The Great Gatsby's The Valley Of Ashes

The Great War, World War I, marked the beginnings of disillusionment lives in which people lost faith in the failure of 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 to create 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 genuine American Dream is not possible and available to everyone, despite the numerous efforts to escape the poverty life.

Valley of Ashes, a by-product of those who live in affluence such as those in East Egg, breaks the illusion of

The Valley of Ashes is isolated yet relatively near the advanced East and West Egg, which hints that the false, materialistic dream can seep out to influence even the poverty-stricken place. As a result, the mistaken idea that money is parallel to happiness, that wealth is all that one needs for a successful, contented life, becomes the ultimate goal for and prevalent among the people looking for any possible methods to get out of their place in society. Additionally, since the place is seemingly near the Eggs, it hints the lower-status people’s dependency on the wealthy. For example, George Wilson, an owner of the car shop in the valleys, heavily relies on the wealthy people from the Eggs such as Tom Buchanan in order to make a living. When Wilson asks Tom when the car is going to be sold, Tom coldly replies that he should “better sell it somewhere else after all” (25), causing Wilson to “quickly” (25) explain that “[He] don’t mean that” (25). Tom representing the rich people, has complete authority and control over Wilson, or the poor people. While Tom can simply go to another car shop because he has nothing to lose for “his family were enormously wealthy” (6), Wilson’s only hope in making money is only if Tom sells the car as seen in his

Wilson is so captivated by the idea of gaining money that he never realizes the one and only reason that Tom comes to his shop: he wants to “meet [his] girl” (24), Myrtle Wilson. The truth is that attaining money, happiness, and eventually the American Dream is not possible without the help of rich folks or unethical methods such as bootlegging. The impossibility of the dream lies in the upper-class’s irresponsibility in their actions: they not only neglect to realize the existence of the uglier portion, a product of their own, but also takes advantage of the penurious people by using them as scapegoats. When Daisy hits and kills Myrtle by “careless” (179) driving, she and Tom “[take] baggage with them” (164), “[leaving] no address” (164), which exhibits that they are never returning to the Eggs. Fitzgerald characterizes them as “careless people”, who “[smash] up things and creatures and then [retreats] back into their money or their vast carelessness… and