... she is able to accept Tom's money and even his brutality, even after he breaks her nose on the party ",tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand."(Fitzgerald 39). Beside the love of her husband, this is not enough; her fortitude to obtain what she wants causes her downfall and in the end even her death. Gatsby's yellow car ... all the characters in the novel. When you are poor like Wilson the only dream you can dream is the American dream. His dream is to leave The Valley of Ashes with Myrtle. ""I've been here too long. I want to get away. My wife and I want to go west.""(Fitzgeral...

• Word Count: 858
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... Wilson. The black atmosphere surrounding it represents the hopelessness of their insolvent situation. "This is the valley of ashes.../where ashes take the forms of ashes and chimneys and rising smoke"(27), the ashes represent the black and how it puts a negative burden on Wilson and restricts him from future success. Gold also has an important meaning in the story. Gold symbolizes "God, healing ... Wilson. The black atmosphere surrounding it represents the hopelessness of their insolvent situation. "This is the valley of ashes.../where ashes take the forms of ashes and chimneys and risi...

• Word Count: 816
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... . The Eyes of Dr. Eckleburg watch over this original sin. These eyes, like the eyes of God or any other higher power, watch over the sins of the Valley of Ashes. "God knows what you've been doing, everything you've been doing God sees everything." (167) And like God, Dr. Eckleburg's eyes watch over all the sins that occur in ... the dark vile, sinful Valley of Ashes. Soon after Wilson talks about God like this Doctor T.J. Eckleburg's eyes " just emerged pale and enormous from the dissolving night." (167) This appearance of Dr. Eckleburg's eyes after a statement about ... , they serve as ...

• Word Count: 463
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... their money or their carelessness and let other people clean up the mess they had made." This quote shows the carelessness in the 1920's. A third symbol is the valley of ashes in between West and East Egg. This valley represents the garbage dump where the poor live. It symbolizes the moral and social decline because of everyone wanting to be rich ... don't help the poor. I think the book portrayed the Valley of Ashes better than the movie. The movie helped by showing the smoke and ashes, but the book went into detail about the conditions. "This is a valley of ashes where ashes grow like...

• Word Count: 509
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... wants to kill Gatsby. This is very hypocritical because at the same time Tom is having an affair with a woman, Myrtle, from the valley of ashes, an industrial wasteland situated between West Egg and New York. There are many symbols that F. Scott Fitzgerald uses in "The Great Gatsby". The green light ... end of Daisy's dock, the giant eyes of T.J. Eckleberg, Owl Eyes, the drunk at Gatsby's parties, East and West Egg and the valley of ashes are all examples of some of these symbols. The green light at the end of Daisy's dock symbolized Gatsby's longing for Daisy, who although is right ... g...

• Word Count: 867
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... are important when showing us how corrupt they can be symbolically. Corruption can be shown in the symbolic settings. 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 house and chimneys and rising smoke and finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling ... through the powdery air (27). The valley of ashes is just one of the symbolic settings that show us how corrupt society really is. The valley of ashes represents the downfall of society. It is a decay of...

• Word Count: 702
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... with nothing gained; he was only scarred from the deaths he witnessed and the grief that came with it. Now, not only did the valley of ashes symbolize death, but the Eggs and NYC were now locations of death. This location, which once represented parties full of life and glamour, now haunted Nick ... border is crossed. Viewers can also clearly see how Myrtle changes when she is with Tom, compared to with Wilson in The Valley of Ashes. When she is with Tom, she gains vitality and is opulent about Tom and his money. When she is with Wilson, she feels trapped in the ... in different environ...

• Word Count: 1111
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... 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, hope, and renewal ... 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 situ...

• Word Count: 1127
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... 's huge blue eyes, and the green light on the Buchanan dock which Jay Gatsby idolizes. 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 effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air ... . His eyes make Wilson, the husband ofTom's mistress, kill himself because he thinks that God is actually looking at him in shame for murdering Gatsby. When in the valley of ashes, the eyes of the doctor are also ...

• Word Count: 741
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... associates him to Daisy, because his dream is to be with Daisy. As well as the green light Fitzgerald drops other symbols like the valley of ashes. The valley of ashes represents societies moral and social decadence. These decreases are generally and mainly caused as a result of their unrestrainment to wealth. The eyes of Doctor T.J ... Eckleburg on a billboard in the valley of ashes represents some sort of God or superior being or power looking down upon American society. The biggest symbol is the rise and fall of Gatsby's and Daisy's ... the green light is just a light at the end of Da...

• Word Count: 1186
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... the lower class at the time. The upper class was described in manner of bright and pretty colors. The color grey is described as being dull and unattractive. Valley of Ashes is a little town which is practically all grey. Lower class people lived in this part of the town. Valley of ... Ashes is kind of like the wasteland of the city. The town is covered with grey ashes everywhere. Myrtle lived in the Valley of Ashes with her husband George Wilson. The color grey was used to describe George Wilson. After the death of Myrtle ... was represented by the color white because of her calmness ...

• Word Count: 559
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... is setting. At the beginning of Chapter 2, Nick describes the place that is between West Egg and New York: "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 and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling ... through the powdery air. " (pg.23). Nick describes the valley of the ashes to be a very distorted and grotesque place. This place represents those who have not even slightly obtained the American Dream; yet, non...

• Word Count: 1146
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... does not have any mean intentions and does never mean to cause harm as long as it does not affect her status. The Valley of Ashes is a large area of waist land and made up of industrial ashes that had been dumped there. This symbolizes the tremendous cost and destruction of the pursuit of wealth from the small rich population that only ... cares about themselves and nothing ells. This group of people includes Daisy, Tom, Gatsby and many other people belonging of the same social class. The Valley of Ashes also shows us how the poorer people suffer the expenses of the rich like George Wil...

• Word Count: 794
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... 1920s America. The American Dream is portrayed as corrupt through the use of setting. The divides between East Egg 'old money', West Egg 'new money' and The Valley of the Ashes 'working class' are huge and contrast to the Dream's idea of equality. The upper class or 'old money' group consider themselves to be superior to the other groups in society ... American Dream and what it stands for. The descriptive language used to describe the setting is also contrasting. East Egg's "white places... glittered" as opposed to The Valley of The Ashes which is "grotesque". The settings are symbolic...

• Word Count: 721
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... came into money live. East Egg is where the people that were born into money live. The Valley of Ashes is where the people that have very little money live. The towns of West Egg, East Egg, and The Valley of Ashes separate the physically separate the social classes of The Great Gatsby. One example of the separation of social classes is ... how Myrtle Wilson was in a low social class (Valley of Ashes) but she wanted to move up to East Egg. Myrtle and Tom were having an affair together. Myrtle thought that if she did so then she would be able to ... ...

• Word Count: 525
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... , Gatsby walked into a world he could not keep up with. One of the most important of symbols in the novel is the valley of ashes. The valley, basically, represents what destroys Gatsby and his dream. The valley of ashes represents the American society poisoned by the wastes created by the "factories" of wealth. It is a desert that represents the spiritual and moral ... aside. It is ironic, though, that the face overlooking the ash heap should represent God. The billboard was obviously created by an ambitious doctor just out to make money. The ashes reappear throughout, especially in chap...

• Word Count: 988
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... to win Daisy, but realized later, when she could not live up to his dream, that this was not possible and that money could not buy happiness. The Valley Of Ashes symbolized the corrupt, wealthy people of the 1920's and the eyes of T.J.Eckleburg represented a "god-like" figure who looked down on the corrupted society. I think that the glasses on T.J.Eckleburg ... life. Death was the outcome for both Gatsby and Myrtle, which demonstrates how difficult it was to change social position in the 1920's. Myrtle was killed in the Valley Of Ashes, which shows that she too was being corrupted by t...

• Word Count: 1085
• Approx Pages: 4

... be free from class distinction. The novel reflects a divided society with reference to the "valley of the ashes", a "dismal" and "desolate" wasteland. The "valley of the ashes" is described as a symbolism of those who have failed the American dream, it was a "fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens... of ash grey men". In contrast, there was ... ...

• Word Count: 715
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... himself. The Buchanans house on the other hand has all the history and luxurious style to merit Nick's opinion. Wasteland, a dumping ground between the two Eggs, termed "The valley of ashes", is a very empty place. This wasteland must be travelled through on all journeys to and from the Eggs. Its seen as a very dry, desolate place where the ... ashes form shapes roughly resembling hill, housing and ugly gardens. Its lined down one side with a river described as "foul". This area plays an important part in relation to the themes. ... destruction caused by the pursuit and gain of materi...

• Word Count: 1099
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... . Then it presents consequences of extravagance. The main theme of The Great Gatsby, the moral and social decay of the 1920s, represents Fitzgerald's view of his time. The Valley of ashes symbolizes this decay and the eyes of TJ Eckelburg symbolize God looking at the decaying morals and the plight of the poor. A victim of the bad morality of the rich ... , George Wilson lives next to the valley of ashes. The mood of The Great Gatsby, hot in the middle of summer, reveals something about why characters act the way they do. During hot and stuffy summer months, people tend ... ...

• Word Count: 749
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... many important events that unfold in the novel. For instance, they watched over the affair with Tom and Myrtle from beginning to end, as Myrtle died in the valley of ashes. Emphasising the theme of seeing, the eyes also witnessed in chapter 7 that Tom "saw" the true relationship between Daisy and Gatsby and George "saw" that Myrtle was having an affair ... books in his library to show his perfection in the imitation and desire to combine with this society. A similar situation occurs when Myrtle, a lower class woman from the valley of ashes, and Tom, a wealthy man from East Egg go into N...

• Word Count: 715
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... at preserving his relationship with Daisy. There are many symbols throughout the book, three of which stand out: the green light at the end of Daisy's dock, the valley of ashes, and the eyes of T. J. Eckleburg. The green light at the end of Daisy's dock represents Gatsby's hope for the future. The light is situated at the end of Daisy's dock ... in particular because Gatsby's want for Daisy is symbolic of the "American dream." The valley of ashes is also very important to the book because as it separates the old and new wealth and houses the poor. Last the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg ...

• Word Count: 538
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... theirs named Jordan Baker. Tom and Daisy hint to Nick that they want him to start a relationship with her, which he does. Later on, Tom travels to the valley of ashes, a gray industrial dumping ground between West Egg and New York City. He goes there to visit his lover Myrtle Wilson. Tom takes Nick there with him to a party to meet ... Tom, and Tom contemptuously sends her back to East Egg with Gatsby, attempting to prove that Gatsby cannot hurt him. When Nick, Jordan, and Tom drive through the valley of ashes, however, they discover that Gatsby's car has struck and killed Myrtle, Tom's...

• Word Count: 556
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... first revelation of the movie comes when Jordan informs Nick that Tom is having an affair with a woman named Myrtle Wilson. Myrtle (and her husband) live in the valley of ashes, a dumping ground between West Egg and New York City. As both the story and the summer progress, Nick finally accepts an invitation to one of Gatsby's parties. While there he ... argue about whom Daisy is in love with. After a heated battle, Daisy chooses Tom and the weary group heads home. As Nick, Jordan, and Tom pass through the valley of ashes they discover that Gatsby's car has hit and killed Myrtle, Tom's l...

• Word Count: 1146
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... the end it is all a fazade. They are unimportant, they haven't done anything but destroy each other. Fitzgerald and Coppola use symbols throughout the book and film. The Valley of Ashes represents the moral and social decay that is the result of the pursuit of wealth, as the Tom and Daisy think of only themselves. The people that live there symbolize ... "the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer-. The eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg are a pair of fading, bespectacled eyes painted on an old advertising billboard over the valley of ashes. The connection between the Doctor's eyes and Go...

• Word Count: 973
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School