What Does The Valley Of Ashes Represent In The Great Gatsby

Dreams are a compelling force in people’s lives. They are what propel them forward each and every day in an effort to reach something better. The American Dream has been sought after by millions all over the world for hundreds of years. This country was founded on the belief that anyone could achieve their dreams. However, in the 1920s these hopes and aspirations began to splinter until they ultimately shattered. In the novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses symbolism, setting, and theme to depict the unattainability of the American Dream.

The American Dream was the vision that brought many people to America to start a new life in a strange and foreign land. This vision or dream is a common discussion topic by modern writers such as F. Scott Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby follows a cast of characters living in the fictional town of West Egg on Long Island in the summer of 1922. On the surface, it seems that the novel is a story of the thwarted love between a man and a woman, but the masterpiece major theme is about the American dream. The author writes about a man who takes the dream too far and becomes unable to distinguish his false life of riches from reality.

As the phenomenal politician Bernie Sanders once said, “For many, the American dream has become a nightmare.” In the novel The Great Gatsby, written by Scott Fitzgerald, the “American Dream” plays a crucial role in the plot. Gatsby devotes his life to accomplish his American Dream which consists of wealth and Daisy’s love. But is the American Dream actually what it seems to be? Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald utilizes the symbolic value of the Valley of Ashes, East Egg, and the significance of the color yellow to constantly establish that opulence and the American Dream is deceiving as it leads to moral and societal corruption.

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 American dream can mean many different things and can be interpreted in different ways. To some people, the American dream is the belief that if a person works hard enough, he or she can be successful in America no matter what race, gender, or nationality. In the 1920’s, the concept of the American dream was very much the same, that an individual can achieve success in life regardless of family history or social status if he or she works hard enough. By having money, a car, a big house, expensive clothes, and a loving family symbolizes the American dream. In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the 1920’s is a time period in which the American dream becomes corrupt and dangerous. For Jay Gatsby, a main character in the novel, his American dream is about gaining wealth and material possessions in order to find happiness. Through his decision to symbolize wealth, superficiality, irresponsibility, and foreshadowing, Fitzgerald conveys the the theme that the American dream is a perfect concept and is something that can never be accomplished, but can always be reached for.

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.

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 becomes more significant as the book progresses, but isn’t even seen again until Chapter 5 after it was briefly mentioned at the end of Chapter 1. “If it wasn't for the mist we could see your home across the bay," said Gatsby. "You always have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock.”(5,98). This is some extreme form of stalkerism, he straight up tells Daisy something that she probably already knows, I mean it’s her dock. But Gatsby tells Daisy about the light on her dock and Daisy can imply that it’s something of a symbol to

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.

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,

Scott Fitzgerald, richness is clearly a dominant factor in this novel, but when there’s the rich there always the poor. The valley of ashes is a significant symbol in this novel by creating a deeper meaning of where the poor live and how they are looked down upon by society. "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 ash-grey men, who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air." (page 26). To continue, this is a symbolic and literal place in this novel, it represents the poverty and despair portraying their houses as ash. New York portrays its city as mysterious and beautiful and West Egg portrays their city as classy due to people who are wealthy during the time of the roaring twenties, so the halfway point represents the in-between which would be the people who are caught in the middle of it all. It represents the noble and social decline that results from the unrestrained desire of wealth, as the rich pamper and spoil themselves with not caring about anything but themselves. The valley of ashes also symbolizes the difficulty of the poor, for example, George Wilson, he was considered a ash-grey man and as a result lost his liveliness and hope."Oh, sure," agreed Wilson hurriedly and went toward the little office, mingling immediately with the cement color of the walls. A white ashen dust veiled his dark suit and his pale hair as it veiled everything in the vicinity except his wife, who moved close to Tom. (F. Scott Fitzgerald) In addition, Myrtle Wilson is clearly not the same, she is a very eager character and wants to escape her life. She is not deemed to blend in that “cement color” like George Wilson. Moreover, the valley of ashes also symbolizes the corrupt society as a whole, wealth in this novel is

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.

Jay Gatsby is presented as a mysterious and peculiar man throughout the story. You are unsure of what his motives are and if he is what he really says he his. War hero? Millions out of nowhere? The green and gold that seems to always be surrounding him? These are all attached to his character to build and develop him to keep you interested and emotionally tied to him.

One of the most prevalent symbols in the book is the single green light that represents Gatsby’s unattainable hopes and dreams. When Nick first sees Gatsby, he is looking out towards the bay and “…he [stretches] out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way and, far as [Nick] was from him, [Nick] could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily [Nick] glanced seaward – and distinguished nothing except a single green light”(21-22). Gatsby stares at this green light coming from Daisy’s dock hoping to one day complete his American dream of being with Daisy. Daisy is a