In the Great Gatsby, the valley of ashes is the dark side of the American Dream. The…
The ashes in the valley are a symbol of the fallen sins committed by everyone. The ashes consists of sins such as partying, drinking, evilness, and everything that is considered immoral. In the beginning of the 1920’s everyone had a great time, showing hardly any remorse for their actions of wrongdoing. The ashes in the valley is a representation of how people gave up being acceptable in thy sight of God, in regards to how during lent, something is given up. The river that runs by the valley of ashes represents how the debt continues to flow into America during the stock market crash. People who once thought they were very fortunate became deprived in the end. The society as a whole collapsed in…
In The Great Gatsby we encounter an extraordinary individual, Gatsby, whose immense wealth catches the eye of many speculators in New York, West Egg and East Egg. In the story the author makes sure to emphasize the decay of the original American dream. The American dream originally represented hope and equality, for everyone looking for a better life. However after the wars and the passing years people took a different stand on the American dream and gave it their own meaning. The most popular meaning of the American dream was to obtain immense riches and power at any cost and all thoughts of equality and hope had banished. We can see that in The Great Gatsby when Fitzgerald describes the differences between the people of rich individuals from West Egg, East Egg and the poverty and struggle of those living in the valley of ashes. In the story Gatsby symbolizes…
The most distinguishable ‘vision’ of America can be translated as the ‘American Dream’. Both Fitzgerald and Miller explored the ideas around this same vision at two different times in american history to examine the success of society and looking into detail of how valid the ‘American Dream’ is. The term itself was first used by James Truslow Adams in his 1931 book, The Epic of America. The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States, the set of ideals in which freedom includes the opportunity for prosperity and success, and an upward social mobility for the family and children, achieved through hard work in a society with few barriers. Fitzgerald’s ‘The Great Gatsby’ is the epitome of the hypocrisy behind the American Dream. Sarah Churchwell sees The Great Gatsby as a "cautionary tale of the decadent…
In 1931, the term “American Dream” was made popular by James Truslow Adams in his novel Epic of America in which the quote read: “But there has also been the American dream, that dream of a land in which life would be better and richer and fuller for every man, with opportunity for each according to his ability or achievement.” In both The Great Gatsby and Of Mice and Men the attainment of the characters ' own "American Dreams" are portrayed. Jay Gatsby was the epitome of success; coming up from nothing to having anything he wanted and more. Lennie just wanted to tend the rabbits and live off the “fat of the land” with his best friend George. Two completely different forms of dreams, this goes without question, but one fact still remains: everyone has a dream. The key to whether they achieve it is a matter of work put into it, the faith a person keeps, and, regretfully, fortune.…
The American Dream in the Roaring Twenties generally consisted of materialism. The protagonist Gatsby portrays the American Dream in the novel because he has what all people wanted at that time which was money, a mansion, and cars. The East and West egg consists of only wealthy people like Gatsby and the Buchanans, and in between these areas is the Valley of Ashes where the poor lower class live including Mr. Wilson.…
The valley of ashes serves as a symbol to represent where all the waste from the rich goes to which is the poor.…
The Roaring Twenties were full of marvels and mysteries; good and bad. The truth in society is unveiled in The Great Gatsby in terms of wealth and The American dream. The rich people in the story are extremely wealthy, and what they say about their backstory may not be what it is in reality. Rich people have easy lives in terms of money, but the middle class and lower class workers must to toil to make ends meet. There are times where it is ugly for the poor, and Fitzgerald makes it clear. Fitzgerald also makes it clear that there really is no American Dream, or at least, The American Dream is not what it is hyped up to be. Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby shows the many faces of society in the Roaring Twenties and reveals the dark truth under them.…
The valley of Ashes represents poverty and hopelessness. This location shows how the American dream has been perverted into something very dark and sinister. This is the desire of wealth at any cost and the ideal that money will make you happy. “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…” (Pg.26). this quote shows the affects of the modern materialistic society of New York. Everyone wants to be the rich but the poor suffer a lot due to the by-product of the capitalistic society. The by-product in this novel is the ashes. This shows how people throw out regard for other humans for the pursuit to be rich (This is very immoral). This is believed to be the American dream. On the other hand you have…
Symbolism is big part of F. Scott Fitzgerald work in his most successful romance, The Great Gatsby. Symbolism happens when symbolic meaning is attributed to objects, figures or characters. Throughout the novel Fitzgerald utilizes many symbols such as characters, places and colors. His use of symbolism ads meaning to a certain object, character or place.…
It is “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” (p. 27), called the Valley of Ashes. It is the landfill where the garbage of West Egg and New York is transported and burnt. The whole area is covered with the ash, which is the only thing that remains after the process of burning the trash. It may be understood as a metaphor of human existence, with passionate and full of desires life, represented here by the furious burning of the garbage, coming to an unexpected end when the only thing that remains from human body is the…
The Valley of Ashes already sounds like a gloomy place full of despair and destruction; the name bringing forth images of a town that was engulfed in flames of a fire that consumed the land and left nothing but the ashes of life that once took place there. “Where ashes take the forms of houses” (p.g. 23) and the world is in monochrome. The people seem solemn, as if a tragic event has their hearts crushed with fingers of ice. It's hard to see here…
In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book The Great Gatsby, it demonstrates what the “American Dream” was in the 1920’s. That was what the modern person wanted back then; the “American Dream”. Back then and today, the modern person is always changing. People will always want more and will want to improve further and further. In today’s society, the modern person wants popularity, success, and the newest technology.…
The American Dream is originally about attaining happiness, but by the 1920s, this dream has changed into this want for wealth by whatever means, thinking that money will bring happiness. Fitzgerald does not use the words “American Dream” in the novel, The Great Gatsby, but it is obvious that he shows the impossibility of happiness through the American Dream. Fitzgerald demonstrates through symbols the impracticality of achieving the American Dream.…
The American dream was the belief that you could achieve anything through hard work and perseverance no matter where you came from. The 1920s was a time of rebellion against tradition and what seemed to be morally correct. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald exemplifies a loss of faith, a confused sense of identity and place in the world, and a collapse of morality and values in order to express the aspects of the American dream.…