How Does The Valley Of Ashes Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

The Blind Desire Like Holly Black once said, “Once someone’s hurt you, it’s harder to relax around them, harder to think of them as safe to love. But it doesn’t stop you from wanting them”. Gatsby, a self-made millionaire, envisions this life of endless luxuries and his beloved Daisy. Suddenly, his dreams turn into dust in front of his eyes; he ends up losing his life and everything he ever wanted. The series of events in Gatsby’s life symbolizes greater meanings than what they might seem on the surface. Automobiles, East Egg and West Egg, and the Valley of Ashes are all examples of symbols that F. Scott Fitzgerald uses in The Great Gatsby to provide a deeper meaning in the text. To begin, automobiles are more than just transportation,

Tom was the one that introduced Nick to the Valley of Ashes, Nick’s first impression of the place was “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” (Fitzgerald, 23). In the novel, the Valley of Ashes appears to be a place that nobody wants to visit; and is abandoned by the rest of society. This filthy place in between New York and West Egg displays the harsh reality of being poor in a wealthy and developed society. At this point, Nick sees a train full of passengers waiting to pass by, “ the passengers on waiting trains can stare at the dismal scene for as long as half an hour” (Fitzgerald 24). This clearly illustrates that the rich looks down upon the Valley of Ashes in disbelief; they cannot believe what they’re seeing in front of them because they are all used to all the luxuries in the world. This example also further explains the leftovers of society, the less fortunate are being discriminated against. The poor are given another place to settle down that is far away from the rest of the