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The Great Gatsby and the Wizard of OZ similarities

Abstract

The Great Gatsby is a novel written by Scott Fitzgerald during the Jazz age. The novel is

considered a representative of the lost Generation. It is full of symbolism which is brought across

by the use of color throughout the novel. Some of the major colors used in the novel include.

Green, white, red and yellow among others. on the other hand, the Wizard of OZ is a children

narrative written by Frank Baum. Similarly, color is well used in the novel. Some of the major

colors in the book include; green, white and red. Other than color, a major similarity between the

books is the presence of false promises among the characters. Both Gatsby and the Wizard of

OZ are not who they claim to be. Gatsby cheats his way to richness while the Wizard of OZ is

not a powerful witch. The paper below attempts to explain the similarities between The Great

Gatsby and The Wizard of OZ.

Key words: Color, Gatsby, Wizard, Green, White

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The Great Gatsby and the Wizard of OZ similarities

Although in some ways, The Great Gatsby proves itself as an original work, the use of

colors and false promises are evidence that there is a similarity between The Great Gatsby and

The Wizard of OZ. To begin with, Fitzgerald and Baum use color to give life to their words and

show a rainbow ultimately. In the Great Gatsby, colors have a great impression t the readers

because they appear throughout the novel and have a deeper meaning whenever they appear.

The word green is used seventeen times. Other colors used in the story are blue and yellow that

appear in twenty-two occasions. Silver that appears eleven times while gray is used seventeen

times. The green color in the novel closely relates to Gatsby’s short life. It symbolizes his

original hopes and dreams and his pursuit of the dream [CITATION Zha15 \p 41 \l 1033 ] . The color

green is also associated with the green light that occurs through the novel, a light that is closely

related to Gatsby in the novel.

Color white is associated with Daisy. It symbolizes beauty, purity and nobleness. When

she meets Gatsby for the first time, she wears a white dress. When she was eighteen, she had a

white car and dressed white making her charming in the eyes of young officers. Although white

is associated with the positive attributes of purity and nobility, white in the novel symbolizes

emptiness ruthlessness and selfishness (42). Daisy is a selfish ruthless woman who is only

interested in attention and luxury. Although she is rich, she has low morality and is insensitive

to other people in her life. Red is associated with blood and is a symbol of danger ad violence.

Nick owns a dozen of books on his shelf that is gold and red. The gold color in the books

represents money. The association of the gold and red color means that acquiring money is

closely related to blood and violence. Lastly, a common color in the book is yellow (42).

Yellow is a color of gold that symbolizes, richness, wealth and materialism. Yellow could also b
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used to describe mean and selfish traits. Daisy is defined as a yellow girl. She is therefore a

greedy and mean person who is only interested in herself.

Color is also very significant in The Wizard of OZ. as the book begins, we see how color

influences Baum. Glinda is described as a woman with the colors of a national flag. She has red

hair, pure white dress and blue eyes. The OZ is divided in countries, where each country has its

own colors. Each of the major countries the Wizard of OZ visits has a primary color, one that all

of the other three derive. Dorothy’s journey through the OZ land also signifies the importance of

color in the book [CITATION Jil13 \p 8 \l 1033 ]. As narrated, she follows a yellow brick road and

travels through a blue countryside to the green city. Upon the death of the wicked East end

witch, Dorothy is awarded a pair of silver shoes. White is considered a traditional color for

witches. The witch of the North wore a white gown that is decorated with a star and a white hat.

Glinda, on the other hand, the good witch, wears a pure white dress [CITATION Bau13 \p 70 \l

1033 ]. Dorothy is not only considered a witch, because she had killed the witch of East end, but

because she wore a blue dress that was white checked.

Secondly, both stories have false promises. The wizard and Gatsby are not really who

they claim to be. Gatsby, since his youth, had always dreamt of having money and power and

belong to a higher social class. To achieve his American dream, Gatsby did everything he could.

He even sold drugs and cheated his way to wealth. However, he but not get the social status he

always dreamt of. To hide his true self, Gatsby hardly makes himself known at his parties. He

likes to sit and watch the partygoers. [CITATION FSc18 \p 207 \l 1033 ]. Gatsby fabricates stories

about his life and lie that he was the son of wealthy people from the mid-west who had passed

on. He also lies to Nick that he had spent time in Europe, collecting jewels and painting. He
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uses manufactured stories to run aware from the truth, as he is ashamed that people will earn the

truth about how he acquired his wealth.

Similarly, the Wizard in Emerald city is not a good man as he claims to be. He also hides

behind the riches. He owns a big caste in Emerald city and is hardly known for himself. Even

when people come to see him, he hides behind a curtain and the lie that he is a magical wizard.

He is a fraud who hides behind a metaphorical curtain and blends to the crowd never ever seen

standing on his own during his gatherings. The Wizard describes himself as a ventriloquist and

balloonist who ended up in the land of OZ accidentally. He was perceived as a great sorcerer

and had built the people a beautiful city known as Emerald city. When Dorothy meets the

wizard, she is aware of his false authority. Dorothy and her companions unmask the false

wizard. The Wizard however helps the lion and the scared scarecrow with their wishes and

decides to send Dorothy away. He takes her on a hot balloon, probably to take her back to

Kansas, but Toto jumps from the basket, chasing a squirrel and the balloon departs leaving

Dorothy behind.

In conclusion, the use of colors and false promises show similarities between Fitzgerald’s

The Great Gatsby and Baum’s The Wizard of the OZ. colors play a great impression to a reader.

They make a novel more vivid, colorful visionary and dreamlike. The Great Gatsby and The

Wizard of OZ use color throughout their stories. Some of the colors used in the Great Gatsby are;

green, red, white, yellow and blue among others. in the Wizard of OZ, some of the significant

colors include. Green, red and white. White is considered a traditional color for the witches.

Glinda wears a pure white dress and the witch from the north wears a white dress decorated with

stars. The path Dorothy uses to find the Wizard of OZ is also associated with color. According

to the story, she walks on a yellow brick road and travels through a blue countryside to the green
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city. The two books are also similar due to the element of false promises. As discussed above,

both Gatsby and the Wizard of OZ are not the people they claim to be. Gatsby lies about his true

self, and hides behind his wealth. Even when he hosts parties, he does not like to be notice but

prefers sitting and watching partygoers. Similarly, the Wizard of OZ is not a powerful sorcerer as

people believe. He also hides behind a metaphorical curtain during his gatherings.
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Work Cited

Baum, L Frank. The Wizard of Oz : Om Illustrated Classics. 2013.

Fitzgerald, F Scott. The Great Gatsby : Om Illustrated Classics. Amazon.com, 2018.

Kalz, Jill. The Wizard of Oz Colors. Capstone, 2013.

Zhang, Haibing. "Symbolic Meanings of Colors in The Great Gatsby." Studies in Literature and

Language (2015): 38-44.