The English language has the greatest amount of vocabulary. This makes it possible for riveting speeches, flowing syntax, and consoling eulogies. However, the best use of the English language is in relevance to symbolism. F. Scott Fitzgerald creates symbolism eloquently in The Great Gatsby. Symbolism is everywhere in The Great Gatsby, as Nick meets and understands the lives and relationships of Gatsby, Daisy, Myrtle, Tom, Jordan, and Wilson. Fitzgerald’s symbols often correlate with the American Dream, a term coined by Anthony Brandt during the Great Depression to describe the hope of obtaining a better life. The relationship of The Great Gatsby and the American dream is emphasized through the symbolism of the green light, the Valley of Ashes,
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Literally, it is a strip of land between West Egg and New York. The land is the poverty of the 1920’s, the working class, and it is populated by the majority of who wish for their own American Dream to happen. People who go to New York from West egg have to “shrink away from a certain desolate area of land. The valley of Ashes is branded on one side by a small foul river, and , when the drawbridge is up to let barges through the passengers on the waiting train can stare at the dismal scene for as long as half an hour” (24-24). As Tom and Nick cross over to New York, they are left in the Valley of Ashes, and it is filled with the lower and working class. It is the opposite of Gatsby’s opulence, the opposite of Tom’s obscene wealth, and even the opposite of Nick’s background. The valley represents the disparity of the American Dream, of how hard work does not always grant a better life. It highlights a sense of imbalance in the 1920’s as the wealthy live comfortably yet the there are people living in “a fantastic farm where ashes grow like whet into ridges 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…through the powdery air” (23). The Valley of Ashes illustrates the inevitable reality of the American Dream: not all workers will climb up the social ladder and be successful. Symbolically, the valley represents the loss of hope, the lowest social class, and overall poverty. In the Valley of Ashes lies the eyes of Dr. TJ
Literally, it is a strip of land between West Egg and New York. The land is the poverty of the 1920’s, the working class, and it is populated by the majority of who wish for their own American Dream to happen. People who go to New York from West egg have to “shrink away from a certain desolate area of land. The valley of Ashes is branded on one side by a small foul river, and , when the drawbridge is up to let barges through the passengers on the waiting train can stare at the dismal scene for as long as half an hour” (24-24). As Tom and Nick cross over to New York, they are left in the Valley of Ashes, and it is filled with the lower and working class. It is the opposite of Gatsby’s opulence, the opposite of Tom’s obscene wealth, and even the opposite of Nick’s background. The valley represents the disparity of the American Dream, of how hard work does not always grant a better life. It highlights a sense of imbalance in the 1920’s as the wealthy live comfortably yet the there are people living in “a fantastic farm where ashes grow like whet into ridges 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…through the powdery air” (23). The Valley of Ashes illustrates the inevitable reality of the American Dream: not all workers will climb up the social ladder and be successful. Symbolically, the valley represents the loss of hope, the lowest social class, and overall poverty. In the Valley of Ashes lies the eyes of Dr. TJ