What Does The Valley Of Ashes Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

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In life, people often strive for success and greatness which is often referred to as ‘the American Dream’. In the novel The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, there are many symbols that allude to the desire to achieve the American Dream. In this novel, Jay Gatsby is attempting to climb the ranks of social status as he pursues fame and fortune. This goal can be seen through the symbols of the Valley of Ashes, the uncut books of Jay Gatsby and the green light that can be seen from the mansion of Gatsby himself. The Valley of Ashes is a region of land that is between West Egg and New York. West Egg is seen as an area for the nouveau riche, while New York is the big city. The ashes are there from years of industrial dumping which represents …show more content…

In Gatsby’s library, he has shelves filled with books, yet none of them have ever been opened. The middle-aged man inside the library stated “It’s a bona fide piece of printed matter. It fooled me. This fella’s a regular Belasco. It’s a triumph. What thoroughness! What realism! Knew when to stop too—didn’t cut the pages.” This shows that his life is merely a facade and many of the fancy artifacts that he has in his mansion are just for show and proof that he has succeeded in the American Dream. His goal is for others to perceive him as successful, yet Gatsby’s only display of success is monetary wealth. Gatsby is a liar, whose life revolves around the idea of deception. He also puts on this facade mainly for Daisy. This is seen when he stops throwing his parties after he realizes that Daisy will no longer attend. It is almost as if Gatsby himself is like an unopened book. All the audience knows about him is his elegance and external qualities, yet no one really knows anything about him on the inside. The other characters make many assumptions and rumours about Gatsby. As the books are a good representation of Gatsby, this reiterates the expression to not judge a book by its cover just like we should not judge Gatsby by his exterior

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