F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel The Great Gatsby examines the 1920s vision of the American dream. It shows how the American dream is corrupted by wealth and power. Gatsby is a firm believer in the American dream of self-made success. He has achieved this dream, but he also has a dream of being with Daisy. Gatsby is successful, but his success is through new money. There is a difference between old money and new money. The people with old money give no respect to the people with the new money. This is shown by Tom calling Gatsby’s car a “circus wagon” (128). The social flaw of being new money imprisoned Gatsby on an emotional island. The novel uses a major literary theme to show hidden meaning. The technique of symbolism is included into the novel. The author uses symbolism by showing how the American dream can be corrupted by wealthy people with little or no morals. Fitzgerald incorporates three symbols to prove this; they are the green light at the end of the Buchanan’s dock, the eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg, and the valley of ashes.
At the end of the Buchanan’s dock was a “single green light” that Gatsby reached toward (26). Green is a color that represents promise,

The valley of ashes “bounded on one side by a small foul river” represents the not so wealthy people of the 1920s (28). It is the place where Tom’s mistress Myrtle lives. It is a place where morals are left out and where only superficial, material-driven people can live in peace. It represents the moral and social decay that results from the uninhibited quest of wealth. It also represents the foul, material driven world that the main characters live, and which helps to destroy Gatsby’s dream. The valley of ashes is the place of Myrtle’s death by Daisy. Lehan wrote: “With the exhaustion of romantic possibility the valley of ashes claims the dreamer… The death of the dream foreshadows the death of the dreamer”(Lehan 97). Man’s quest for wealth and sophistication is corrupting our culture, and causing us to live in wasteland of morals, an ash heap of civilizations.

Secondly, the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg looked over “the grey land and the spasms of bleak dust which drift endlessly over it” (27). They were over a vast wasteland of the valley of ashes. The eyes are “blue and gigantic” and they are looking over everything and seeing everything that goes on (27). The eyes look over each situation, objectively, but offer a kind judgment on the characters and theirs actions. They are placed close to the Wilson’s because that is where the most self-centered acts take place. All of these crimes go unpunished, so the eyes look on and remind the characters of the guilt that they forget to have for what they have done. Wilson said, “God sees everything” to Michaelis after Myrtle’s death. When put “Just as Wils