... possibilities that make the novel more intriguing. Three of the most important symbols found several times in the novel are the green light, the valley of ashes and the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg. The green light at the end of Daisy Buchanan's dock helps build an understanding of the character of Jay ... choose to indulge themselves. They have no regard for others; they only act for their own pleasure and well being. The valley of ashes is first mentioned in Chapter II as Nick is on the way to meet Tom's mistress, Myrtle Wilson. He describes the valley as a ". . . ... symbol is th...

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• Grade Level: High School

... paints a vivid portrait of a land ruined by greed and wastefulness. In the novel the reader is introduced to the "Valley of Ashes." The "Valley of Ashes" is a desolate land created by the dumping of the industrial waste. Fitzgerald uses the " Valley of Ashes" to portray, the corruptiveness of wealth, it leads to a life of materialism and purposeless spending and ends in, the ugliness ... . The people of this dismal place are as used and drained up as the land surrounding them. Every aspect of the valley is decreased , the people who live amongst the ashes are slightly less human and the ...

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• Grade Level: High School

In the Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses the settings of East and West eggs, The Valley of Ashes, and New York City to assist the actions of the main characters. The East Egg is more of the upscale region of the setting. People that ... them."(9) Lavery 2 Halfway between West Egg and New York City sprawls a deserted plain; a gray valley called The Valley of Ashes. The Valley of Ashes is a symbol of absolute unhappiness and poverty. George Wilson owns a garage in the Valley of Ashes. He is a glum, poor man. His life matches perfectly with where he lives. He's life practically ends when he...

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... . 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 ...

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... 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...

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... 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...

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... 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...

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• Grade Level: High School

... manner. Initially, in The Great Gatsby, the symbolism begins with two cities, East Egg and West Egg, which are separated by The Valley of Ashes. Fitzgerald uses the cities and valley to represent three distinct classes of wealth. As the book opens, Nick Carraway, the narrator of the story, ... are well-known socialites of East Egg. Vastly differing from the two other cities, The Valley of Ashes, is a working-class neighborhood lying between the old and new money cities. Fitzgerald's Valley of Ashes, which could be described as a virtual dumpster for modern industrial waste, essentially ...

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• Has Bibliography
• 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...

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• 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...

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• 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 ...

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• Grade Level: High School

... of the other scenes in The Great Gatsby is the site of the Valley of Ashes. Running close to the train tracks and to the road into New York, the Valley of Ashes is "a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens, where ashes take the form of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and finally, with a transcendent ... and rain, brood on over the solemn dumping ground (28). Here, another man's, Dr. J. T. Eckelburg's, American dream is presented. The only color mentioned in the whole of the Valley of Ashes is the blue of the Dr. Eckelburg's eyes and t...

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• 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 ...

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• Grade Level: High School

... 's dream and presiding over the harrowing spectacle of Gatsby's funeral, Nick realizes that the fast life on the East Coast is a cover for the moral emptiness that the valley of ashes symbolizes. Having gained the maturity that this insight teaches, he returns to Minnesota in search of a quieter life structured by stronger and more traditional moral values. His ideals and stature ... mimic that of the average middle class person of the 1920's. In The Great Gatsby, the Valley of Ashes between West Egg and New York City consists of a long stretch of desolate land created by the dumping of ...

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... 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...

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... 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...

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... , 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...

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... , but they also left lasting impressions on me in many different ways. The books are The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Things They Carried by Tim O"Brien and Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt. I happened to read all three of these books in the last few months, and all of them shocked me with their depth, meaning and significance to my ... to soldiers or people at war, it would be hard to ignore the intense emotions that a soldier expresses in this book which impacted me so deeply. The last book, Angela's Ashes, had a similar effect on me on a personal level. This book is about a...

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... 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 ... ...

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• 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...

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... spasms of bleak dust which drift endlessly over it, you perceive, after a moment, the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg" (Fitzgerald 23). This billboard has been set in the valley of ashes for many years. Doctor T. J. Eckleburg had to have been a successful doctor to be put up on a billboard. The citizens of the valley of ... ashes work day after day in harsh conditions trying to achieve the American dream. The money is controlling them because of how society is in the 1920's. The rich and the ... ...

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• Has Bibliography
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... , notion of the American Dream. Eyes are a clever symbol of realism because as people grow old, their eyes never change, always displaying our true selves. For example, the Valley of Ashes in the Great Gatsby is an appalling place between New York City and the eggs filled with poor, hopeless people who haven't been so fortunate. The giant eyes of Dr ... . T.J. Eckleburg were "above the gray land and the spasms of bleak dust" (23), watching over the Valley of Ashes that represents the real American lifestyle. Symbolically, they see the truth that the American Dream is false and not realist...

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... . 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 ... ...

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... 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...

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• 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
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• Grade Level: High School