What Does The Roaring Twenties Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

History has always been the contest of morality versus wickedness, but in the end, what is the purpose of morality in a tale of tumultuous tribulations? From the treacherous threats of gangs and alcohol to the colorful and thrilling jazz age and wealth, it represents two sides of United States history. Gatsby’s luxurious and lavish lifestyle on the surfaces serves as a prominent example of why the time known as the roaring twenties was in essence, an advertisement for perfection. On the surface, he had all the riches a man could want. Other men in the story such as Tom Buchanon on the surface also had the money to do anything he wanted. Looking deeper, the troubling turbulence of their lives and others in the story represents a more accurate

In the Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses symbols to strategically highlight the twenties’s magnificence and rich excellence. Fitzgerald uses these symbols to define actions and the large presiding culture of the “roaring twenties''. Throughout the story believes in the endless pursuit of wealth, as he believes in a green light that holds an “orgiastic future that recedes before us” and that “We must run faster and stretch our arms out further [to the light]” (Fitzgerald 180). Fitzgerald uses this “green light” as a reference to endless dreams he must achieve. Being the color of money, it is presumed that Gatsby is reaching out almost like he is reaching to a blinking sign of physical money. He sees a picture in his mind, and in his dream, he is garnering more and more money. The money he reaches is what he has dreamed of since childhood, from his days with poor farmer parents. The idea of money as a concept of freedom and mobility was reminiscent of the time. Men like Gatsby dreamed of wealth, as the culture was increasingly centered around garnering more

However, the story's symbols also contrast with that by expressing the moral decay of the time; its other side. As Nick Caraway travels to work in the morning, he must journey through the irksome Valley of Ashes. As he travels, he describes an area where “ the motor road hastily joins the railroad and runs beside it, so as to shrink away from the desolate area of land” and where “Ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys, with the transcendent effort of men who move dimly” (Fitzgerald 27). The valley of ashes is so repulsive, even motor ways where scenery is of little importance have to be turned away. The valley of ashes symbolizes the turn off to moral men, acting as the moral decay. Its physical decay in the form of ashes also assists in picturing the moral decay of characters of the time. Fitzgerald moves the decay onto the physical men as a symbol, who move “dimly”, which symbolizes the lack of decency throughout the story in each character when they act recklessly. At the time, this represents the economic inequality plaguing the time, and how men such as Buchanon and Gatsby profited off of the less fortunate for their own benefit. The valley of ashes symbolizes the moral decay of the story at its peak, however it is also important to consider the other real historical connections. In the History Channel article “8 Ways ‘The Great Gatsby’ Captured the