Carson McCullers used color symbolism in "The Jockey" to show that power always triumphs over weakness. The colors all portray how powerful the three men are, and the colors show how weak the jockey is. The colors also show how the jockey longs to be like the three men, who are wealthy and strong, but he realizes that this can never be.

The first example of color imagery in the story is "He was wearing a suit of green Chinese silk… …the shirt was yellow, the tie striped with pastel colors." The "green" in this case is portrayed as the jockey's gross jealousy. He was "green with envy" toward the three men. The color yellow, as well as pastels, is a light color, an example of the weakness of the jockey.

In the lines "the fingers curled inward like gray claws… …His face was drawn, ageless, and gray… …the jockey's gray face quivered," gray is shown for the jockey. The gray is shown to be the gloominess and melancholy of the jockey. Whether because of the riding accident with the kid or because he knows he'll never be like the men, he is sad nevertheless.

Innocence and inferiority is shown in the lines "a white-coated waiter had just brought on the main… …green-white August moths had found their way in from the night and fluttered about the clear candle flames." These lines show how inferior the waiter and the jockey are, as they always must only do the bidding of others. The latter line is also yet another example of the jealousy of the jockey.

Power is mentioned in the lines "his heels biting smartly into the red velvet carpet on the floor… …he turned and spat out the pulpy mouthful on the smooth red carpet… … nervously mashed the tip of his red nose with his thumb." The red in this case is an illustration of the power of the three men, and how the jockey attempts to overcome this power. The lines depict merely his effort to overwhelm the three men, but this shall never be visualized.

In the lines, "He drew a gold cigarette… …inside were a few cigarettes and a tiny gold penknife," gold is show to be the outside appearance of the jockey. He dresses in gold in an endeavor to become something that he cannot possibly become.

The color imagery in this story is used to portray the theme. The theme in this story is that power always overcomes weakness. The jockey desired to be like the three men, but he failed. He couldn't change himself or his ways. So he, the weaker side of the conflict lost the "battle." The color representations presented this engagement with an ending not in the preference of the jockey.