Compare And Contrast The Valley Of Ashes In The Great Gatsby

Imagery also played a big part in describing the Valley of the Ashes illustrated in chapter two of the book. Nick, the narrator describes The Valley of Ashes as the land that lies in between the Eggs and New York. The name “Valley of the Ashes” was given to this specify area is given due to its horrible conditions. This area was very unpleasant and is considered the dead land or the waste land. “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.” (Fitzgerald 23) This imagery portrays lower social class at the time period. The Valley of Ashes is very symbolic to the book as it symbolizes the plight of the poor, and characters such as George Wilson, who lives in the

As Gatsby reaches out across the bay the green light evades his grasp, the elusive future receding from his myopic viewpoint. Through the course of time America has been referred to as the Land of the free and opportunity, but as times have changed so have American viewpoints. In The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald creates a love affair based in 1922 using juxtaposition to create a parallel between realist and idealistic views on wealth to reveal the demise of the American Dream in what is known as the Roaring Twenties.

The Great Gatsby as Fitzgerald’s explanation of an American Reality which contradicts the American Dream

Rich versus poor, the difference is clear. The valley of ashes is a gloomful, lifeless place where the poor are left exhausted and looking for something higher to believe in. The rich live on the Eggs, old money on the East island and new money on the West island. People from old money are from British descent and do not need to work to live their luxurious lifestyles. People with new money are from German or Irish descent and are typically political or theatrical people. Wealthy persons live a colorful, exciting life without stress or need of a higher power. F. Scott Fitzgerald utilizes the valley of ashes to symbolize how the time and energy spent by the rich, both new and old money, neglect the poor in his novel The Great Gatsby.

From the text, choose 5 words that reflect the valley of ashes. You cannot pick the words valley or ashes.

The Valley of Ashes setting in The Great Gatsby represents the theme of the extreme difference in social classes in New York during the early 1900’s. The ideology that the Great Gatsby is only filled with liveliness and wealth is wrong. There is whole other side of the wealth spectrum that nobody cares about. The difference in materialistic items from the two places was incredible but it was in the “... a factual imitation of some Hôtel de Ville in Normandy,...”(Fitzgerald 5). that was the main factor. The level of houses in West Egg was beyond extravagant; they were magnificent. This compared to the buildings in the Valley of Ashes, was like missing a free throw twenty yards wide. The quality of the Valley of Ashes was like having “... a small block of yellow brick sitting on the edge of a wasteland,...”(Fitzgerald 24). The quality difference is too intense to be true, yet it is. The money of wealth of one person, except Nick, can buy all the homes in Valley of Ashes. Just by the type of homes there are, it is like it is a whole other world.

The Valley of Ashes is a place of uninterrupted desolation, and is inhabited by poorer individuals like George and Myrtle Wilson. It is a miserable place that connects Long Island with Manhattan, and Fitzgerald uses it to denote the politics of that day. It lacks the stylish suburban allure of West and East Egg, and is a barren wasteland that symbolizes the moral decay of all classes in the capitalist society of 1920s America. Moreover, the Valley of Ashes is a reflection of the destruction of morals hidden by the facades of the Eggs, and Fitzgerald uses it to indicate that beneath the garish ornamentation of West Egg, and the mannered pretense of East Egg, lies the same ugliness that is in the valley.. He depicts it as a place plagued with such

Many times we hear of society's affect on people; society influencing the way people think and act.  Hardly mentioned is the reverse: peoples' actions and lifestyles affecting society as a whole and how it is characterized.  Thus, society is a reflection of its inhabitants and in The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, it is a wasteland described as the "valley of ashes."  Since the characters of this novel make up this wasteland, aren't they the waste?  Symbolically, this waste represents the lack of ethics of the 1920's society and civilization's decay.  In The Great Gatsby, morals deficiencies such as a lack of God, selfishness, and idleness are reflective of a society as doomed as

The chapter starts off by immediately introduces us to this bland and melancholy place between West Egg and New York City called the valley of ashes. The people who live here are described as ash and burnt out, they have low social status and extremely hard-working. Above this valley is the billboard “Doctor T.J. Eckleburg” where there are two eyeballs with spectacles looking from above. Tom forcefully takes Nick on the train to see his “girl” in this valley. They arrive to an automotive shop that hasn't seen business in years and meet George B. Wilson. George asks Tom when he will sell him his car, only to be shut down by Tom. Then a sexy woman appears, almost the exact opposite of beautiful Daisy. Her name is Myrtle and is currently married

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the valley of ashes, an industrial wasteland between West Egg and Manhattan, is a “solemn dumping ground,” (24) characterized by its imagery of dust and “ash-gray men” (25). Above all, the decrepit billboard of the defunct oculist Dr. T.J. Eckleburg watches over the gray landscape where George and Myrtle Wilson live above their dusty garage. George Wilson, a poor resident of the valley of ashes, physically blends into his surroundings, “mingling immediately with the cement color of the walls,” (26) making him the human embodiment of the valley. Next to the valley is West Egg, home to those with new money, like Jay Gatsby. Gatsby’s life is the idyllic picture of the new world in the roaring twenties, where every person has an equal opportunity for success through hard work and tenacity. However,

Fitzgerald uses “The valley of ashes” as a setting to define Myrtle and her attitudes throughout the story. The valley of ashes is an isolated region between East and West Egg. Many people only travel through that area when it is deemed necessary, and the people who did live there did so because that’s what they could afford. “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 translucent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air.” (Fitzgerald 4) The author uses words such as “grotesque” and “crumbling” to indicate the presence of a falling province. Fitzgerald’s

In Chapter Nine of The Great Gatsby, Nick describes this area between West Egg and New York that is quarter of a mile long. He describes this area, known as The Valley of Ashes, in an eerie, desolate, and almost grim tone. During his description Nick calls it, “... [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,... [a place] of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air”(23).

In The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald, social stratification is evident and separated by three settings: the Valley of Ashes, West Egg, and East Egg. Located between New York City and West Egg, the Valley of Ashes is a place where the outcasts of society and the indigents reside. This desolate area is filled with “ashes [that] grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens” (27). This simile

“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 raising smoke and finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air” (Fitzgerald 26). In the novel, “The Great Gatsby,” the author F. Scott Fitzgerald, mainly depicted the lives of the rich and their luxuries, but also showed the lives of the poor people in the valley of ashes in a small portion of the book. The valley of ashes played an essential part in shaping the lives of the characters in the book as it portrays the difference between social classes and the struggle of the poor.

F. Scott Fitzgerald includes one of the underlying messages in his novel, The Great Gatsby, by his choice of a well-developed setting that establishes an overall theme. One of the general themes of The Great Gatsby is the deteriorating of moral values. It is present in The Great Gatsby that these values are beginning to fall apart in the 1920s. People live in a manner that promotes falsity, infidelity, and living recklessly. This theme can be found in the setting known as the Valley of Ashes.