Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Chapter 5 Colors
In this chapter we see the colors white and yellow describing Gatsby and his possessions. "An hour later the front door opened nervously and Gatsby in a white flannel suit, silver shirt and gold colored tie hurried in." (page 89) "...the pale gold odor of kiss-me-at-the-gate" (page 96) (kiss-me-at-the-gate is a type of flower) "...the dresser was garnished with a toilet set of pure dull gold." (page 97) These colors are used to show his wealth and Gatsby uses them to impress Daisy. I also found out that yellow(gold) can represent relief from nervousness, which would make sense because Gatsby is terrified when Daisy first comes. The famous green light makes another appearance in this chapter."'You always have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock.'" (page 98) The green light represented his lust and want for Daisy and it was the closest he could get to her. However now thta she was here it had lost its meaning. "Daisy put her arm through his abruptly but he seemed absorbed in what he had just said. Possibly it had occured to him that that the collosal significance of that light had now vanished forever.""Now it was agin a green light on a dock. His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one." (page 98) That's all the color I found in this chapter, so let me know what you think. Oh and Merry Christmas.
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7 comments:
Spot on, Dan. Very thorough job. It may not be important, but
the clouds, after the "darkness in the west" parts (94), are a billowy pink and golden. The pink made me think of warmth and comfort, and to put that with what you said about gold and nerves, it's almost like once Daisy is with him, Gatsby relaxes and everything's alright...
P.S. The weather fit perfectly with the reunion of Gatsby and Daisy, don't you think?
I am going to extend the due date for the final poetry portfolio until Friday, January 6th 2012. If you have any questions, please email me through HomeworkNow.
Nice job with chapter 5. I really like the interpretation of the gold. It makes more sense now why there was so much gold in this chapter. Plus, I agree that the light on the deck is now just an ordinary light to Gatsby.
Nice job Dan. Now here is some food for thought ... if white is symbolic of innocence, what could yellow be a symbol for??? Well, yellow is almost a dirtied white - it is a darker, murker brightness than white, so symbolically, it could stand for corruption. And if that is true, what does that say about Gatsby who is wearing a white suit but inside - close to his heart - he is yellow?
In addition, think about the flower a daisy. What color are the outer petals? What color is the innermost part of the flower? What could that say about Daisy herself?
Oh my gosh Mrs.Watkins! That whole Gatsby wears a white suit but inside everything he has is dirtied yellow just blew my mind! It gave a whole new perspectiveto me.
But about the green, I agree with you whole-heartedly about it representing Gatsby's trying to reach Daisy but just missing. It's his longing to reach out and touch her but never having that extra push needed to reach her. But then, she's there in his home and the light is now meaningless because he can reach out and touch her now.
Now back to what Mrs.Watkins asked, I think of the yellow as being a soiled white. I also looked up the pysocology of seeing the colour yellow and it apprently activates memory which I thought was pretty relevant to Gatsby & Daisy, with their past and what with Gatsby basically living in their past then trying to surround himself with the memories.
I also looked up daisies and found that they're associated with simplicity and modesty which I thought was ironice considering how Gatsby is trying to "woo" Daisy with his wealth and flashy-ness. "In Victorian times, a young maiden would pluck a daisy's petals one by one and sing, 'He loves me, he loves me not,' for each petal pulled. The last petal so plucked predicted the future of such love." I just thought that was an interesting tidbit considering once again their relationship.
And daisies have white petals all connected to a yellow center which mirrors right back to Gatsby with his white suit and yellow furniture. So, maybe they are perfect for each other. Daisies are also known for their healing properties so maybe Daisy will mend someone up in the story.
(Merry Christmas and Happy New Year's to you too Dan!)
I think yellow could stand for Gatsby's loss of innocence even though I'm not sure how he lost it yet and I think the specks of white mentioned around his house are only kept there because of Daisy and his infatuation with her. Do you think the green light will come back again later in the novel and if it does symbolizing what?
Wow kelli I didn't see it like that! That makes a lot of sense. I think they are more similar than we have seen yet in the story.
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