F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby is, at first sight, a novel about
wealth, idealism, and social class. However it soon reveals its author’s true
intensions and ideals. F. Scott Fitzgerald uses symbolism to produce
immense emotion. He not only uses it on the characters but on the places
and even objects found in the novel. Two example of symbolism and what
they truly represent are, The Valley of Ashes and Tom and Daisy’s house.
The Valley of Ashes was first introduced in Chapter II, its located
between West Egg and New York City, it consists of a long stretch of
desolate land created by the dumping of industrial ashes. It represents the
moral and social decay that results from being part of the lower class, as the
rich only worry for their pleasures. The Valley of Ashes also symbolizes the
unfortunate conditions of the lower class, like George and Myrtle Wilson,
who live among the dirty ashes and lose their durability as a result. In other
words, The Valley of ashes can also be referred to as “the symbol of failure
of the American dream”.
Tom and Daisy’s house is a fairly large and well elaborated colonial
mansion, located on East Egg, the rich and prestigious side where only the
people who are “truly rich” live, not the ones that have made their fortunes
themselves. Tom and Daisy’s house is spacious, just like their marriage, but
it has nice furniture and antiques so that it appears to be comfortable and old
fashioned, and anyone would assume that a happy family lives in it. Tom
and Daisy, like the house, are not really happy, or in love, but they have all
the right properties and conveniences to cover up the real situation, their
huge marital problems.
Fitzgerald’s description of Tom Buchanan’s huge house not only symbolizes
his marriage but Tom and his values. The red and white colors in the
mansion represent his personality. Red in this case is an example of impurity
and boldness, while white represents Tom’s superiority towards others. This
huge house represents nothing but Tom and Daisy’s marital problems and
Tom’s arrogant attitude.
This two places and its inhabitants at first glance appear to be very
The valley of ashes 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 efforts, or men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air” (23). Here, The Valley of Ashes is regarded as complete destitution and hopelessness. The people known as the lower class do not wish to live in the valley of ashes. This is why people, like Myrtle try to do anything to get away from it but instead it becomes unachievable for them.
...ruction. Consequently, the constant differing social status desires from each class leads to immoral and corrupt action.
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 "the valley of ashes."
For millennia, there have been constant conflicts between the upper class and the lower class, characterized by the upper class’s sense of superiority towards those less economically prosperous. Mansfield, Gordimer, and Orwell describe these conflicts between the upper and lower classes to propose that completely transcending class prejudices is impossible and suggest that societal values have greater impact than individual values as they degrade both a person’s behavior and morality.
In “Ashes”, Ashes demonstrates she is a round character by her willingness to help and her fear of her mom finding out. While Ashes Dad is talking about how he owes some guys money, she asks If she “Can… help” him get the money” (41). Ashes is a selfless person and always looking to help, even with her dad’s financial issues. Once Ashes father explains that she could take the money, Ashes says “What if Mom finds out” because
“Gatsby turned out alright in the end.” Yes, because someone who ends up murdered in their own swimming pool, shot by a lackluster man, taking the blame for a crime he never committed for someone who quickly turned her back on him, is defined as “alright.” I never understood why Gatsby was the one to die. I thought he was the hero of the novel. Fitzgerald was a romantic; he was the American Dreamer. The novel was the epitome of the American Dream. The hero never fails; the underdog always wins. Isn’t that what we have always been taught? How could such a great man die? And why was Gatsby the only one pointed out as “alright?” I mean after all, most of the characters’ lives remained unchanged. Daisy and Tom resumed their marriage. Nick returned to the Midwest. Jordan continued her career. Gatsby was one of the only people who portrayed the repercussions of the events. How could someone that readers are supposed to root for die tragically, and on a false claim, nonetheless? Why did Fitzgerald murder Gatsby? But, after some research I realized Fitzgerald NEEDED Gatsby to die.
example is The Valley of Ashes. It represents the moral and social decay that resulted
The Great Gatsby is a 1925 novel written by American author F. Scott Fitzgerald that follows a cast of characters living in the fictional town of West Egg on prosperous Long Island in the summer of 1922. The story primarily concerns the young and mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby and his quixotic passion for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan. Considered to be Fitzgerald's magnum opus, The Great Gatsby explores themes of decadence, idealism, resistance to change, social upheaval, and excess, creating a portrait of the Jazz Age or the Roaring Twenties that has been described as a cautionary tale regarding the American Dream.
the first one 'day' or 'light' can be said to be a theme in comparison
his poor youth kept him from being an aristocrat. Daisy only wanted to be with
Daisy Buchanan, this woman is crazy, uncaring, and many would argue cold hearted. She is married to Tom and yet, has an affair with Gatsby. Tom is her husband, a very well-off man that goes off and has affairs, and never attempts to hide the fact. Then there is Gatsby. Ah, Gatsby. The young man she was so in love with as a teenage girl. Tom and Gatsby have many similarities; from the fact that both Tom and Gatsby want Daisy all to themselves to the fact that they both love her. While they share many similarities they have far more numerable differences between them. The differences range from how they treat her to how rich they and what social class they are in, to the simple fact that Tom lives in “East Egg” and Gatsby in “West Egg.” Both the similarities and differences between these two men are what ultimately cause Daisy to believe that she is in love with Tom more than she is with Gatsby.
In The Great Gatsby, the Valley of the Ashes illustrate the inequality between its inhabitants and that of West Egg and East Egg, in terms of social standing and income, as well as the hopelessness of poverty resulting from the inability of its inhabitants to rise up the socio-economic ladder. Thus, the valley represents the failure of the Dream that America promises, which is the ideal of equal opportunities for all, associated with the New World.
The Great Gatsby As A Tragedy A hurried read of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby can generate. a tragic impression of the past. The deaths of three of the main characters and The failure of Gatsby and Daisy's romance can be viewed as tragic. However, a deeper analysis of the book reveals a much deeper tragedy. The relentless struggles of Gatsby parallel Fitzgerald's.
Daisy’s sense of happiness is based on her materialism; resulting in her lack of wisdom or empathy regarding human relationship. She disregards the welfare of other human beings, because she only cares about the things that Tom gives her; the house, money, and jewelry. Furthermore, Daisy's focus on materialism causes her to act out like a selfish human being through her thoughtless lifestyle. Nick states,
As an American citizen we seem to make presumption that all cultures are different from ours, and some might even call those cultures weird. Americans fail to realize just how similar we are to these “weird” cultures. By reading Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe and The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald , it makes the reader realize how similar the African culture is from the American culture. There 's those obvious differences we already knew about with the two cultures, but readers can learn that not just American culture value men and give them advantages, but many cultures including 1900 's African culture. In both books we come across two main characters that is portrayed as being more superior compared to others. Okonkwo, main