FAQ About The Great Gatsby

The color red is used throughout "The Great Gatsby" to represent a range of meanings and emotions. Here are a few examples of the significance of the color red in the novel:

• The Red Car: The car that Tom Buchanan drives is described as being "a rich cream color" with "bright nickel" and "heavy red upholstery." The red upholstery represents Tom's passion and his aggressive, dominant nature.
• The Red Hair: Myrtle Wilson, Tom's mistress, has red hair, which symbolizes her sexuality and her passionate nature.
• The Red Dress: When Jordan Baker attends Gatsby's party, she wears a red dress, which symbolizes her rebelliousness and her defiance of traditional gender roles.
• The Red as a Symbol of Violence: In the novel's climactic scene, the color red is used to represent violence and death. Myrtle is killed in a hit-and-run accident, and the image of her "bloody nose" is a symbol of the violence and destruction that are an inevitable part of the characters' hedonistic lifestyle.

The use of the color red in "The Great Gatsby" is complex and multi-layered, representing both passion and violence. It symbolizes the characters' desires and their destructive tendencies, as well as the violence that underlies their decadent lifestyle.