How Does The Valley Of Ashes Symbolize 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

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.

Imagine a world where one side of the equator was filled with wealth, happiness, and content. Now imagine the other side of the equator filled with poverty, sadness, and death. These two completely opposing halves enhance each other's descriptions and make one think of each side more deeply about the concept. This same scenario is also present in one of America’s favorite novels based upon the 1920s and the American dream. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald juxtaposes two contrasting places, the Valley of Ashes and New York City, using imagery to magnify the difference between reality and a fantasy, which is central to the meaning of the work.

The green light at the end of daisy's dock is the symbol of gatsby's hopes and dreams. It represents everything that haunts and beckons Gatsby: the physical and emotional distance between him and Daisy, the gap between the past and the present, the promises of the future, and the powerful lure of that other green stuff he craves money. The light is something that is a key part of gatsby's character, even the very first time the books protagonist nick sees gatsby he is down at his dock staring at the light. “He stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward – and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock.” and even nick comes to realize this lights significance , “ And as the moon rose higher the inessential houses began to melt away until gradually I became aware of the old island here that flowered once for Dutch sailors' eyes —a fresh, green breast of the new world.... And as I sat there, brooding on the old, unknown world, I thought of Gatsby's wonder when he first picked out Daisy's light at the end of his dock. He had come such a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close he could hardly fail to grasp it. But what he did not know was that it was already behind him, somewhere in the vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled on

1. The green light, situated at the end of the Buchanan’s dock, represents Gatsby’s hopes and dreams for the future. Gatsby associates the light with Daisy and in Chapter one, he reaches toward it

The green light is very significant, as it is by Daisy's house and plays a part in Gatsby, achieving his dream. When Nick arrives back from dinner, he notices Gatsby in the dark and sees that he has “stretched out his arms, toward the dark water in a curious way.” This tells readers that the green light serves as Gatsby’s motivation as it influences the way he acts. This is because it is by Daisy’s house, which is Gatsby’s dream. This pushes Gatsby to achieve his goal, as he wants to be by the green light. Nick later then says that he “distinguished nothing except a single green light.” Fitzgerald then puts this quote in afterwards to show how the green light is unreachable by Gatsby’s hand. This is like his dream, unattainable. This is because Gatsby’s dream relies on repeating the past, which cannot happen as things have changed. This means that Gatsby cannot achieve his goal. Fitzgerald uses the symbol of the green light to help develop the idea of the American Dream, to show us that some dreams are unattainable. He shows and tells us that some dreams cannot be accomplished, no matter how hard you

The green light is the most significant use of symbolism in The Great Gatsby. The green light represents various aspects of life which include: Hope, unattainable dreams, freedom and the American Dream. In chapter one Nick states “Involuntarily I glanced seaward — and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock" (Fitzgerald 152). The explanation of this quote is Nick seeing Gatsby reaching his arms out towards the green light at the end of the deck which represents that Gatsby is trying to grasp and gets a hold of his hopes and dreams, which is Daisy, but at that moment Gatsby is unsuccessful in doing so. The green light’s meaning is also that a person cannot live their lives in the past, but instead should look ahead towards the future. In chapter 9 Nick also states "I thought of Gatsby‘s wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy‘s dock. He had come a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close that he could barely fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him, somewhere back in that vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the night" (Fitzgerald 149). For Gatsby, the green light represents his American dream and Daisy. He wanted to continue his life with Daisy by his side, but sadly his dreams were short-lived.

The green light is a significant symbol closely associated with Gatsby’s dream. Readers are first introduced to the green light near the very beginning of the novel; it is located at the end of Daisy’s dock. Nick, the narrator of the novel, sees Gatsby peculiarly reaching out towards the water, so curiously, Nick goes to further observe what Gatsby is looking at and he sees "...nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock" (25). The green light is a representation of Gatsby’s hopes and dreams for his future. Gatsby’s reaching for the light represents his struggle to reach his goal, regaining Daisy as his companion. Gatsby’s mission to win Daisy becomes broadly associated with the American Dream. As long as long as Gatsby continues admiring the green light his hopes and dreams will continue to exist. As the novel progresses Nick discovers more about his neighbor Gatsby. Nick learns that Gatsby bought his particular house because it was the closest he could get to Daisy across the bay. Gatsby’s believes his luxurious mansion and his life style is an essential component to help him fulfill his dream. The symbol of the green light becomes even more distinct when Gatsby decides to show Daisy it. He says, "If it wasn't for the mist we could see your home across the bay... You always have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock”

When we see Gatsby standing At the end of the dock reaching for the green light he is remembering the past, and what it used to be like with daisy before the war. “He stretched out his arms toward the dark water...single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock” (Fitzgerald Chapter 1). This is when we first see the longing and temptation from gatsby to relive what he once had, and that is Daisy, represented by the green light where the dock is at her Mansion. The imagery that Gatsby is reaching for a green light that he literally can't reach, is symbolism for how he cannot reach the past. Gatsby however, never realizes this, he is always controlled by his ambition for reaching for Daisy and her love.

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the valley of ashes, an industrial wasteland between West Egg and Manhattan, is a “solemn dumping ground,” (24) characterized by its imagery of dust and “ash-gray men” (25). Above all, the decrepit billboard of the defunct oculist Dr. T.J. Eckleburg watches over the gray landscape where George and Myrtle Wilson live above their dusty garage. George Wilson, a poor resident of the valley of ashes, physically blends into his surroundings, “mingling immediately with the cement color of the walls,” (26) making him the human embodiment of the valley. Next to the valley is West Egg, home to those with new money, like Jay Gatsby. Gatsby’s life is the idyllic picture of the new world in the roaring twenties, where every person has an equal opportunity for success through hard work and tenacity. However,

The great illusion of the 1920s was the belief that everyone was living the American dream; in reality, only the wealthy few were able to. In the city, the dream was being corrupted and unethical tactics were used to obtain obscene amounts of wealth while leaving those in the countryside behind. In the book, Gatsby was the poster boy for the American dream because of his success, but he also represented its fate with the death of his dream and himself. Moreover, the Valley of Ashes was an important symbol because it represented the destruction of the American dream and it was the place that the main characters (excluding Nick) never held to any importance because they were apart of an elite class that looked down on the downtrodden. Today,

Fitzgerald uses “The valley of ashes” as a setting to define Myrtle and her attitudes throughout the story. The valley of ashes is an isolated region between East and West Egg. Many people only travel through that area when it is deemed necessary, and the people who did live there did so because that’s what they could afford. “This is a valley of ashes—a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally with translucent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air.” (Fitzgerald 4) The author uses words such as “grotesque” and “crumbling” to indicate the presence of a falling province. Fitzgerald’s

If it is remembered that ashes circa the turn of the century often referred to garbage, then it is possible to interpret the "valley of ashes" as a "dumping ground." (23) The ash heaps, then, are piles of garbage, and the repeated references to "waste land," as opposed to "wasteland," now make more sense, as does George Wilson's use of "a piece of waste" to wipe his hands. (24-5) For Fitzgerald, the American dream is to get rich and become socially acceptable; Wilson, who has failed, has "wasted" his life, and is now "down in the dumps." He has been cast away by society, just like the rest of the refuse that surrounds him. This, then, seems to be the fate of middle-class dreams--despite being conceived in a land filled with opportunity, they all end up in the landfill.

In the Great Gatsby, the Valley of Ashes is one of the most symbolic places. The Valley of ashes is “a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat”, an industrial place that is very smoggy, and there is a big advertisement of two blue and gigantic eyes wearing glasses, and above of the eyes is the name of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg. The Valley of Ashes is located about halfway between West egg and New York.

In the novel, the green light signifies to Gatsby what he wants, but cannot obtain. Daisy is the light, and time he lost with her is the green. He can watch it as much as he wants but can never have it. Just like he will never be able to reach the literal structure from across the bay. Nick realizes that Daisy is the light when he catches him watching it. “I glanced seaward – and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away that it might have been the end of a dock” (21).