Hope and idealism in "The Great Gatsby"

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  • Created on: 24-10-16 18:32
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  • Hope and idealism in "The Great Gatsby"
    • The green light
      • Quotes
        • "Distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away"
        • "Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us."
        • "Enchanted object"
        • "Just mention my name. Or present a green card. I’m giving out green——‘
      • Depiction of what Gatsby could attain, not who he loves
      • Green contrasts the most prominent colour throughout the novel- yellow
        • Green has conatations of growth, something Gatsby refuses to do. He refuses to change with the times, and has a fixation on reliving the past
      • Green symbolizes the possibility of returning to the past, as Daisy gives green cards to those she finds acceptable enough to be seen with her
      • Always just out of reach
        • Links to the lost hope that society reflects on social constructs
    • Golden/ Yellow
      • Objects that are yellow
        • "Enormous yellow spectacals"
        • Myrtles house
        • "Yellow cocktail music"
        • "Rich cream colour
        • "In red and gold like new money from the mint"
        • "Jordan’s slender golden arm resting in mine"
          • "Jordan’s golden shoulder"
        • Gatsby in a white flannel suit, silver shirt and gold-colored tie hurried in.
        • "pale gold odor of kiss-me-at the-gate"
        • "toilet set of pure dull gold"
        • "pink and golden billow of foamy clouds above the sea"
        • "My little gold pencil"
        • "filling the house with grey turning, gold turning light"
        • "the autumn-leaf yellow of her hair"
        • "yellow windows"
        • "two girls in twin yellow dresses"
        • "It was a yellow car"
        • "yellowing trees"
      • Yellow is certainly one of the most referred to colours in the book
        • This could be because of the positive conotations of yellow, of happiness and energy
          • This could be linked to why Gatsby's parties are always so full of energy and vitality
        • This could be related to the ironic use of the 1920's in this book
          • Although yellow is a happy colour, the results of yellow objects, such as the yellow car and the ominous eyes of T J Eckleburg, may have been used to point out the falseness of society
        • This links to hope and idealism because even through the hardship of the 1920's they still find a way to use hope as a form of escapism
    • Wealth and social appearance
      • Throughout the novel, wealth is used to seemingly attain superficial goods that make the barer appear more prosperous
      • Hope is used to create a false sense of likability, as Daisy is not supposed to be likable, but she is objectified by her wealth and social appearance
        • Fitzgeral uses this to highlight how superficial Gatsby's hope is revolved around is, and how stuck in the past his values are, which challenges how the American class system works

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