Scott Fitzgerald used the imagery of colours in his book The Great Gatsby. The colors are used very frequently as symbols, and the different shades create atmosphere in different scenes of the book. White is a clean and fresh color, but the author shows how it can be tainted as well. Yellow illustrates the downfall of moral standards of the people of West Egg. Green, the most dominant color in the book, symbolizes wealth and Gatsby's impossible dream.
To Gatsby, Daisy represents innocence and purity; however, Fitzgerald uses different shades of white to hide her corruption. Daisy is described as "dressed in white", she powders her face white, and she mentions her "white girlhood". The millionaire describes this perfect princess figure to be "high in a white palace the king's daughter, the golden girl." On the other hand, Fitzgerald portrays the way of life in West Egg as a wretched place when "four solemn men dressed in suits are walking along the sidewalk with a stretcher on which lies a drunken woman in a white evening dress. Her hand, which dangles over the side, sparkles cold with jewels. Gravely the men turn it at a house - the wrong house. But no one knows the woman's name, and no one cares.".
Yellow stands out as a symbol of corruption and decay. Materialism has corrupted the citizens of East and West Egg because they center everything on money. When Gatsby entertains this wealthy class, the orchestra plays "yellow cocktail music". Even Gatsby believes that he can win Daisy back with his money - thus he is described as wearing a "caramel-colored suit" when he lies about his past to Nick. The most important symbol, however, is Gatsby's car. The car becomes the main topic of conversation among the townspeople after it kills Myrtle and a witness specified this "death car" to be yellow.
Fitzgerald used green most frequently to symbolize Gatsby's love for Daisy Buchanan.