Motifs
Green
Green appears in the description of the view from the backyard of the Buchanan house. It represents the promise of the limitless future in which dreams can be achieved. However, this dream is but an illusion, and Gatsby does not realize this until the end.
Yellow
Yellow is the symbol of money and gross materialism. It also corrupts the dream and in the end destroys it. This is evidenced by the fact that Gatsby's car is at first "cream," but in the end it has turned yellow as it becomes the vehicle that destroys Myrtle and indirectly leads to Gatsby's death.
Blue
The color blue appears in the chapter describing the limit of the cool sky. Blue represents the illusion of Gatsby's dream as well as the destruction that reality has on the sky. The fact that, in this chapter, blue is associated with the "limit" of the sky foreshadows that Gatsby's dream may soon expire and be destroyed.
White
White symbolizes purity and is used as a device to conceal corruption and materialism of Daisy and Jordan. The white dresses and the white powder that adorn the girls in the chapter serve to conceal their tan (yellow) skin. This expresses the idea that the girls have a false purity that conceals the crassness of their materialism.
Weather
The weather is used sparingly to stress the nature of the events that are taking place. In this chapter, the weather is constantly emphasized as being incredibly hot. This seems to symbolize the tensions and the anger that are building up and will explode during the argument between Tom and Gatsby at the hotel.
Gatsby's Car
The automobile has always been a kind of status symbol in the United States. Expensive cars are associated with the possession of great wealth. Gatsby's car is described as the epitome of wealth. Gatsby bought the car in order to convey his material success. This is the vehicle that kills Myrtle and indirectly leads to Gatsby's own death. The automobile is stressed again and again throughout the story and is used in the end to prove that a dream based on materialism alone will in the end be destructive.
Chapter 7