In the Great Gatsby, each character is longing for one particular paradise. Only one character actually reaches utopia, and the arrival is a mixed blessing at best. The concept of paradise in The Great Gatsby is a shifting, fleeting illusion of happiness, joy, love, and perfection, a mirage that leads each character to reach deeper, look harder, strive farther. There is Myrtle Wilson’s gaudy, flashy hotel paradise in which she can pretend that she is glamorous, elite, wanted and loved. She clings fiercely enough to this ragged dream to brave the righteous anger of Tom Buchanan by voicing her jealous terror that he will return to his wife. There is a desperation to her full, spirited style of living, she wants so much to escape the grey, dead land of the Valley of Ashes that she colours her life with any brightness she can find, be it broken glass or diamonds. Nick describes land she finds herself in as a wasteland, a desert, saying "this is 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 transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air" (page 29). It is from this that Myrtle is trying to escape, this life-in-death valley that characterises the underbelly of New York's glitter and lights and finery, and this that she is dragged back to by the dawning jealous rage of a normally unassuming husband. To run away from the grey and the death, the colourful, brimming woman runs out, arms outstretched, to the car she thinks belongs to the man who promised to take her away from the Valley. But -- she began in shadows and in shadows she dies, "her life violently extinguished, knelt in the road and mingled her thick, dark blood with the dust" (page 144). There is an "ashes to ashes dust to dust" element to every action in the novel, and Myrtle is no exception. We as readers focus more on Daisy and Tom, Gatsby and Nick; Myrtle’s fall is telling the same story as Gatsby’s, as Daisy’s. In the end, her life is worth no more and no less than the great millionaire in his mansion on West Egg. Daisy and Tom are bereft of these dreams.
...ent efforts, or men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air” (23). Here, The Valley of Ashes is regarded as complete destitution and hopelessness. The people known as the lower class do not wish to live in the valley of ashes. This is why people, like Myrtle try to do anything to get away from it but instead it becomes unachievable for them. When Myrtle tried to escape from the ashes by trying to be with a rich man like Tom, she dies. This embellishes how The American dream is unattainable. When Tom goes and sees George, you can see how the higher classes look down on the lower classes because of their different social positions. The higher-class people such as, Tom, Daisy, and Jordan represent the unstructured bodies of ashes within the valley. They are inconsiderate and conceited people arising from the dead ashes, changing the American Dream.
“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”(Fitzgerald 2). Tom and Nick a driving through a place between West Egg and New York, which is an industrial zone where the lower class lives. Here alone we can see how the poor class lives their daily lives in filth, but the rich live in shiny clean houses.
In this quote, the Valley of Ashes is portrayed as a “desolate area of land” where the glory of West Egg and New York are separated by a valley characterized as “grotesque,” dim, and “crumbling.” Fitzgerald includes this setting to describe important characters, such as Myrtle Wilson, who have an extreme influence on others because they are considered impoverished and trashy with no class. The Valley of Ashes symbolizes despair and poor lifestyles, which is why Myrtle is able to be used by Tom, who, in disdain, no longer shows feelings for his wife. The road is also personified to represent those who reside in the West Egg, who are snobby and want nothing to do with the poor.
out towards a green light. At the time it is not revealed to us that this
show how to use that in order to “get rich”. Gatsby was in the bootlegging business and wants to
Myrtle lives with her husband George in the upstairs apartment of their “unprosperous and bare” repairs garage, located within a close propinquity of the “valley of ashes.” George, as described by Nick, is “spiritless” and “anemic,” alluding to George’s humdrum lifestyle (p. 25). Myrtle, desperately desiring a more exciting life, feels that she needs to expand her social horizons, break out of the insipid shell that is her marriage, and find for herself a new and improved way of life.
She wants someone who has a lot of wealth in order for her to live a luxiours life. She begins to have an affair with Tom and it causes harm to her marriage which she has with George. She says to herself when meeting Tom the first time, "You can 't live forever; you can 't live forever" (38). Myrtle realizes Tom is a wealthy individual and having an affair with him will help her climb out of the social class in which she is trapped in. She sees him as the perfect man representing the American Dream. She lives in the Valley of the Ashes with her husband, George, who is the owner of a garage. She married him because she thought he was a gentlemen and he knew something about breeding. But it turned out he was not financially stable and it causes Myrtle not to love him. This shows how Myrtle is acquisitive and she does not appreciate George for who he is. She realizes life is fading away from her along with her youth and in order to live the life she always desires, she must become Tom’s mistress. She wants to live the rich and famous life style which George could not provide. This shows how Myrtle is morally corrupt because she does not see the harm in having an extramarital affair and just looks to pursue wealth. This eventually leads to her own death. The chase for the American Dream causes corruption and destruction within
Book Analysis F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author of "The Great Gatsby," reveals many principles about today's society and the "American dream. " One of the biggest fears in today's world is the fear of not fitting into society. People of all age groups and backgrounds share this fear. Many individuals believe that to receive somebody's affection, they must assimilate into that person's society. In the story, Jay Gatsby pursues the American dream and his passion for being happy only to come to a tragedy and total loss.
... marriage is falling apart because Myrtle wants more of a life than George has given her. She despises him, and yet he is too in love with her to see it. Myrtle constantly tries to act like she’s of higher class, "’I told that boy about the ice.’ Myrtle raised her eyebrows in despair at the shiftlessness of the lower orders. ‘These people! You have to keep after them all the time’” (36). Her statements actually make her seem more vulgar and crass, which brings her low social standing to light. People are always trying to get out of the valley. Myrtle even dies trying to raise her social standing,
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, contains characters that experience the corruption of morality and humanity. This is shown by having characters such as Daisy Buchanan, Jay Gatsby and, Nick Carraway, and by using imagery and symbolism within the story. Here Daisy, Tom, Jordan, Nick and, Gatsby are arguing about how Gatsby said that Daisy never truly loved Tom, and Daisy is getting annoyed with Gatsby because he wants Daisy to admit that she never truly loved Tom. "Oh, you want too much!" she cried to Gatsby. "I love you now—isn't that enough? I can't help what's past." She began to sob helplessly. "I did love him once—but I loved you too."(Pg 132) Daisy is being corrupted by her lack of morality and humanity throughout the book, this
The relationship between Myrtle and her husband is insincere, loveless, and dead. Myrtles husband George, who is lifeless, poor, and often dirty, owns a garage in the valley of ashes. While George is completely devoted to his wife Myrtle, on the other hand myrtle has lost love for her husband, and desires for a more elegant fast pace life. Myrtle tries to find a way to fix the situation between her and her husband, but instead she takes the easy way out and cheats on her husband with Tom a very rich, prominent, and handsome man who gives her everything that she desires, but he is also a married man.
Firstly, Gatsby’s immaturity causes him to lose Daisy. Tom, Daisy’s husband, knows that she regularly visits Gatsby, but he does not get to know their affair. Thus, Tom provokes Gatsby to say, “your wife doesn’t love you, she [has] never loved you. She loves me” (Fitzgerald 130). Daisy tries to prevent Gatsby from revealing their relationship to Tom, but she fails. This disappoints Daisy and makes her lose faith in Gatsby. Thus, she replies Tom “how could I love him?” (Fitzgerald 132). Gatsby becomes shocked by this incident because he realizes that his childish action has made him lose Daisy. Gatsby should have realized that Tom’s provocation is an attempt to separate him from Daisy. This in turn causes Daisy to side with Tom, revealing how Gatsby’s immaturity leads to his downfall. Furthermore, despite Daisy’s action Gatsby still does not give up his love for her and after the conversation between who does Daisy loves the most, Tom sends Daisy and Gatsby back to Long Island in Gatsby’s yellow car. When they reach the Valley of Ashes, Myrtle runs over their car and dies instantly. M...
By exploring the physical site of the valley, followed by the inhabitants of the valley – George and Myrtle, George representing the working class and Myrtle the exception, extending this to the references of the valley to Gatsby’s humble origins, the Valley of the Ashes represents the low social mobility and the failure of the American Dream.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is a story that has many different themes. Fitzgerald shows the themes that he uses through his character’s desires and actions. This novel has themes in it that we deal with in our everyday life. It has themes that deal with our personal lives and themes that deal with what’s right and what’s wrong. There are also themes that have to do with materialistic items that we deal desire on a daily basis. Fitzgerald focuses on the themes of corrupted love, immorality, and the American Dream in order to tell a story that is entertaining to his readers.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is a tragic tale of love distorted by obsession. Finding himself in the city of New York, Jay Gatsby is a loyal and devoted man who is willing to cross oceans and build mansions for his one true love. His belief in realistic ideals and his perseverance greatly influence all the decisions he makes and ultimately direct the course of his life. Gatsby has made a total commitment to a dream, and he does not realize that his dream is hollow. Although his intentions are true, he sometimes has a crude way of getting his point across. When he makes his ideals heard, his actions are wasted on a thoughtless and shallow society. Jay Gatsby effectively embodies a romantic idealism that is sustained and destroyed by the intensity of his own dream. It is also Gatsby’s ideals that blind him to reality.