The Great Gatsby is not only a story of failed love,
but it is also one of the American Dream. However, I believe it is not a
positive reflection of the American Dream, but rather an example of the
negative impact that greed can have on a society. Fitzgerald uses East Egg,
West Egg and the Valley of ashes to show the huge differences between the
social classes. East Egg represents the aristocracy, or old wealth. West Egg
represents the new wealth, those who have made their fortunes in their
lifetime. Finally the valley of ashes, created by the soot from the steam
locomotives passing through, represents how the upper class can deplete the
lifestyles of the less fortunate. Watching over all of this are the eyes of Dr.
T.J. Eckleburg, who’s billboard seems almost godlike. Dr. T.J. Eckleburg stares
down upon the wasteland that the rich have created through their greed.
Finally, there’s the reoccurring image of the green light, which symbolizes
Gatsby’s continued hope that he will get Daisy back. “Gatsby believed in the
green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded
us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms
farther”.
Relates to our
essential questions: What is love and why is it so complicated? How does our
past inform our present? I thought about these a lot in reference to Gatsby and
Daisy’s relationship.
Megan--I like the way you listed the differences between East Egg, West Egg, and Valley of Ashes, to me it really shows that you took the geography aspect of this book into mind this time while reading it--which I didn't really either. When your reading it, you see it as wholly independent variables, but when reading it a second time, I also saw it coming all together to where I recognized its relation to society (negatively ofcourse). I also noticed that geography was a key thing that came together for me this time reading it that it didn't last time.
ReplyDeleteI like your observations on West vs. East egg and Valley of Ashes. I've thought about the West/East Egg different a lot, but I rarely thought about the significance of the Valley of Ashes (even though I read it as my reread too - oops!). It's definitely something that just makes the book that much more interesting and significant and the significance/location of each reveals more about the characters living there.
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