What Does The Valley Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

The American dream is the idea that everyone should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby we are given a glimpse of 20th century New York; a story focused on the corrupted American dream. Many characters in the book are in pursuit of the American dream not aware of the impact their behavior will have in the end. The Great Gatsby is a tragic story portraying the downhill spiral of the American dream due to the carelessness of the wealthy.

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, the valley of ashes, the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock and the eyes of doctor T.J.Eckleburg are all significant symbols used throughout the novel.Firstly, the valley of ashes is between the West Egg and New York City and is virtually a dumping ground for industrial ashes. New York City is used to symbolize the beauty in the world, and the West Egg symbolizes the people who became wealthy from the economy. Furthermore, the valley of ashes symbolizes the ruin of the people caught in between. The valley represents the hopelessness poverty causes. Only people of the lower social classes live in the valley and they desperately want to leave but cannot due to the grasp poverty has on them.

Most people wonder what the American Dream is. What they are missing is there is no right answer to that question? It can be depicted through wealth, lifestyle, and even happiness or lack thereof. Over the course of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s literary masterpiece The Great Gatsby, the novel reveals to the reader that the American dream is unachievable such as, wealth surrounding the characters’ lives and chasing after their dreams will only end up in one’s own self-destruction. Lies surrounded many, if not all of the characters which ruined his or hers future. Ultimately, everyone comes up short in the end especially with his or her lies, showing that the American dream is a flawed and tragic goal.

The American Dream is a goal that Americans work endlessly to accomplish. However, only a few people are able to fulfill the dream. According to Kimberly Hearne’s “Fitzgerald Rendering of a Dream”, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses Gatsby to correct misconceptions associated with the American Dream. Although, Gatsby represents the American Dream’s distortion of reality and ambiguity, one must consider Gatsby’s illicit activities as a contradiction to the American Dream.

The American people have been graced with the ability to dream, to hold onto hope for a better future for themselves. Even in the darkest times, people grasp to the belief that anyone, no matter where one starts, could become something bigger. However, sometimes those dreams slip away as one is challenged by society and the dreamer is left on the sidelines. F.Scott Fitzgerald addresses the challenges one faces when following the American dream in his novel, The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald parallels Gatsby’s struggles to break through societal classes with the American dream through his use of symbolism and setting.

The American Dream is one that many people want to achieve. However, F. Scott Fitzgerald demonstrates his true feelings about the American Dream in his classic novel, The Great Gatsby. Many characters in this story, such as Daisy and Tom Buchanan, Jay Gatsby, and Jordan Baker, found riches and happiness in materialistic things and people throughout this novel. This is the stereotypical American Dream that is associated with the twenties. In Fitzgerald’s eyes, the American Dream is dead, because no matter how happy a person seems to be or how much money they have in their bank account, misery is just around the corner.

The Great Gatsby is considered by many an American classic. Set in the 1920s, the story remains relevant today, with its commentary on society, memorable characters and plot, and artful prose, and the story of Jay Gatsby has been retold countless times on film and other mediums. In The Great Gatsby, the author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, specifically focuses in on the fantasy of the American Dream compared to the reality. Fitzgerald uses dialogue, Gatsby’s story, Nick’s narration to show that while the American Dream looks like a truth on the surface, when one dives deeper, it’s clear that the idea is just that: an idea. Jay Gatsby, who the story is centered on, in many ways represents the American Dream.

The American Dream, through the eyes of many, is portrayed as a fitting end to a wonderful life. When spoken, it makes you think of accomplishment and eternal peace. However, in the book the Great Gatsby those very things that are held high, are shunned through the deep message by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It is interesting to note how different the author views the American dream compared to the way most people see it. Fitzgerald uses several elements to express his point of view through the story.

Eckleburg, and the green light that defines, praises and condemns the American Dream. The Valley of Ashes represents poverty and hopelessness as well as the failure of the American Dream. Nick describes the atmosphere as “ashes [that] 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, (Fitzgerald, 24). This symbolizes that the lower class people that live in the Valley lack equal opportunities, success, and prosperity, so much so that they essentially live in a prison that is impossible to escape, proving that the American Dream is impossible to achieve. Secondly, The green light is a reoccurring symbol in the novel that is associated with the envy and jealousy that Gatsby has for Tom and Daisy, as well as hope for the future. The light at the end of Daisy’s dock represents the uselessness of chasing the American Dream; “…he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way… I glanced seaward – and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away…” (Fitzgerald, 20). The fact that Gatsby never actually achieves this dream shows that the light seems so close, but will always be out of reach; best describing the American Dream. Lastly, the billboard eyes of T.J. Eckleburg highlights the magnitude of the failure

Humans continually search for success. This success surfaces in forms such as fortune, fame, glory, et cetera. The American Dream encapsulates the ideals of the “New World,” bringing together not only the idea of limitless success, but also its newfound availability and encouragement to embrace the promise land. The Great Gatsby explores the American Dream and “the actual nature of this dream... the manner in which people try to achieve it, as well as the moral implications their actions bring” (Smiljanić, 2). Through The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald reveals the truth of the American Dream by showing that it incorporates the drive for prosperity as well as the actual prosperity itself, but ultimately, that the class distinctions amongst Americans and the never ending search for fulfillment prevent the dream from being achieved.

The American dream is the idea that all people have the chance to prosper and succeeded in life. This idea inspires people to fight for something or someone. The American dream can be determined by love, wealth, power, success, etc. During the 1920’s, the idea of the American dream became corrupted and replaced with the idea of wealth and power describing America’s failures rather than America’s success. The main theme The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald is the American dream. In this novel, Frances Scott Fitzgerald shows how the virtuous and righteous ideal way to live turned into a tainted and marred aspiration. Fitzgerald wisely wrote that the American dream was “the last and greatest of all human dreams (Fitzgerald, 180)”. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby is destroyed by his view of his American dream, corrupted and perilous, of being with Daisy Buchanan and having it all.

In this case, the green light represents Gatsby’s dream. Gatsby’s dream is to meet Daisy once again and win her heart back. While most people would view the green light and simply brush it off as part of the scenery, Gatsby yearns for it. In other words, a regular person would take life as it comes at them, but Gatsby doesn’t think like a regular person. Gatsby’s dreams are extravagant; and when he wants his dream to come true, he will find a way to make

Another major symbol in the great gatsby that relates to the social decay of society is the green light, which represents gatsby 's hopes and dreams for his future which is associated with daisy. But it doesn 't just relate to the social decay, but also the way on how corrupt minds view the American dream and what it should be. Gatsby is hoping that his dream can become a reality so he can stop being lonely and finally fill that missing piece of his life. He looks at this light every night, “he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way” as he looks at the light he imagines himself in a happy home with daisy and everything is great in his mind which is what he wants.

Sometimes the very thing someone may be reaching for is not what it seems. The American Dream is something that can be known as what it is for most people; a dream. In Scott F. Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, the main character, Jay Gatsby, throws huge parties in West Egg, New York, that many people from all over come to, in order to find his goal and to achieve his dream. Fitzgerald portrays Gatsby’s parties as a symbol of the corruption of the American Dream; the immoral actions, shallowness of the party guests, and impossibility of his motives reveal the flaws of the American Dream.

In The Great Gatsby, the main character, Gatsby, is infatuated with the green light that shines across the water, from the dock of Daisy’s house. He reaches for it, almost as if he’s yearning for it. “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” (Fitzgerald 26). When we are first introduced to the green light, it seems to have no relevance. Though as we go through the story, the reader can make the realization that to Gatsby, the green light symbolizes the hope for the future. Green is also a symbol for success and happiness, which is what he wishes to have with Daisy. He reaches for the light, longing for Daisy to come join him in the idealistic future he hungers to achieve. But just like that future, the green light is entirely unreachable for him. Another symbol in The Great Gatsby is Tom Buchanan’s mistress, Myrtle Wilson. She is a symbol for the death of the American dream. She lives in the Valley of Ashes, another