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. Gatsby reaches for the green light but he is still far away from it. Similarly to him reaching for Daisy’s love but he won’t receive it. For example, “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---to-morrow we will run faster, stretch our arms farther…. And one fine morning------ So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” (pg. 180) This quote is a prime
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The valley of ashes is a desolate area where industrial ashes are dumped, located between New York and West Egg. It is inhabited by people of poverty where dreams seem to diminish. For instance, “This is the valley of ashes---a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills into grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air.” (pg 23) It’s a hopeless area because the people who live there aspire to leave the valley of ashes and achieve their American Dream but cannot. Like when Myrtle tries to escape the valley of ashes but gets hit by a car and