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How Does The Valley Of Ashes Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

731 Words3 Pages

Janea Garcia
Walter American Lit
Period 4
December 7, 2015

Living the American Dream

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s famously written book The Great Gatsby uses a wide coalition of symbols and motifs throughout the whole entire story. The main theme and purpose portrayed throughout the book is to show the decadence, decay, and greed of corrupted Americans such as Daisy Buchanan, Tom Buchanan, and Jay Gatsby. Daisy’s greed has corrupted Gatsby to the point of pursuing criminal activity in hopes of winning Daisy over, once again.

There is no doubt that in the book The Great Gatsby, there is such a wide range and variety of hidden symbols and motifs used to symbolize the famous American Dream. The American Dream represents that no matter who you are, …show more content…

The Valley of Ashes is portrayed as just a dumping ground in New York… But F. Scott Fitzgerald builds it into a deeper meaning. Hauhart describes it as “…the valley of ashes collectively unite Fitzgerald’s major themes of hope, illusion, mortality, corruption, materialism, success, and failure.” …it represents the lack of liveliness and corruption of it’s once original freedom and beauty. Fitzgerald is a brilliant writer and even included weather as some of his whimsical hidden symbols and motifs. It is not a coincidence that Gatsby and Daisy’s reunion is during the pouring rain…but when their love soon rekindles, the sun slowly begins to come out again. In chapter seven (pg 128), during the climax of the book, on the most scorching hot summer day, Tom surmises Gatsby about attending Oxford and being in love with Daisy, he soon catches onto all the innuendos and confronts Gatsby. Gatsby and Tom both lose their sangfroid quickly and it soon becomes a heated argument that stirs up into a brawl between Gatsby and Tom over Daisy being greedy and loving …show more content…

For instance, during chapter two (pg 23), George Wilson is riding through the Valley of Ashes with Tom Buchanan. When they come across the so called “Eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg”, “George claims that those eyes are actually God staring down on them and judging him and everyone else as they all become more and more corrupted. But it turns out that it is all in George Wilson’s head…” Moreover, although a symbol for God perched above the valley of ashes overlooks the human doings in Gatsby, there is not a single scene or mention in the novel relating to a religious institution or creed that affirms the importance of belief, moral conduct, or the spiritual life generally.” (Hauhart’s article) the eyes he claims to be God, are just a billboard advertisement for an eye doctor. George Wilson is a classic example of an American citizen that you cannot help but except to commiserate with whom has been affected by the corrupted American

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Fitzgerald creates clear distinctions between the upper and lower classes primarily through the use of the valley of ashes. The valley of ashes is nothing but a grey wasteland where “Ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke” but it is also the home of the poor, “The only building in sight was a small block of yellow brick sitting on the edge of the waste land”. This is very much different to East Egg, where the wealth live which is described that “Across the courtesy bay the white palaces of fashionable East Egg glittered along the water”. This distinct different between settings shows the differences of the classes but also the hollowness of the upper

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F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby to represent the roaring twenties lifestyle and the ever changing American Dream during the 1920s. Symbolism plays a drastic role in bringing the essay into a more perspective view for readers by growing characters, creating suspension and motivating the reader to continue reading. The Great Gatsby contains large amounts of symbolism, making it one of America's most loved novels. Fitzgerald uses different concepts of symbolism by integrating weather, location, colors and signs into the book by playing out relatable situations, for example the tension during hot weather. The valley of ashes played a very significant role in the book The Great Gatsby by creating a definition of the classes.

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Alyssa Kaufmann Dr. B English 10 15 March 2023 Symbolism and the Power of the Past F Scott Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby as a commentary on society post World War I. Within the novel, it addresses the idea of the American Dream, social class structure, and the power of the past. Some of the most potent examples that symbolize the power of the past are Daisy as a character, the eyes of Dr. Eckleburg, and the Valley of Ashes. Daisy represents the significant power of the past over identity, and the future. She and her actions are the precipice of the entire plot.

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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.

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The valley of ashes is quite simply put the “dumping ground” (24) of the rich. Therefore, the valley symbolizes the disregard for others by the few people that have actually accomplished the Dream. For most people, the Dream may seem plausible, however it is just a fantasy. Fate abruptly pulls anyone trying to climb out back into the valley, or worse.

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F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is written as a mockery of American ideals, and emphasizes materialism, sexual immorality, and selfishness. Though it appears at first glance to be a love story about Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan, The Great Gatsby is actually a satirical take on American culture, especially in the 1920s. In the 1920s, known as the “Roaring Twenties”, America’s economy was booming, jazz was immensely popular, and alcohol had been banned. Organized crime ran rampant, and Americans seemed to lose their moral values.

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This quote also shows that the Valley of Ashes is a dumping ground, filled with poor and dispossessed people, such as the Wilsons. Fitzgerald depicts “The Valley of Ashes” as a place that is plagued with destitution and dilapidation showing the need for business regulation. The use of geography is significant, since it proves a big portion delivering Fitzgerald main

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We also learn about Nick from his descriptions. To conclude the feel of this novel, Fitzgerald introduces the theme of the pursuit of wealth so early in the story because it’s important to understand how it connects with the American Dream. The valley of ashes is a desolate land between West Egg and New York City that consists of dumping of industrial ashes. This place is literal and symbolic in one, it symbolizes poverty and hopelesness in such a way. These characters are helpless, they are suffering just like the environmental is.

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The Great Gatsby – Individual Notes Plot Summary: • Nick describes the “valley of ashes” which is a place between East and West Egg and New York. It sounds like a dirty train area filled with dirt and ashes (we also learn about a billboard/sign with large eyes- on the cover of the book??- that seems to be watching over the area) • Tom asks Nick out for lunch. However, they take a detour and we meet Mr. (George) and Mrs. Wilson • We find out the Mrs. (myrtle) Wilson is Tom’s mistress (Tom only seems to hide this fact from Mr. Wilson, not Nick • Mrs. Wilson and Tom invite Nick back to their New York apartment, where they leave him in the front room and hook up (this is rude and makes nick uncomfortable)  also Nick seems to not want to do some

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Practicing religion is an important aspect of culture that varies in intensity. From extreme devotion, to occasionally attending church, the worship of material things varies with these degrees of practice. In his novel The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald conveys the consequences of these difference lifestyles. Fitzgerald uses the absence of God and religion in the lives of the characters in the novel presents an image of a materialistic lifestyle to critique America’s lack of faith. “‘I told her she might fool me but she couldn’t fool God.

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Perhaps one of the foremost pieces of American literature, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald conveys the shortcomings of the American dream in the roaring 20s. Various uses of mood, symbolism, and color reflect Gatsby's dynamic emotional dilemmas concerning his idealistic love for Daisy, his business and personal morals and eventually his death. The largely dark, pessimistic mood of The Great Gatsby is characterized by the purposelessness and carelessness of the wealthy, the ongoing string of meaningless parties, the ugliness of the Valley of Ashes, and the tragic deaths of Gatsby and Myrtle. Regarding Gatsby’s emotional dilemma, a similar mood is conveyed in two separate events of when Gatsby and Daisy reunite and during Gatsby’s funeral

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The Valley of Ashes represents the poor and impoverished people in the US. They are the lowest of the low and aren’t respected by anyone in the East or West Egg. It is a dull and sad place where the “men move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air” (Fitzgerald 27). Nick also describes how everything is covered and made out of ashes, which shows that nothing they have here is valuable and there is little money in the valley. Overall, Fitzgerald is trying to express the different types of classes that were around during the 1920’s.

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The Great Gatsby In the novel “ The Great Gatsby” F. Scott Fitzgerald presents corruption and decay through the symbolism of Tom and Daisy’s home, the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg, and the desolate land of the valley of ashes. The Buchanan’s home overflows in luxury and beauty, but in the inside its rotten and decaying. The house symbolizes the corruption and decay that is concealed with money, luxury, and beauty. “ Georgian colonial mansion, overlooking the bay.

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Within his symbolism lies the underlying truth of the story: greed in the end fails even the greedy. This is portrayed in the valley of ashes that Fitzgerald illustrates in the novel. The valley of ashes is geographically between West Egg and New York City. The valley of ashes represents absolute poverty and destruction. It is full of ¨men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air… ash-grey men¨(Fitzgerald, 23).

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The Valley of Ashes symbolized poverty, and Fitzgerald succeeded at portraying the Valley of Ashes as this impoverished area via imagery. Fitzgerald glorified the color grey in the area, and described the area as this grotesque uninhabitable place to live, as a result it impacted the mood of chapter two, creating this depressed atmosphere that gloomed over the residents. To further enhance the gloominess of The Valley of Ashes, Fitzgerald also used the weather to his advantage, it was never sunny, the sky was always grey, and it played along with the color theme of the

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