The Valley Of Ashes In The Great Gatsby Analysis

    Fitzgerald employs this section on the valley of ashes and Dr. T.J.Eckleburg?s billboard to criticize American society and values.  He is portraying the American habit of using up what is useful or has value and leaving the waste products behind.  His symbol is that the wood (valuable) was used to build a fire and then the ashes (waste products) were left behind.  The valley of ashes was once a flourishing town, but was used until it was no longer valuable and was thus abandoned (like ashes after all the wood has been burned).  Gatsby?s parties were also a form of social commentary in Fitzgerald?s The Great Gatsby.  Gatsby?s acquisition and disposal of fruit (and rinds) in such large quantities is another example of society?s using up the serviceable and leaving the superfluous behind.  The actions of Tom and Daisy also illustrate this tendency to ignore the waste products and obstacles.  ? . . . Daisy accidentally runs down and kills Myrtle Wilson.  Completely unnerved, Daisy speeds away . . . ?they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their wealth or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made . . .?? (Gallo 36-44)

Imagery also played a big part in describing the Valley of the Ashes illustrated in chapter two of the book. Nick, the narrator describes The Valley of Ashes as the land that lies in between the Eggs and New York. The name “Valley of the Ashes” was given to this specify area is given due to its horrible conditions. This area was very unpleasant and is considered the dead land or the waste land. “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 a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air.” (Fitzgerald 23) This imagery portrays lower social class at the time period. The Valley of Ashes is very symbolic to the book as it symbolizes the plight of the poor, and characters such as George Wilson, who lives in the

She lives in the Valley of Ashes with her husband who owns a crumbling garage. She is unhappy in her marriage, so she is having an affair with Tom Buchanan. Tom is her ideal man because he is wealthy and can afford to buy her expensive things whereas her husband can barely afford to keep his garage open. Initially, Myrtle is described as being "in the middle thirties, and faintly stout" and containing "no facet or gleam of beauty." Immediately after she leaves the Valley of ashes with Tom, her character is described completely different. She is described in elegant detail similar to that of the rich because now she is immersed in the rich lifestyle. Fitzgerald describes her as wearing "a brown figured muslin, which stretched tight over her rather wide hips." The way Fitzgerald describes her also makes her seem beautiful whereas before she was described as having no "facet of beauty." Nick is even comments on Myrtle's sudden change in personality when she is around Tom. He states, "with the influence of the dress her personality had also undergone a change. The intense vitality that had been so markable in the garage was converted into impressive hauteur. Her laughter, her gestures, her assertions, became more violently affected moment by moment, and as she expanded the room grew smaller around her." The reason Myrtle was described differently and changed so drastically was all due to class distinction. Myrtle

Not caring about the people who lived in the Valley of Ashes and unaware of the struggling society, they throw their money around like candy in a parade. “The personal carelessness and heartlessness depicted in these stories are key attributes of many of Fitzgerald’s characters” (Weisbord 93). Many examples of this were Gatsby hiring people to mow Nick’s lawn and spending large sums on flowers just for meeting Daisy and his cars, Tom giving beautiful gifts to Myrtle. A huge example of this is mainly Gatsby’s parties, however. This is immoral because it shows how rich and unconcerning Gatsby is when it comes to

One of the first symbols Fitzgerald use is The Valley of Ashes “This is a valley of ashe’s a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take farms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally with transcendent effort of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air” (Fitzgerald 23). The Valley of Ashes is described in such great detail because it shows how beauty can be destroyed by greed. “Fitzgerald’s valley of ashes has been frequently compared to Eliot’s “Waste Land,” but the difference are more instructive than the similarities. Eliot’s waste and land is not, in terms of its imagery and mythology specifically Christian”(Elmore 433). The Valley of Ashes is a dead land that has a board over it that looks as if it is the eyes of God that sees all things.

The author uses the Valley of Ashes, a small town between the West Egg and New York City, to symbolize the moral and social decay that stems from the desire to become wealthy. The 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 a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air symbolizes a morally stripped place where materialistic and false people can live in harmony. The unfortunate events that occur in the Valley of Ashes, including Gatsby's death, the affair between Tom and Myrtle and Myrtle's accidental death, represent the severe consequences stemming from the failed attempts at achieving the American Dream. As the characters travel through the Valley of Ashes to reach elsewhere, they are forced to belittle themselves to a lower social status, as seen when Tom engages in an affair with Myrtle, a poor-stricken woman, who solely provides another form of comfort. Serving as a symbol of social and moral destruction, 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 used through color symbolism, creates a melancholy atmosphere which allows the reader to connect the importance of the "desolate strip of land" to the negative personality changes, reflective of the 1920s, within the characters.

The Valley of Ashes is halfway between West Egg of Long Island and New York City. When one comes upon the Valley of Ashes, it is not what they see, but what they do not see: sunshine, colors, or a settling feeling. The Valley of Ashes is nothing but a dull location, filled with unsatisfied farmers, unsuccessful gardens, billowing smoke, and mounds of ashes that are prominent below the gray skies. Nick Carraway, the narrator of The Great Gatsby, describes the Valley of Ashes as “...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 a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air” (Fitzgerald 23). Fitzgerald describes this location as unpleasant for those who enter and it is seen as a vulnerable place due to the billboard of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg looking upon the location at all times. This descriptive quote foreshadows that something bad will occur in this area during the novel.

5. The Valley of Ash is described as a gray wasteland where the ashes of New York are dumped. There are men who come to shovel away at the ashes. The symbolic aspect in the Valley of Ashes is the pair of eyes that look over the city in the form of an advertisement. “But his eyes… brood on over the solemn dumping ground” (page 24).

Daisy, Tom, Nick, Jordan, and Gatsby all move to the east, where they move from a world of values to a moral vacuum, represented by the "valley of ashes." The valley of ashes represents a world, which is like a distorted hell created by modern industry. Factories and trains, produced in the manufacture of wealth, has polluted America with its waste. Overlooking the valley, are the sightless eyes of T.J. Ecklburg, an advertisement on a billboard, that is actually confused as

It could be interpreted that Scott Fitzgerald had used the valley of ashes to foreshadows future events in the novel, which conclude with other people (Gatsby and Mr Wilson) having to deal with the effects caused by the rich (Tom and Daisy Buchanan).

The valley of ashes is described as “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 a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air” (23). The valley of ashes represents all of the dreams that died in the city and were never lived out, almost a valley of regrets. “Men move dimly” (23) because they have nothing left to live for, because all of their dreams are dead, just like the ashes. The gray cars go by and stir up a cloud of hope, and the ash-men pick up “their leaden spades” (23) and carry out their “obscure operations” (23), trying to relive their dreams to get a second chance. Gatsby lost Daisy when he was very young, and that crushed

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

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.

Through dressing rooms and poolrooms, and bathrooms with sunken baths. The dresser was garnished with a toilet set of pure dull gold. P.96-97" Tom and Daisy also live in a mansion which is Georgian Colonial, which establishes their status as "old money" characters. The people living in the "valley of the ashes" depict a third class. The "valley of ashes is described as " a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat in ridges…where ashes take the form of houses and chimneys". Myrtle and George Wilson are the inhabitants in the "valley of ashes", which is depicted as a wasteland. They live in a car garage which, shows that they live a common or impoverished existence in the desolate wasteland of the "valley of ashes". The Wilson's financial and physical environment instructs their distance from characters like Tom Buchanan and Nick Carraway in every way, including their lack of education and class. In this way, Fitzgerald emphasizes major monetary differences through materialistic as well as solidifying the premise for ideological differences.

The Valley of Ashes represents the socially unaccepted. The characters in the Valley of Ashes represent poverty. “This is the Valley of Dry Bones, the Waste Land, The dusty replica of modern society, where ash-grey men are crumbling, like Eliot’s hollow men” (Bicknell 98). Myrtle and George Wilson both live in a run down garage in the Valley of Ashes. Myrtle Wilson tries desperately to improve her life and get out of the Valley of Ashes. The Valley of Ashes also represents doom and death. Myrtle is found as the victim of a hit and run caused by Daisy and Gatsby. The Valley of Ashes represents the death and dreams for Jay Gatsby, Myrtle Wilson, and George Wilson. These characters die in the novel due to misconception and anger.