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How Does The Valley Of Ashes Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

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In the book Great Gatsby there’s a place located just west of the rich people, this place is called the valley of ashes. The Valley of Ashes is where people live in poverty, this town is just half way down west egg and New York City. Filled with people that are trying to make a living. Which is very sad because just on the other side there are people spending their money recklessly. The last thing that remains in the valley of ashes that stands out is a billboard, of eyes which symbolizes the eyes of God. “About half way between West Egg and New York the motor road hastily joins the railroad and runs beside it for a quarter of a mile, so as to shrink away from a certain desolate area of land.” This is a valley of ashes—a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes …show more content…

“Over the ash heaps the giant eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg kept their vigil but I perceived, after a moment, that other eyes were regarding us with peculiar intensity from less than twenty feet away” (Gatsby 124).Nick tells about the billboard, when he turned around and saw the eyes, which symbolized the eyes of God. The blue eyes represent the American Dream and the corruption of the American Dream. It seem like the sign was judging while the people there in the valley of ashes were doing the same. “So we drove on to death in the cooling twilight” (Gatsby 136). This quote was foreshadowing the incident that happened in the valley of ashes when Gatsby, Jordan, Nick and Tom were on their way back home. Myrtle and her husband George was arguing and she saw who she thought was Tom. So she ran in the street to get his attention as they drove by, but it was Daisy who ended up running over Myrtle. All this happened while the eyes of God was watching, proof that the American dream is only a

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