The Great Gatsby Valley Of Ashes

Fitzgerald’s Great Gatsby and Elliot’s The Wasteland are two stories that similarly express the modernist post-war disillusionment. Both stories comment pessimistically on the direction that our world is moving in from the post-war modernist perspective. Both men looked past the roaring twenties, and realized that this time period was actually a moral wasteland. The final paragraphs of The Great Gatsby sum up their mutual lack of faith in American culture to improve.

These quotes describe two of maybe three important symbols in the book. The Valley of Ashes signifies the open road ahead which civilization is going for, yet the ashes symbolize the decay of society, where the pursuit for wealth leaves behind a mark. This mark could be considered a mark of poorness that the non-pursuers have to deal with. The eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg signify the watchful eyes of God upon what America did in the 1920s. The American's blindness of the time resulted in industrial problems throughout the country.

The unfortunate events that occur in the Valley of Ashes, the affair between Tom and Myrtle which ultimately led to Myrtle 's accidental death, represent the severe consequences brought about by the failed attempts at achieve the American Dream. Tom wanted everything all at the same time a concept typically associated with the 1920’s, a time full of loss of inhibitions and little self control. The Valley of Ashes also symbolizes the condition in which the poorer American society lived during the 1920s. The description of the Valley of Ashes as a "desolate strip of land" (Fitzgerald 22), allows the reader to recognize the negative personality changes, reflective of the 1920s. Fitzgerald was well known for writing in an almost satirical manner to describe his opinions of the 1920’s.

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.

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.

Posted on the New York TImes a young author who goes by Michael Pollon, who decided to share th world about the interest facts about lawns. Even though people step on grass, mow the lawn, or decoreate, he was curious in why people do it. In the article he stated the imporantance different lawns, and how each lawn can represents a family. Such as when the front yard grass is looking well taking care off, you assume that the family is well organized and even though succesful at that. Also when the grass is looking patched with different and the lenght of the grass is different in sizes aand looks like it does not seems to be getting a lot of attention, the home owner is not sucesfful and has a quite messy living. Pollon using a lot of references to back him in his article. Michael brings insight on the Great Gatsby by talking about scene that has to do with lawn care and how imporant Gatsby saw that

The valley of ashes separates New york city and the West egg. It is symbolizes absolute poverty and hopelessness. The lower class who live in this region are tied down because they have no money, hope, and neither do they have a bright future ahead of them. This shows how the American dream is impossible to achieve. On a symbolic level the ashes represent the dead. Every generation, the ashes pile up destroying and changing the American dream further. The eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg are a pair of fading, bespectacled eyes painted on an old advertising billboard. This eyes overlook the valley of ashes. This pair of eyes could symbolize God staring down upon and judging American society as a moral wasteland. The chapter never explores this

Many times we hear of society's affect on people; society influencing the way people think and act.  Hardly mentioned is the reverse: peoples' actions and lifestyles affecting society as a whole and how it is characterized.  Thus, society is a reflection of its inhabitants and in The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, it is a wasteland described as the "valley of ashes."  Since the characters of this novel make up this wasteland, aren't they the waste?  Symbolically, this waste represents the lack of ethics of the 1920's society and civilization's decay.  In The Great Gatsby, morals deficiencies such as a lack of God, selfishness, and idleness are reflective of a society as doomed as

As the car collided with Myrtle’s body, Gatsby looked death in the face as his fate was sealed to forever be alone. Tom and Daisy lived in East Egg, where all the people came from generations of old money and believed they represented the elite of society because they were raised wealthy and sophisticated. On the other hand, Gatsby lived in West Egg which was considered less fashionable since those with new money resided there. However, five years ago, long before she married Tom, Daisy met Gatsby for the first time in Louisville, Kentucky. The two quickly fell in love until they were brutally ripped apart when Gatsby left for the war.

Throughout chapter two Fitzgerald tells the story through the characters, settings, language and imagery he uses. In the chapter Tom Buchanan takes Nick to meet his mistress, Myrtle, in the valley of ashes, a dim, lifeless place in which an American dream fails to thrive. Nick is then taken to Tom’s flat in the city in which he attends a party with Tom, Myrtle and Myrtles friends. The valley of ashes throughout this chapter is described as a dull, desolate land full of ‘grey cars’ and men. The valley of ashes is almost watched over by a pair of huge eyes belonging to Dr T.J Eckleburg.

The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald takes advantage of imagery and descriptions to represent the nature of the people who inhabit this world. The valley of ashes is described as a “dumping ground” and the descriptions in the book about the valley of ashes advertise it as a place for the poor or working class. The valley of ashes represents the moral and social decay that evolve from the uninhibited pursuit of wealth. This represents the nature of the characters who inhabit this world by symbolizing the hopelessness in any person which is shown through their character or not .

    Throughout F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, location is a critical motif. The contrasts between East and West, East Egg and West Egg, and the two Eggs and New York serve important thematic roles and provide the backdrops for the main conflict. Yet, there needs to be a middle ground between each of these sites, a buffer zone, as it were; there is the great distance that separates East from West; there is the bay that separates East Egg from West Egg; and, there is the Valley of Ashes that separates Long Island from New York. The last of these is probably the most striking. Yet, the traditional literal interpretation does not serve Fitzgerald's theme as well as a more

Stories are what entertain us; they always have, and they still do whether it be books we decide to read or a show we watch on television or a live theatrical show we may choose to attend. Regardless, stories still make up a huge component of our lives, we keenly watch as they progress, relating to their character to the extent that some of us wish they were real people. Little do we realize that they are simply puppets being manipulated for their owner’s purpose of storytelling. John Updike’s Marching through a Novel portrays the relationship between the author and their characters as the author having a god-like figure whose characters are left to his command. Updike’s piece accomplishes this characterization through his use of diction, imagery,

The chapter begins with Tom and Nick taking the train from East Egg to New York City. On the way, they pass a place called ‘the valley of ashes,’ an industrial wasteland that is full of ash and dust. In it, there is a large, old billboard with a huge pair of eyes advertising Doctor T. J. Eckleburg. As the train waits at a drawbridge, Tom realizes that they are not far from the home of his mistress. He decides to get off and visit her. Nick does not want to go, but Tom, who is already quite drunk from lunch, aggressively insists.

One day, Tom asks Nick to accompany him to the valley of ashes, a desolate town in the Long Island reflecting the typical life of those in the lower part of the hierarchy. He then learns that Tom blatantly cheats with a woman who lives in that valley named Myrtle Wilson, who has a gas station owner husband named George Wilson, unknowing of Myrtle’s infidelity. Nick, Tom, and Myrtle then sets off to Tom’s apartment in the city and parties with the other few Myrtle has invited. That day, Nick get drunk for the second time in his whole life. However, the wild and ecstatic party ends up with Tom and Myrtle fighting about Daisy which causes Tom to