The Great Gatsby Analysis

The novel and the film adaptation both make many references to The Valley Of Ashes. The author makes use of visual imagery to give a description of this setting. The book describes the Valley Of Ashes as “a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens where the 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.” The description of this setting helps evoke the feeling of poor men covered in ashes and drenched in hopelessness. Using imagery, this helps the reader to visualise an image of the area in which the valley of ashes exists between the two rich areas of East Egg and West Egg. The book describes a place where the scenery is a dull grey.

Setting reveals the perspective of a Narrator. A narrator’s perspective can be based on gender, social status, culture, and especially experience. In the book, The Great Gatsby, the author Francis Scott Fitzgerald, described a place of dispirited contents. The impact of the setting of The Valley of Ashes in The Great Gatsby is affecting the characters. It makes the characters determined to achieve more. The setting creates a gloomy and depressing tone. Word choice helps emphasize the impact of the setting.

Division and hopelessness are just two of the many symbols for the valley of ashes in the novel The Great Gatsby. The valley of ashes is where the poor people who work and have little hope or spirit left in their lives reside. In the novel, we meet people such as George Wilson who is the main embodiment of the valley. The valley of ashes symbolizes the division of classes and the hopelessness and loss of spirit in the people who live there.

A narrator, by definition, is how an author chooses to portray information to readers in their work. An author’s choice, in how to tell a story is ideal to the effect it has on readers. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s timeless classic The Great Gatsby, Nick Carraway tells the entire story as a first-person, peripheral narrator. Fitzgerald purposefully chooses Nick as a partially removed character, with very few emotions and personal opinions. By doing so, readers experience the same ambiguity of other character’s thoughts, are carried smoothly throughout the plot, and Nick’s nonjudgmental character lets readers form opinions of their own.

The plot of The Great Gatsby, a novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is driven by Jay Gatsby's

Rich versus poor, the difference is clear. The valley of ashes is a gloomful, lifeless place where the poor are left exhausted and looking for something higher to believe in. The rich live on the Eggs, old money on the East island and new money on the West island. People from old money are from British descent and do not need to work to live their luxurious lifestyles. People with new money are from German or Irish descent and are typically political or theatrical people. Wealthy persons live a colorful, exciting life without stress or need of a higher power. F. Scott Fitzgerald utilizes the valley of ashes to symbolize how the time and energy spent by the rich, both new and old money, neglect the poor in his novel The Great Gatsby.

After reading The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, I was able to gather a small playlist of songs that can relate to the book. The lyrics in these songs relate to scenes, symbols, and different characters in the book.

The Valley of Ashes is a desolate, decaying place that is looked upon by T.J. Eckleburg’s eyes. In the book, The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald describes the eyes overlooking the valley as a “brood over solemn dumping ground”(24). The book suggests that the eyes represent an omnipresent figure looking over the superficial wasteland. The American Dream is to become wealthy and prosperous. In the Valley of Ashes, the only thing that goes on is the pursuit of money and materialism; however, the valley has become run down and empty. The book often

The scenery choices for the film matched up well to what was expected from the book, but some choices contrasted greatly. The Valley of Ashes was well portrayed in the film. The Valley is “…a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens…” (Fitzgerald 27). This shows that the Valley of Ashes is not a pleasant place to be in and is looked down upon. In the film, the interpretation on the Valley is spot on. It shows a dirty, sad little town, filled with depressed people. A second scenery choice that is well depicted in the film is the Buchannan’s home. It is described to be very elegant and grand filled with beautiful furniture. Throughout the scenes in the Buchannan’s house, the “grandness” is well represented through the furniture, landscaping and exterior chosen for the house. The exterior of Gatsby’s house does not match up to its description in the book. “The one on my right was a colossal affair by any standard—it was a factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side…” is how Gatsby’s house is described (Fitzgerald 9). In the film, the house that is Gatsby’s doesn’t nearly stand up to what’s pictured from the book. It is large, but is not as striking as described. Nick’s house is also different from expected. In the film, Nick’s house is rather large and nice in contrast to the “…small eye-sore…” as described in

The valley of ashes a “ desolate area of land where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills;where ashes take the form of houses,Finally with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling

One of the ways Fitzgerald manages to flesh out the scenery is through the use of diction. Diction is the word choice and the connotation of the words that are seen in the text. There is a great example of diction in the fourth sentence of the first paragraph, where the narrator Nick Carraway uses words like bleak, spasms, and the phrase “drift endlessly” to describe the Valley of Ashes. These words typically have a negative or demoralizing connotation, which perfectly portrays how the characters feel about the Valley and how Fitzgerald wants the audience to perceive the Valley. The specific word choice reinforces the idea that people that live within the Valley feel stuck, and that being there for such a long amount of time has made them lose hope that one day they would be among the debutantes of the East and West Egg.

When soldiers were drafted to fight in World War I, they were taken away from their life and loved ones for long grueling four years. In the novel, “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald a story is told about love and loss due to the separation of war. However, the story leads the reader to question what is real love. Some say love is made up of words, feelings, or an intangible connection, but maybe it is all three. In this love story, Fitzgerald explores the love between Gatsby and Daisy who met before the war and fall in love. After returning from the war, Daisy has moved on but Gatsby thinks he can win her back by showing her his idea of love, which is superficial and not agape love. Trust, respect, and affection must be present for real or

The Valley of Ashes is a wasteland and desolate place, located between East and West Egg and New York City. The quote “where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke” (Fitzgerald 23) describes how desolate and barren the Valley of Ashes is. The Valley of Ashes gets

“The Great Gatsby” is a novel by the American author F. Scott Fitzgerald. First published in 1925, it is set on Long Island's North Shore and in New York City from spring to autumn of 1922. The novel takes place following the First World War. American society enjoyed prosperity during the “roaring” as the economy soared. At the same time, prohibition, the ban on the sale and manufacture of alcohol as mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment, made millionaires out of bootleggers. After its republishing in 1945 and 1953, it quickly found a wide readership and is today widely

The billboard is faded due to neglect representing the mood of the Valley of Ashes. The ruins of the billboard also represent the failed American Dream in the Valley of Ashes. The American Dream “encoded at the very center of our national DNA is admiration for the self-made success story, the mythic figure who pursues and fulfills his dream — someone like Jay Gatsby, a "Mr. Nobody from Nowhere" who rises from obscure poverty to immense wealth” (Donahue 1). The American Dream reflects throughout the film also as Jay Gatsby goes from poor to rich. Gatsby was very unhappy with his families lack of wealth when he was young, making him strive to do anything to become rich. Unfortunately but also ironically, Gatsby becomes rich illegally and dishonestly, eventually resulting in his death and not getting Daisy back.