Symbolism in The Valley of Ashes Essay

In this novel F.S. Fitzgerald tells us about a great social and moral decline of the USA. He conveys this concept through a great number of symbols. The novel is abundant in them. As far as the valley is concerned, it can be explained as the main symbol of decline of people. In this valley, all objects and living beings are composed of symbolic ash and dust, which directly depict a barren land. Dust is associated with the smallest particles of matter of no value. However, these particles may interfere with seeing the truth. In fact, it is something that lies on forgotten objects that no one cares about and the ashes remain from what burned and turned into dust. These words are often found in the work and indicate a decline in all spheres of human life. They are symbols of what remains after the destruction or destruction of matter, thanks to which an increment of meaning is created in the representation of the basic concept: the dream of the protagonist is unachievable. Describing the ash valley, the author widely uses color symbols such as a gray color. Gray means the disappearance of hopes and dreams. It symbolizes decadence, monotony, disappointment. It represents moral decay, spiritual emptiness and death. In addition to the direct name gray color, in the description of the valley of the ashes also used color names: chimney, smoke, dimly, powdery, air, ghastly creak, leaden spades, impenetrable cloud, obscure operation, bleak dust. The uniformity of color epithets describes the psychological state of the characters. The valley is literally defined through its name. This is a farm of ashes and slag, the harbor of all the poor in New York in the 1920s. It is made up of the remnants of incinerated garbage from New York. People in this place are more like shadows. The word shadow carries an important semantic message, this word is link between the valley of the ashes and the Wilson garage and even with by the owner, by combining these three images into a single symbol of misery and poverty. Dreary backdrop is a contrast to East and West Egg. It contrasts sharply with the worlds of Gatsby and Daisy. The only attraction is the billboard with the image of the blue eyes of the doctor oculist T. J. Eckleburg. His eyes express sadness piercing the whole work. They symbolize the indifference with which the characters perceive other peoples misfortunes. The eyes are half way between West Egg and New York hanging over the characters they seem to personify the idea of a god looking at the materialistic and careless world of The Great Gatsby. All this is aimed at creating an atmosphere of despondency, melancholy of indifference as a contrast to the noisy parties of the jazz century, with its desire for pleasures and a carefree idle life. This symbolizes the decline that was in society at a time when people pursued wealth and glamor at all costs.