The American Dream
The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a tragic love story but is also a clear representation of the American dream. Most characters in the novel wanted wealth, fame, and success and would do anything in their power to get this. What they did not realize was that money could not buy them happiness. Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald shows how relationships are broken, and dreams are eventually ruined by the harsh reality of life. Fitzgerald does a great job representing the rise and fall of the American dream, through symbols like the valley of ashes, the eyes of T.J. Eckleburg, and the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock.
Fitzgerald uses the valley of ashes, an industrial wasteland covered in ashes in between New York City and West Egg, to symbolize the struggle of trying to achieve the American dream. The 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 …show more content…
Eckleburg to highlight the intensity of the failure of the American dream. These eyes watch over the events and characters of the novel like the eyes of God. The eyes of T.J. Eckleburg, “are blue and gigantic — their irises are one yard high. They look out of no face, but, instead, from a pair of enormous yellow spectacles which pass over a nonexistent nose...his eyes, dimmed a little by many paintless days, under sun and rain, brood on over the solemn dumping ground(12).” The billboard that features the giant eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg is located in the middle of the valley of ashes, right next to Wilson’s garage. To George Wilson, the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg symbolize the death of the American dream. The eyes watch over those who can’t reach the American dream with a sort of admiration and in someway shames those passing through who are taking advantage of the hard work of the
The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a tragic love story but is also a clear representation of the American dream. Most characters in the novel wanted wealth, fame, and success and would do anything in their power to get this. What they did not realize was that money could not buy them happiness. Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald shows how relationships are broken, and dreams are eventually ruined by the harsh reality of life. Fitzgerald does a great job representing the rise and fall of the American dream, through symbols like the valley of ashes, the eyes of T.J. Eckleburg, and the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock.
Fitzgerald uses the valley of ashes, an industrial wasteland covered in ashes in between New York City and West Egg, to symbolize the struggle of trying to achieve the American dream. The 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 …show more content…
Eckleburg to highlight the intensity of the failure of the American dream. These eyes watch over the events and characters of the novel like the eyes of God. The eyes of T.J. Eckleburg, “are blue and gigantic — their irises are one yard high. They look out of no face, but, instead, from a pair of enormous yellow spectacles which pass over a nonexistent nose...his eyes, dimmed a little by many paintless days, under sun and rain, brood on over the solemn dumping ground(12).” The billboard that features the giant eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg is located in the middle of the valley of ashes, right next to Wilson’s garage. To George Wilson, the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg symbolize the death of the American dream. The eyes watch over those who can’t reach the American dream with a sort of admiration and in someway shames those passing through who are taking advantage of the hard work of the