Theme Of Modernism In The Great Gatsby

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The Great Gatsby is a Modern novel about a man, Jay Gatsby, who focuses his whole life on one girl. Sadly, in the end that grotesque focus of her is what ends his life. F. Scott Fitzgerald used much symbolism and color in this novel. The diversified colors he used have a specific reason behind them. F. Scott Fitzgerald used the contrast of colors in similar, yet different situations to reflect Modernism in the novel.
To understand how F. Scott Fitzgerald used contrasted colors in his novel, it is important to understand the storyline of The Great Gatsby. The narrator of the story is Nick Carraway. He moves to New York City after World War I to go into the bond business. There he meets up with his cousin Daisy and her husband Tom. Then Nick’s neighbor comes into the picture, Mr. …show more content…
Scott Fitzgerald contrasted the color yellow with no color at all when describing Gatsby’s house at different times. He contrasted the flamboyant fun of his parties full of life to the lifelessness of his death. When Gatsby was alive he had so many “friends” that he would do anything for, but when he died no one except Nick was there for him. This harsh lesson that F. Scott Fitzgerald trued to share with his readers is about Modernism. He told the readers that people are out for themselves; they will stick around as long as they receive benefits, but they friendship will not last forever. He conveyed that there is no point in helping others because that will not be reciprocated in the end. This shows the selfishness of people, but sadly that was the norm during Modernism.
The Great Gatsby is a depressing novel. The hero himself gets killed for a crime he did not commit. Gatsby only desired to be loved, but even after he died no one gave him a second thought. Modernism was a depressing time in America where everyone was out for themselves. F. Scott Fitzgerald explained what Modernism was like through his use of contrasting colors in similar, yet different
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