What Is The Valley Of Ashes In The Great Gatsby

"Evidently some wild wag of an oculist set them there to fatten his practice in the borough of Queens and then sank down himself into eternal blindness or forgot them and moved away." Describing the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg, an advertisement in the Valley of Ashes Pg. 27-28

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

Nick and Tom were best friends in college, but hadn’t really talked much since then. When Nick visits Tom and Daisy one afternoon, he learns from Jordan Baker, Daisy’s friend, that Tom has a mistress. “‘Why-’ she said hesitantly, ‘Tom’s got some woman in New York.’ ” (Fitzgerald 15) This gives Nick reason to not like Tom and give him reason to tell Daisy, but he doesn’t. The next morning, Tom invites Nick to go to lunch with him in the city and Tom takes him to see his mistress-Nick does not want to, but he humors Tom. Tom’s mistress’ name is Myrtle Wilson. Nick does not agree with this, although he does keep it a secret. Nick listens to Tom and keeps his secret from Daisy, even though she already knows. Even though Nick develops a negative impression of Tom, he plays a role as a major confidant towards him.

The eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg, symbolic of a higher power, loom over the Valley of Ashes, ever-present and watchful, passing judgment on not only the immorality of individual characters, but also on the East as a whole. When Nick first notices the painted eyes, he comments, “above the gray land and the spasms of bleak dust which drift endlessly over it, you perceive, after a moment, the eyes of Doctor T.J.

First of all, Nick knew from almost the very beginning about Tom’s affair with George Wilson’s wife, Myrtle. Tom introduced Nick to her personally and the three of them, among another couple, spent the afternoon in a hotel getting drunk and partying. Tom clearly had no shame about cheating on Daisy if he was willing to introduce his mistress to his wife’s second cousin. Despite the fact that Tom having a mistress was “insisted upon wherever he was known,” (pg. 24),

The eyes of T.J. Eckleburg can be seen as if someone is looking over you which is described as, “above the grey land and the spasms of bleak dust which drift endlessly over it, you perceive, after a moment, the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg” (Fitzgerald 23). You can see his eyes in the sky and above land. His eyes are gigantic and he does not have a nose. The eyes do not look out of a face, but out of glasses. T.J. Eckleburg's eyes can be symbolic to God. They are always looking over you like God is. His eyes see everything, as you are constantly being watched. When you look out you can see Eckleburg's eyes just like how you know God is the man above you. Eckleburg's eyes are symbolic to God watching over you.

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.

Ashes, Fire and dust are recurring motifs in the novel. Analyze passages that reference ashes fire, and dust in any form from candlelight flames to heaps of ashes. You must discuss the motif here. What do fire, ashes, and/or dust represent beyond the literal in the passage.

Eckleburg. Since the billboard is placed in a poor area that has no hope of good health, the true meaning of the eyes of T.J. Eckleburg can be interpreted as the symbol for the eyes of god, the god of the spoiled American dream that encourages people to forget about everyone else and everything else and just focus on their “dream” to be super rich. The only image that represents the God are the eyes of Dr. J. L. Eckleburg that are looking at everyone from the billboard advertising glasses. These eyes serve as a symbol of hope for the wretched people of the valley of ashes who aspire to become wealthy with the progress of the “American Dream”. These previously hopeless people of the valley, instead of looking up to the sky for god’s light, would only be met with the gaze coming from this deity on the billboard. The eyes allude to being the eyes of god of the material world because they, just like the eyes of most gods of religions, are all seeing. This omnipotent aspect is evident throughout the novel and one of the events is when George Wilson recalls his last moments with Myrtle before she died, he ends his recollection saying, “Standing behind him, Michaelis saw with a shock that he was looking at the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg, which had just emerged, pale and enormous, from the dissolving night”. The eyes are, without any

These eyes, the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg, represent many things to the characters in this novel. He represents, hope, despair, and God, all while staring

Through the repetition of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg’s eyes, it becomes clear that the motif is more than the superficial meaning. Fitzgerald’s choice of setting is in the Roaring Twenties, where people fixate on their materialistic desire and in the process, neglect their spiritual values. In New York City, where wealth and fame are valued over all others, human moral slowly diminishes. As a reminder, Fitzgerald used Doctor T.J Eckleburg to represent that all unethical acts cannot escape God’s eyes. Nick is punctilious in noticing the strangeness of those gigantic eyes that overlook the entire city, yet his feeling is unspeakable. Nick recounts, “But his eyes, dimmed a little by many paintless days under sun and rain, brood on over the solemn dumping ground” (Fitzgerald 24). As time goes by, the eyes witness more and more defunct humanity leading to the dimming of the eyes, symbolizing God’s dwindling faith toward mankind. To add to this disapproving tone, Fitzgerald portrays the road to New York City as sullen through phrases like “valley of ashes” and “small foul river”. The “valley of ashes” also symbolizes the moral decay from the continuously pursuit of wealth and the deteriorating beauty of nature due to industrialization. From the pessimistic introduction, it foreshadows the later downfall of the plot. Starting from the first encounter, Nick has an indescribable feeling derived from the cogent stare. For example, as Nick and Tom slowly “walked back a hundred yards along the road under Doctor Eckleburg's persistent

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

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

Another major symbol in this novel is the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg. These are a pair of spectacles painted on an old billboard in the Valley of Ashes. The significant aspect is that this symbol only has meaning when other characters instill it with meaning. The eyes represent a higher power looking over the

    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