Green

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a fine American classic about the society in Long Island in the 1920's. Fitzgerald uses colors as strong symbols throughout the story. Here is an example:

The "death car" as the newspapers called it, didn't stop; it came out of the gathering darkness, wavered tragically for a moment, and then disappeared around the next bend. Michaelis wasn't even sure of its color- he told the first policeman that it was light green. (137)

The color green is used in a crucial part of the story, right in the middle of the climax. It is when Myrtle Wilson, Tom Buchanan's lover, is run over by this green car, coincidentally driven by Tom's wife, Daisy, outside of her garage. This is clearly a part where a color acts as a symbol in the novel, since the color green has many different meanings. The color green is a color of renewal, of natural wellbeing, of good luck; but it is also a color that conveys envy, jealousy and money. I believe these last three are the meanings Fitzgerald wanted to emphasize out of all the things green can be.

Although it was a sad coincidence, Daisy killed her husband's lover, which could be interpreted as a cruel act of vengeance sparked by envy and anger towards her if it was on purpose. Fitzgerald wanted to show this by painting the car green, portraying the jealousy behind it. Also, it is a symbol for the deterred ideal of the dream that all Americans at that time wanted: money. In a time where consumerism and overflowing capital was king, the "American Dream" as some call it was corrupted to a point where money was the main goal of it. Since Myrtle was a somewhat humble woman, the green car running over her can be interpreted as money triumphing over the real "American Dream", where a happy family and a good place to live was all that was needed. It could be said that in the end, as represente by this color in the car, Daisy and her economic power won over Myrtle and Tom's happiness.