The Great War marked the beginnings of disillusioned lives in which people lost faith in institutional systems and values. With advertising fueling consumerism and a new consumer culture on the rise, people began to seek comfort through luxurious, tangible objects as a measure of creating a superficial shell of satisfaction. As one of the “Lost Generation” writers, F. Scott Fitzgerald employs the Valley of Ashes as a sharp contrast to the luxurious East and West Egg to suggest that the ideal American Dream is unattainable and not readily available to everyone, despite the numerous efforts to escape poverty-stricken life.
The Valley of Ashes, a by-product of those who live in affluence such as those in the East Egg, breaks the illusion of …show more content…
The adjective “fantastic”, having two different meanings, wonderful and strange, can portray the place either positively or negatively. Oddly, this indicates that hope exists even in a place full of ashes, which has lifeless and hopeless connotations, or that the valley of ashes is merely a place that is distinct from the Egg towns. The hope comes from not the feasible attainment of the dream but rather the morality that exists in the “bleak” (23) side. Because the “ash-gray men” (23) have a place in society where mobility in social status is highly impossible, they do not have the capability to pursue wealth. This also means that although they are tarnished with the dream of achieving the materialistic goal by making more money, they are not associated with constant parties that embody the “staid nobility of the countryside” (44) and the “factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy” (5). Just as Gatsby created a “Platonic conception of himself”, an ideal representation, to conform to the wealthy society, many other people lose their individuality by buying products that other people seem to have in order to catch up with the trend. However, unlike the people in the Eggs, the men in the valleys are not concentrated on spending money to fit in and conform to the society; they have not yet lost their individuality and identity. Rather, they are more concerned in making a living for themselves that they are not unnecessarily spending their income. Fitzgerald hints a glimmer of morale hope in the less-developed part of the society despite the impossibility of achieving the American
The Valley of Ashes, a by-product of those who live in affluence such as those in the East Egg, breaks the illusion of …show more content…
The adjective “fantastic”, having two different meanings, wonderful and strange, can portray the place either positively or negatively. Oddly, this indicates that hope exists even in a place full of ashes, which has lifeless and hopeless connotations, or that the valley of ashes is merely a place that is distinct from the Egg towns. The hope comes from not the feasible attainment of the dream but rather the morality that exists in the “bleak” (23) side. Because the “ash-gray men” (23) have a place in society where mobility in social status is highly impossible, they do not have the capability to pursue wealth. This also means that although they are tarnished with the dream of achieving the materialistic goal by making more money, they are not associated with constant parties that embody the “staid nobility of the countryside” (44) and the “factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy” (5). Just as Gatsby created a “Platonic conception of himself”, an ideal representation, to conform to the wealthy society, many other people lose their individuality by buying products that other people seem to have in order to catch up with the trend. However, unlike the people in the Eggs, the men in the valleys are not concentrated on spending money to fit in and conform to the society; they have not yet lost their individuality and identity. Rather, they are more concerned in making a living for themselves that they are not unnecessarily spending their income. Fitzgerald hints a glimmer of morale hope in the less-developed part of the society despite the impossibility of achieving the American