Gatby : Themes And Symbolism In The Great Gatsby

The author uses very descriptive imagery to illustrate, in our minds, how the Valley of Ashes looks like. He also uses personification, "a line of gray cars crawls..", including a simile, "where ashes grow like wheat." Nick tells us about a stretch of land lying a quarter of a mile between West Egg and New York which are connected by a motor road and a railroad, called the Valley of Ashes. The valley of ashes is basically the midpoint, being a colorless, desolate area of land. In fact, the somber place is home to the people who the higher class of the city tend to overlook. The novel's non-wealthy people live in the valley of ashes, which men work here by shoveling the ashes. This subdued landscape is filled with missed opportunities contrary

“On the outskirts of town, within the verge of the peninsula, but not in close vicinity to any other habitation, there was a small thatched cottage. It had been built by an earlier settler, and abandoned because the soil about it was too sterile for cultivation, while its comparative remoteness put it out of the sphere of that social activity which already marked the habits of the emigrants. It stood on the shore, looking across a basin of the sea at the forest-covered hills toward the west.”

In life everyone strives to get rich, but is having an abundance of money always good? Sometimes people use money for personal benefits, sometimes it's for the benefit of others, but at times people with money use it to create their social status. In The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the idea of wealth is seen throughout. Jay Gatsby, who lives next door to Nick Carraway; the Narrator of the story, wants to be with his dream girl Daisy. Gatsby is wealthy and throws parties to impress Daisy. Daisy however, is married to another man Tom Buchanan. Throughout the story the people with money use it to create their social status. In The Great Gatsby F.Scott Fitzgerald uses symbolism to convey, wealth causes people to assert

People in America love to have a great deal of money. In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gatsby always wants to have money, and he finally gets it. Gatsby has parties to try to get Daisy to come to his house. Gatsby tell Nick to tell Daisy to come to Nick’s house without her husband. Gatsby finallys shows his big house off to Daisy and thinks he will win her love back again just because he has money. Gatsby’s plan do not work out. Fitzgerald uses symbols in The Great Gatsby to show how things are going wrong in America.

The Great Gatsby is a symbol itself. The Great Gatsby was written to represent the rise and fall of the American Dream. The author places the rich and wealthy lifestyle on a high pedestal while he shows the dramatic consequences of moral and social decay amongst the characters. As each turning point is revealed, the American Dream slowly crumbles in the selfish hands of those who remain ignorant to anything else in the world. The significance of the many symbolic elements in The Great Gatsby plays a role in revealing the underlying themes of the American Dream, the ongoing clash between love and wealth and social and moral destruction.

Good Morning Mr Peinke and 11A today I will be discussing how F. Scott Fitzgerald, author of The Great Gatsby, uses the techniques of symbolism and characterisation to position readers to view the George and Myrtle Wilson, a married couple living in the Valley of Ashes during the 1920’s. While the 20’s were a great time of optimism, Fitzgerald portrays the much bleaker side of the revelry by focusing on its indulgence, two-facedness, shallow recklessness. While we don’t know a lot about Myrtle and George Wilsons background, through the descriptions given by Nick and other characters the readers have been positioned to view them given their status.

Significant Quote: “ ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys” (Fitzgerald ).

1. Diction Nick employs brutal diction in describing the Valley of Ashes as a “dumping ground” (Fitzgerald 24). This highlights the neglect and disparity of the area between Long Island and Manhattan. He implies that it is a place where unsuccessful individuals end up, hopeless and lacking the means to escape. It also represents a sense of poverty, in contrast to the conditions of East Egg and West Egg, as well as portrays a clear distinction of classes.

ideas or concepts. For example, a dove is usually used to represent peace. In the novel The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald uses a lot of symbolism to connect the characters with each other or to other objects. Fitzgerald’s use of symbolism helps advance his thematic interest in his novel of The Great Gatsby. In the Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses various colors, objects, and gestures as symbols to portray the lack of moral and spiritual values of people and the different aspects of society in the 1920's.

Symbolism provides an imagery that helps facilitate a deeper understanding. Taking place in the 1920’s, The Great Gatsby, is set during a time when society both put up facades while also striving to achieve wealth and high social status. The classic novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald cleverly uses multiple symbols throughout the novel to expose the issues with society at that time. The ultimate goal of this novel is to elaborate the class struggles and illustrate the goal to achieve of American dream. The Great Gatsby, The author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, uses the infamous green light, the metaphor of an egg, and pearls to show and support the overall theme of the American Dream.

Fitzgerald describes the Valley of Ashes as a place 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” (Fitzgerald 23). This quote demonstrates how despite their superior work ethic, they never progress or advance to a higher social class- they are stuck in the ashes. They slave in the hopes that someday they may escape and rise from the ashes, but no one ever does. Covered in charcoal dust, their bodies are consumed and hidden in darkness, symbolizing the suppression of their hopes and their American Dreams. Inside the Valley of Ashes comes Myrtle- another symbol for the unattainability of the American Dream.

The Great Gatsby is filled with symbols and symbolism, which try to convey Fitzgerald's ideas to the reader. The symbols are uniquely involved in the plot of the story, which makes their implications more real. There are three major symbols that serve very important significance in the symbolism of the novel. They are "the valley of the ashes," the reality that represents the corruption in the world, the green light of Daisy's lap that Gatsby sees across the bay and lastly, the symbolism of the East Egg and West Egg or more important the east and the west of the country.

In addition, it portrays the dismal ruin of people caught in between West Egg and East Egg. The description provides insight into the Valley as some sort of dumping ground, where the poor and dispossessed live. The valley provides a vigilant contrast between the wealthy towns of West and East Egg. The description of how the ashes grow “into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens," provides an ominous reminder that this place is where the hopeless prevail; this town could be considered a blighting town. The author’s use of the word “crumbling” illustrates the people who live here, in which they’re emotionless and that the essence of joy or hopefulness in their lives has elapsed over time.

When I began reading “Lehigh Acres” by Spencer Fleury I immediately noticed a dark, ominous tone that carried through to the end. This bleakness can be seen through the connotations of the words that Fleury uses such as; “ruins”, “empty”, and “indifferent”. The use of negatively associated words gives the reader an idea of what Lehigh Acres feels like. Going hand in hand with this tone was a strong theme of the emptiness and loneliness of human civilization. Throughout the work Fleury does an excellent job of using the juxtaposition of common suburban characteristics with the qualities of an abandoned or ghostly town to emphasize this theme. Although the overall work demonstrates this theme one line specifically stuck with me, “it was easy

"Who can describe the pleasure and delight, the peace of mind and soft tranquility, the sickly boy felt in the balmy air and among the green hills and rich woods of an inland village! Who can tell how scenes of peace and quietude sink into the minds of pain-worn dwellers in close and noisy places, and carry their own freshness deep into their jaded hearts! Men who have lived in crowded, pent-up streets, through lives of toil, and who have never wished for change--men to whom custom has indeed been second nature, and who have come almost to love each brick and stone that formed the narrow boundaries of their daily walks--even they, with the hand of death upon them, have been known to yearn at last for one short glimpse of Nature's face, and, carried far from the scenes of their old pains and pleasures, have seemed to pass at once into a new state of being."