and purpose of life， only pursing material comfort， became the walking dead with spiritual emptiness.

Fitzgeralds valley of ashes has been frequently compared to Eliots waste land.

Eliots long poem “The Waste Land” is exactly the reflection of the spiritual crisis in this era. Gray， as the color of dust， gives us a sense of darkness and desolation. It symbolizes moral emptiness and barren spirit. In the jazz age， the young people who pursed material consumption and erotic pleasure led to moral degeneration and mental deterioration of peoples values. In this sense， the valley of ashes symbolizes the spiritual wasteland of mankind in the industrial civilization.

2.2 White

In Western culture， white is the embodiment of purity and sunlight， representing elegance and beauty. Daisy， the heroine of The Great Gatsby， was a representative woman in the upper classes. White always accompanied with her. Daisy had a white face. As described by Jordan Baker， “Daisy dressed in white， and had a little white roadster in her white girlhood.” After marriage， she lived in a white palatial mansion of fashionable East Egg， always dressed in white. Daisy was the goddess of Gatsbys mind. However， Daisy was not as pure as her appearance. She was very popular in Chicago， swirling around among a bunch of drunkards with flirty words on her lips. Busy social activities actually covered up an empty heart. She owned beauty and wealth， and Toms social status greatly satisfied her vanity. Her husbands infidelity after marriage made her at a loss all the time. Daisy， who had nothing to do all day， didnt know how to kill time. Even so， Daisy never thought of divorce. Because she knew that her life needed money and status. The marriage based on wealth and status has made her numb. Gatsbys wealth has sprouted her heart. She flirted with Gatsby publicly in front of her husband. But when she heard that his money was all in an illegal way， she chose to give up Gatsbys love for the second time.

Daisy lived in a white world. For her， white was a collection of emptiness， shallowness， and indifference. White also symbolized ruthlessness and selfishness.

Gatsby throughout regarded Daisy as his perfect ideal. However， Daisy， who was Gatsby love most， pushed him to death step by step. Daisy drove to kill Myrtle unintentional， and ran away. Gatsby did everything possible to protect Myrtles real killer， Daisy. But irresponsible Daisy and Tom conspired to frame Gatsby. It was Daisy who led to Gatsbys death. Moreover， Daisy never reappeared after Gatsbys death. The color white reflects her lack of morality， loss of conscience， hypocrisy and indifference， which fully reveals the evil of human nature. Fitzgerald uses white as the main color to outline the wasteland with the collapse of the gorgeous “American Dream”， where is full of desire， greed， emptiness， and where has no love， no friendship， and no hope. This fully reflects the material affluence and spiritual emptiness of the Americans in the jazz age.

2.3 Yellow

The color yellow （often in the form of gold） is the most conspicuous in the novel. Gatsby called Daisy “golden girl” intimately. There was no doubt that Gatsby lived in a world decorated with golden yellow. At the luxury parties held by Gatsby in his mansion， Gatsbys station wagon “scampered like a brisk yellow bug to meet all trains”. As for the foods and drinks， “Every Friday five crates of oranges and lemons arrived....”. Pastry pigs and turkeys are “bewitched to a dark gold”. The bar has “a real brass rail”. The orchestra plays “yellow cocktail music”. Furthermore， guests are in yellow， too. “The two girls in twin yellow dresses”.

Yellow symbolizes power， wealth， and status. Yellow is often associated with gold， so yellow naturally becomes a symbol of wealth. Gatsby wore a “gold-colored tie” for his reunion with Daisy since five years later. Surrounded by the color yellow， Gatsby created a magnificent world， sending a message to Daisy that he had enough money to win back Daisys heart. The foundation of the love is money. This is one of the characteristics of the wasteland age captured by Fitzgerald with his sharp observation. The craze for money and wealth has made people forget moral constraints. Extravagance and indolence have replaced simplicity and diligence. All illegal business deals become reasonable under the cover of money， which leads to the degeneration of the society in jazz age. These brilliant yellow and golden colors reveal the peoples inflated material desires and the indulgence of comforts in the jazz era.

Moreover， yellow is the color of autumn meaning decay and withering （Hui Yu， 2013：281）. So yellow also symbolizes decay and doom. In the novel， Gatsbys Rolls-Royce， the “death car” which struck down Myrtle Wilson， proved to be yellow （A.E. Elmore， 1970）. Even though Gatsby was in the last moment of his life， “his shook his head and in a moment disappeared among the yellowing trees”， the scene was described as yellow as well （HeWenbin， 2017）. As a fallen leaf falls into a yellow forest， Fitzgerald ingeniously uses this image to suggest Gatsbys death. It reveals the social reality that the pursuit of pleasure and material desires of the Americans in the jazz age. It also reveals the disillusion of Gatsbys dream in his pursuit of love and money.

2.4 Green

In the novel， green runs through the whole book and appears throughout the whole life of Gatsby. Green is accompanied with the meaning of “illusory” in this novel. It is obvious to find that the green light as the main carrier of green is the most conspicuous symbol in this novel. As the major image of green， the green light implies the whole life of Gatsby which is full of visional dream and untouchable hope.

The green light in this novel symbolizes Daisy who lives in the other side of this bay where the green light exists. She is the idol that Gatsby misses for a long time. In order to win back her heart， he dares to do anything to get a fortune at any cost. However， Gatsbys aims are not only to win back Daisys heart， but also to realize his American dream.To Gatsby， the green light is the symbol of wealth and social status. Therefore， green symbolizes Gatsbys unremitting pursuit of material wealth and upper class.

However， the green light is dim and far away with Gatsbys death which implies his dream is hard to achieve signifying the tragic ending of his dreams and life. In the end， Gatsbys dream is tarnished by his material possessions. Gatsbys perseverance for his dream reflects the generations adherence to the “American Dream” in the jazz age and the whole nations fanatical pursuit of the illusory “American Dream”. Fitzgerald uses the color of green to express the disillusionment of Gatsbys dream， which reflects peoples pursuit of wealth and the emptiness of spirit at that time. It is a complete wasteland of spirit of peoples mind in the jazz age.

3. Conclusion

Color itself has no special meaning， but color is endowed with rich connotation influenced by many factors such as history， culture， religion and so on. In the novel， there is a profuse use of symbolic colors by Fitzgerald， which shows us a spiritual wasteland full of desperation and death. In The Great Gatsby， Fitzgerald uses gray， white， yellow， green and other colors to draw a picture of American life in the wasteland age. In the age dominated by money and consumerism， faith is dead. The seemingly prosperous appearance is a lifeless wasteland. The description of the colors in The Great Gatsby deepens the understanding of the readers in that era. Fitzgerald intends to use this novel to warn the people that external material affluence cant fill up the emptiness of spirits and the superficial luxury can not conceal the decay and ugliness of the inherence. As a faithful recorder the age of wasteland， Fitzgerald reflects his awareness and concern about the society through this novel.

References：

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[2]吳贵武.论《了不起的盖茨比》的色彩象征[J].芒种，2014（1）：122.