A tour inside Grey
quotations from dictionary entry of The Dictionary of Symbols
All the colors in the world have a unique attribute and specialty which we flaunt everyday. There is one color that is quite peculiar and yet oh so popular:Grey. Of all the colors which we see "grey is the first colour to be perceived"(456), which means that when we are newborns the first color we perceive is not the blood red of our bodies, but that dim world color grey.
Gradually the newborn is exposed to more colors and from their can see a spectrum of blues, reds, greens and other colors. This can be compared to life and how everyone starts off at one point and with small steps can go go a far way. Along the way, people are exposed to more problems, people, weather, and life experiences. No one finishes or dies without having have changed,and they will always know the point from which they started. This point can be known as grey because it is the first color and ultimately the first knowledgeable point we come to know.
A character that undergoes this is Jay Gatsby, from Fitzgerald's novel, The Great Gatsby. He started out poor and with hardly any education. To become what he became, the ludicrously brilliant Gatsby, he had to learn and overcome may obstacles. He wasn't always rich; he started from point zero (grey) and and climbed as high as he could. This experience can be seen in many people because most of us want to progress in life and run away from the color grey which seems to hold us back.
Note that even when you close your eyes the color inst black, its grey. Its the color that "we see when our eyes are closed, even in complete darkness,"(456). Perhaps this is why people are scared to have their eyes closed for a long period of time while still in the daylight. Grey is "the color of ashes and of mist...grief and mourning," (456), naturally one would not want to be encircled in this color because it gives a depressing and sinking feeling. However people are "grey in the middle of the world of colour,"(456) which goes to show why they try to be something that they aren't, because the thought of being a grey person is sad and not "acceptable."
The color of grey is everywhere and we can't run away from it because unfortunately there are imperfect and grieving people and environments all around us. People "need colours and color opposites because we are the central grey in the world of colors,"(456). Therefore grey is essential because we become bigger and better people with the knowledge that we a acquire from it.
A character that undergoes this is Jay Gatsby, from Fitzgerald's novel, The Great Gatsby. He started out poor and with hardly any education. To become what he became, the ludicrously brilliant Gatsby, he had to learn and overcome may obstacles. He wasn't always rich; he started from point zero (grey) and and climbed as high as he could. This experience can be seen in many people because most of us want to progress in life and run away from the color grey which seems to hold us back.
Note that even when you close your eyes the color inst black, its grey. Its the color that "we see when our eyes are closed, even in complete darkness,"(456). Perhaps this is why people are scared to have their eyes closed for a long period of time while still in the daylight. Grey is "the color of ashes and of mist...grief and mourning," (456), naturally one would not want to be encircled in this color because it gives a depressing and sinking feeling. However people are "grey in the middle of the world of colour,"(456) which goes to show why they try to be something that they aren't, because the thought of being a grey person is sad and not "acceptable."
The color of grey is everywhere and we can't run away from it because unfortunately there are imperfect and grieving people and environments all around us. People "need colours and color opposites because we are the central grey in the world of colors,"(456). Therefore grey is essential because we become bigger and better people with the knowledge that we a acquire from it.