What Does The Valley Of Ashes Symbolize In The Great Gatsby
Gatsby Symbols
Symbols within The Great Gatsby play an important role in outlining major themes, conveying certain characters attributes and foreshadowing upcoming events. This allows readers to understand the overall meaning and message put forth by the novel in a deeper sense.
One of the first symbols mentioned in the book is the Valley of Ashes. This is an area between West
Egg and New York consisting of a large area of desolate land described as, “A fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take 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.” The Valley of Ashes is representative …show more content…
of something dark and lifeless. It is a gloomy and despairing wasteland which greatly juxtaposes with
Gatsby’s affluent and lavish parties. The Valley of Ashes is used to convey the lower class society as well as represent the moral and social decay that results from the reckless pursuit of wealth. The rich indulge themselves with regard for nothing but their own pleasure, which, as we see through the novel leads to death and destruction, symbolised by the Valley of Ashes.
Another symbol found within the Great Gatsby are the Eyes of T.J. Eckleberg. They are a pair of fading, bespectacled eyes painted on an old advertising billboard over the valley of ashes. These eyes can be used to symbolise numerous different aspects of both American society during this time and the characters within the novel. The eyes can symbolise the eyes of God looking down upon and judging the people and society they live in. The 1920’s is a decade of wealth, greed, waste and corruption, therefore through placing the eyes of T.J Eckleberg within the Valley of Ashes,
Fitzgerald is conveying to readers how God is judging the negative aspects of this reckless society.
The eyes of T.J. Eckleberg can also symbolise how you cannot hide from the truth and the past will always catch up with you. Gatsby’s dream is to repeat the past, and rekindle the love Daisy and himself once had, yet the eyes symbolise how the past will always be there be watching over
Gatsby.
The green light at the end of Daisy’s dock also serves as an important symbol in The Great Gatsby.
At the end of Daisy’s dock in East Egg is a faint green light which can be seen from Gatsby’s West
Egg lawn. Gatsby, at the end of chapter 1 is seen standing at the end of his dock reaching out towards the green light. This light is representative of Gatsby’s hopes and dreams for the future, in particular in regards to Daisy. The light symbolises Gatsby’s dream to be with Daisy and live out the American dream, it is his beacon of hope.
A less significant symbol with the novel is the mantle clock found at Nicks West Egg home. In chapter 5 Gatsby is over at Nicks house to be reunited with Daisy. During their, at first, awkward interaction Gatsby knocks a clock off the mantle, but catches it before it falls and breaks. This symbolises one of many things, and also foreshadows an event which will occur. The clock firstly symbolises Gatsby using time as crutch to support his hopes of winning Daisy back after losing her.
He leans against the mantle clock, which represents him leaning on the past to direct him towards the future. The clock may also symbolise Gatsby’s inability to let Daisy go. Gatsby had spent all previous time gaining wealth to win Daisy over. The already broken clock symbolises that his efforts to win her back were broken and a complete waste of time. After catching the clock to keep it from breaking Gatsby apologises profusely to Nick, who assures him it doesn’t matter because the clock is already broken. However, Gatsby carefully places it back in its place like a precious object. This symbolises Gatsby’s refusal to let time go. By Gatsby catching the clock and stopping it from falling, it is representative of Gatsby trying to stop time. Finally, the falling of the clock foreshadows that everything he dreams of will eventually fall apart as the story progresses.
The final symbol within The Great Gatsby is found in chapter 7 when Nick is trying to pinpoint what is so elusive about the quality of Daisy's voice. Gatsby notes that her voice is "full of money," meaning she has the tonal quality of never being in the situation of ‘wanting’ something as she has always been well provided for. Gatsby and Nick, on the other hand, are from working class backgrounds. Nick still struggles, but Gatsby has succeeded substantially. Still, he has not the history of wealth that backs Daisy's sense of security. Daisy represents material wealth and all that supposedly comes with it, class, beauty, comfort and power.
2. Explain how The Great Gatsby reflects the Jazz Age.
The Jazz Age was a period of wealth, indulgence, freedom and youthful exuberance during the
1920’s in America. It was the roaring period between WWI and the Great Depression where
America underwent extreme social change, specifically in major cities such as New York where women expressed their new found independence and pushed boundaries. It was the decade of mass production and mass consumption where organised crime increased and African Americans began expressing their culture through art and music. The Great Gatsby was set during 1920’s America and reflects the jazz age through the unconventional behaviour of the characters, the frivolous spending of money and influence of the automobile.
During the 1920’s, the upper class society expressed their freedom and independence through reckless behaviour. This is largely reflected in The Great Gatsby through how people acted at parties and certain activities the character would partake in.
Gatsby’s parties were luxurious, over the-top events thrown at his West-Egg mansion where people were known for getting drunk, dancing and acting carelessly. Liquor flowed freely through his parties and the large crowds continued to grow rowdier and louder in the opulent atmosphere. The wild behaviour is reflected through when a drunken man crashes his car into a ditch, representing the carefree behaviour of guests at Gatsby’s party.
We also become aware of unconventional behaviour when Nick and Tom make there way into the city to Myrtle’s sisters apartment where a party is held. This party, much like Gatsby’s is characterised by alcohol and misguided behaviour. Particularly as Tom is seen cheating on Daisy with Myrtle behind her back, showing the lack of commitment the wealthy upper class men during the 1920’s had to marriage.
The Great Gatsby also reflects the Jazz Age through the frivolous spending of money, as during this time the economy was booming and Americans had encountered a new phenomenon called, ‘credit.’
This meant they could buy things that they could not afford, and pay back later.
This lead to careless spending and extravagant uses of money, which would eventually lead to the 1929 stock market crash. Throughout the novel, we see how money is thrown around in this upper class society through Gatsby’s parties and the overwhelming extravagance of them. Guests marvel over his
Rolls-Royce, his swimming pool, his beach, crates of fresh oranges and lemons, buffet tents in the gardens overflowing with a feast, and a live orchestra playing under the stars.
This carefree spending of money is also conveyed through Tom and Daisy, this is shown through when Nick describes how Tom and Daisy spent a year in France for no reason, they simply had the money and ability to do it. “Why they came East I don't know. They had spent a year in France for no particular reason, and then drifted here and there unrestfully wherever people played polo and were rich together.”
Finally, the automobile within The Great Gatsby reflects the Jazz age as during this time mass production had started, and the car became a popular and more affordable use of transport.
Cars were seen as a status of wealth and a sense of new found freedom. In the novel,
Gatsby possesses countless cars, one of them being the Rolls-Royce. “It was a rich cream color, bright and there in it’s monstrous length with triumphant hat-boxes and supper-boxes and tool-boxes, and terraced with a labyrinth of wind-shields that mirrored a dozen suns.” The reason his car is yellow is to attract Daisy and to display his achievement of wealthy status. However, there is a conflict with this materialistic view of cars. For example, the conflict arises where Myrtle is struck and killed by a car.
Therefore, through the use of these different factors, The Great Gatsby reflects the Jazz Age.
3. According to avant-garde writer Gertrude Stein, this was the novel of the Lost Generation. How might it represent the hopes and dreams of Americans during the 1920s?
The Lost Generation was known as the generation of people who came of age during WWI, but specifically refers to a group of US writers who wrote during the 1920’s. The generation was ‘lost,’ in a sense because WWI seemed to have destroyed the idea that if you acted virtuously, good things would happen. Many good, young men went to war and died, or returned home either physically or mentally wounded, and their faith that had earlier given them hope, was no longer there. They were
‘lost.’ Due to this loss of hope, avant-garde writers aimed to inspire and return faith to the post-war
Americans. This lead to the
Symbols within The Great Gatsby play an important role in outlining major themes, conveying certain characters attributes and foreshadowing upcoming events. This allows readers to understand the overall meaning and message put forth by the novel in a deeper sense.
One of the first symbols mentioned in the book is the Valley of Ashes. This is an area between West
Egg and New York consisting of a large area of desolate land described as, “A fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take 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.” The Valley of Ashes is representative …show more content…
of something dark and lifeless. It is a gloomy and despairing wasteland which greatly juxtaposes with
Gatsby’s affluent and lavish parties. The Valley of Ashes is used to convey the lower class society as well as represent the moral and social decay that results from the reckless pursuit of wealth. The rich indulge themselves with regard for nothing but their own pleasure, which, as we see through the novel leads to death and destruction, symbolised by the Valley of Ashes.
Another symbol found within the Great Gatsby are the Eyes of T.J. Eckleberg. They are a pair of fading, bespectacled eyes painted on an old advertising billboard over the valley of ashes. These eyes can be used to symbolise numerous different aspects of both American society during this time and the characters within the novel. The eyes can symbolise the eyes of God looking down upon and judging the people and society they live in. The 1920’s is a decade of wealth, greed, waste and corruption, therefore through placing the eyes of T.J Eckleberg within the Valley of Ashes,
Fitzgerald is conveying to readers how God is judging the negative aspects of this reckless society.
The eyes of T.J. Eckleberg can also symbolise how you cannot hide from the truth and the past will always catch up with you. Gatsby’s dream is to repeat the past, and rekindle the love Daisy and himself once had, yet the eyes symbolise how the past will always be there be watching over
Gatsby.
The green light at the end of Daisy’s dock also serves as an important symbol in The Great Gatsby.
At the end of Daisy’s dock in East Egg is a faint green light which can be seen from Gatsby’s West
Egg lawn. Gatsby, at the end of chapter 1 is seen standing at the end of his dock reaching out towards the green light. This light is representative of Gatsby’s hopes and dreams for the future, in particular in regards to Daisy. The light symbolises Gatsby’s dream to be with Daisy and live out the American dream, it is his beacon of hope.
A less significant symbol with the novel is the mantle clock found at Nicks West Egg home. In chapter 5 Gatsby is over at Nicks house to be reunited with Daisy. During their, at first, awkward interaction Gatsby knocks a clock off the mantle, but catches it before it falls and breaks. This symbolises one of many things, and also foreshadows an event which will occur. The clock firstly symbolises Gatsby using time as crutch to support his hopes of winning Daisy back after losing her.
He leans against the mantle clock, which represents him leaning on the past to direct him towards the future. The clock may also symbolise Gatsby’s inability to let Daisy go. Gatsby had spent all previous time gaining wealth to win Daisy over. The already broken clock symbolises that his efforts to win her back were broken and a complete waste of time. After catching the clock to keep it from breaking Gatsby apologises profusely to Nick, who assures him it doesn’t matter because the clock is already broken. However, Gatsby carefully places it back in its place like a precious object. This symbolises Gatsby’s refusal to let time go. By Gatsby catching the clock and stopping it from falling, it is representative of Gatsby trying to stop time. Finally, the falling of the clock foreshadows that everything he dreams of will eventually fall apart as the story progresses.
The final symbol within The Great Gatsby is found in chapter 7 when Nick is trying to pinpoint what is so elusive about the quality of Daisy's voice. Gatsby notes that her voice is "full of money," meaning she has the tonal quality of never being in the situation of ‘wanting’ something as she has always been well provided for. Gatsby and Nick, on the other hand, are from working class backgrounds. Nick still struggles, but Gatsby has succeeded substantially. Still, he has not the history of wealth that backs Daisy's sense of security. Daisy represents material wealth and all that supposedly comes with it, class, beauty, comfort and power.
2. Explain how The Great Gatsby reflects the Jazz Age.
The Jazz Age was a period of wealth, indulgence, freedom and youthful exuberance during the
1920’s in America. It was the roaring period between WWI and the Great Depression where
America underwent extreme social change, specifically in major cities such as New York where women expressed their new found independence and pushed boundaries. It was the decade of mass production and mass consumption where organised crime increased and African Americans began expressing their culture through art and music. The Great Gatsby was set during 1920’s America and reflects the jazz age through the unconventional behaviour of the characters, the frivolous spending of money and influence of the automobile.
During the 1920’s, the upper class society expressed their freedom and independence through reckless behaviour. This is largely reflected in The Great Gatsby through how people acted at parties and certain activities the character would partake in.
Gatsby’s parties were luxurious, over the-top events thrown at his West-Egg mansion where people were known for getting drunk, dancing and acting carelessly. Liquor flowed freely through his parties and the large crowds continued to grow rowdier and louder in the opulent atmosphere. The wild behaviour is reflected through when a drunken man crashes his car into a ditch, representing the carefree behaviour of guests at Gatsby’s party.
We also become aware of unconventional behaviour when Nick and Tom make there way into the city to Myrtle’s sisters apartment where a party is held. This party, much like Gatsby’s is characterised by alcohol and misguided behaviour. Particularly as Tom is seen cheating on Daisy with Myrtle behind her back, showing the lack of commitment the wealthy upper class men during the 1920’s had to marriage.
The Great Gatsby also reflects the Jazz Age through the frivolous spending of money, as during this time the economy was booming and Americans had encountered a new phenomenon called, ‘credit.’
This meant they could buy things that they could not afford, and pay back later.
This lead to careless spending and extravagant uses of money, which would eventually lead to the 1929 stock market crash. Throughout the novel, we see how money is thrown around in this upper class society through Gatsby’s parties and the overwhelming extravagance of them. Guests marvel over his
Rolls-Royce, his swimming pool, his beach, crates of fresh oranges and lemons, buffet tents in the gardens overflowing with a feast, and a live orchestra playing under the stars.
This carefree spending of money is also conveyed through Tom and Daisy, this is shown through when Nick describes how Tom and Daisy spent a year in France for no reason, they simply had the money and ability to do it. “Why they came East I don't know. They had spent a year in France for no particular reason, and then drifted here and there unrestfully wherever people played polo and were rich together.”
Finally, the automobile within The Great Gatsby reflects the Jazz age as during this time mass production had started, and the car became a popular and more affordable use of transport.
Cars were seen as a status of wealth and a sense of new found freedom. In the novel,
Gatsby possesses countless cars, one of them being the Rolls-Royce. “It was a rich cream color, bright and there in it’s monstrous length with triumphant hat-boxes and supper-boxes and tool-boxes, and terraced with a labyrinth of wind-shields that mirrored a dozen suns.” The reason his car is yellow is to attract Daisy and to display his achievement of wealthy status. However, there is a conflict with this materialistic view of cars. For example, the conflict arises where Myrtle is struck and killed by a car.
Therefore, through the use of these different factors, The Great Gatsby reflects the Jazz Age.
3. According to avant-garde writer Gertrude Stein, this was the novel of the Lost Generation. How might it represent the hopes and dreams of Americans during the 1920s?
The Lost Generation was known as the generation of people who came of age during WWI, but specifically refers to a group of US writers who wrote during the 1920’s. The generation was ‘lost,’ in a sense because WWI seemed to have destroyed the idea that if you acted virtuously, good things would happen. Many good, young men went to war and died, or returned home either physically or mentally wounded, and their faith that had earlier given them hope, was no longer there. They were
‘lost.’ Due to this loss of hope, avant-garde writers aimed to inspire and return faith to the post-war
Americans. This lead to the