What Does The Valley Of Ashes Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

It represents the poor lower class, poverty, and hopelessness. It symbolizes the plight of the poor and their unfortunate situations. George Wilson, for example, is a character who loses his vitality and a man who comes out of the gray world of ashy pollution and factory dust. The people of the lower class who inhibit this region all want to leave but cannot, we can see this from the fact that Myrtle was so desperate and ambitious and that she hopes Tom would be her ticket out of this miserable life.

The valley of ashes is where the ashes are dumped after large heaps of material are burned. It is a wasteland of sorts and is very dirty and unwanted. It looks similar to a fictional fallout type world. It portrays the lower class area and while in the valley of ash you notice the poverty that exist there. The eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg can be seen on a billboard looking over the haunting area.

In the book the Great Gatsby there were many symbols about the American Dream representing Gatsby. Three symbols we used in our project was the valley of the ashes, the green light, and the eyes of T.J Eckleberg. We feel that these three symbols help to show how Gatsby feels about life and how other people may see it and what makes it whole. Some people have malice feelings about the american dream and some people think the american dream is aesthetic. Fitzgerald is saying that anybody who tries to pursue the American dream can never be satisfied, because to have the American dream you are always striving for something more than you already have.

The green light is a symbol for hope that Daisy will be his and that his life will be complete. The green light also demonstrates our constant search to reach the American Dream. Gatsby’s ambition to be a successful, true American sets him apart from the rest of the upper class. His constant chase of being with Daisy is present from the moment at the dock to his final days on Earth, even thought she has already moved on.

The novel, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, displays the ultimate impossibility of achieving the “American Dream.” The “American Dream” is the idea that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work and determination. This novel clearly demonstrates the impossibility of achieving the American Dream through symbolism and characterization including the green light and the valley of ashes and Tom and Daisy Buchanan. The green light is an example of symbolism used to show the impossibility of achieving the American dream because the green light symbolizes Jay Gatsby’s American dream of getting Daisy to be his lover.

Scott Fitzgerald once said "America's great promise is that something is going to happen, and after a while you get tired of waiting because nothing happens to people except that they grow old and nothing happens to American art because America is the story of the moon that never rose...". The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald connects to this quote and portrays a strong demand for the American Dream that seems to only cause dissatisfaction. Jay Gatsby has struggled to reach and grasp the dream he wishes for and can't accept what is really going on in his life. His dream contains wealth and high standard living to get with Daisy Buchanan who he claims to be his true love throughout the novel. Every part of Gatsby's dream is symbolized by the green light on the dock of Daisy's home.

Persistent hope and the idea of the American dream is a prevalent theme in The Great Gatsby. The American dream is often perceived as the ability to have opportunities and gain economic stability, but in the novel it is represented as extreme wealth and materialism. This is expressed by the extravagant parties and materials Gatsby surrounds himself with in order to receive recognition from people as a successful person, “according to the measure of response it drew from her well-loved eyes “ (Fitzgerald 91). Gatsby’s hard work still does not get him “accepted” into the same status as the inherited rich and affects his aspiration to get Daisy back. This represents that hard work will not always result as planned with extensive opportunities and rewards,

Symbolism is used by Fitzgerald to represent moral abandonment in key characters in the novel. The Valley of Ashes is a stop-off point between New York City and West Egg, where the reader is first introduced to Tom Buchannan’s mistress Myrtle Wilson. As well as being the place where Myrtle and Tom’s affair takes place the valley of ashes is also where Myrtle Wilson is killed when hit by Gatsby’s car and where George Wilson has the idea to murder Gatsby, the valley of ashes symbolizes a moral waste land or as Nick describes as a place where dirty deeds are done and then covered up “… and immediately the ash-gray men swarm up with leaden spades and stir up an impenetrable cloud, which screens their obscure operations from your sight.” (Fitzgerald,

Authors often integrate symbols and motifs to their writing to foreshadow later events. In one of the most famous pieces of American literature, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald drops hints to forecast terrible outcomes. The novel occurs during the roaring twenties and accentuates the wild and extravagant lifestyle of Long Island’s enclaves. In between East and West Egg’s opulence, there is the Valley of Ashes, a dark, grey wasteland. Even though their opulent lifestyle seems magnificent, one couple, Tom and Daisy Buchanan, faces marriage troubles because of their loss of love.

It was scary and uncertain, but it was all worth chasing after in order to grasp that final result of accomplishment. Nonetheless, according to Fitzgerald, our dreams are constantly in front of us and we continue to chase after them, therefore elucidating the impression that the green light is a symbol of the American dream to which Gatsby is reaching out for. Furthermore, at this point after Gatsby’s death, the light has ceased and completely has disappeared. His goals can no longer be accomplished and there is nothing left for him to reach out for. His desire for greed, the longing for Daisy, and the aspiration for the American Dream has also died with Gatsby alongside

The American dream states that any individual can achieve success regardless of family history, race, and/or religion simply by working hard. The 1920’s were a time of corruption and demise of moral values in society. The first World War had passed, and people were reveling in the materialism that came at the end of it, such as advanced technology and innovative inventions. The novel The Great Gatsby exploits the theme of the American Dream as it takes place in a corrupt period in history. Although the American Dream seemed more attainable than ever in the 1920’s, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby demonstrates how materialism and the demise of moral values in society leads to the corruption and impossibility of the American Dream.

John A. Pidgeon says that, “The theme of Gatsby is the withering of the American Dream”(Pidgeon 179). The prime example of this is Gatsby, who “believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter--to-morrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther” (Fitzgerald 180). The green light symbolizes Gatsby’s dream to be upper class with Daisy, but he can never reach it. Furthermore, it is frustrating for him that when he does attain wealth, Daisy is still out of his reach.

The valley of ashes also symbolizes the difficulties of the poor, like George Wilson, who live among the dirty ashes and lose their vitality as a result. THE EYES OF DOCTOR T. J. ECKLEBURG Another dominant symbol within this novel is the billboard eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg which is in the middle of the valley of ashes, right next to Wilson’s garage staring at the waste that careless capitalism has

In chapter nine, Nick said, “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter - tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . and one fine morning - so we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past” (Fitzgerald 189). This supports Fitzgerald’s message to the reader about the American Dream because the green light stands for everyone’s hopes and dreams and desires, however, it is unattainable.

"The negative side of the American Dream comes when people pursue success at any cost, which in turn destroys the vision and the dream." In this quote, by Azar Nafisi, it explains how dreaming can be tainted by reality, and that if a person doesn’t compromise they may suffer. In the book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the American Dream is one the many themes present. The American Dream that most people in this book hope to have involves wealth, status, a fun social life, and someone to lust after. It is the life they all strive to have until they obtain it and see its meaningless composure.