Answer: Two symbols I found important in The Great Gatsby are The Green Light and The Valley of Ashes. The green light serves to develop the story’s themes of hope, dreams and wealth, but as the story progresses, it supports the themes of dissatisfaction, lies and deceit, memory of the past, and the greed that’s inherent in everyone. The Valley of ashes develops the story’s other themes of society and class, as well as societal inequality.
In the beginning of the novel, the light stands for Gatsby's dreams, hopes, and desires to reunite with Daisy. Throughout the course of the novel, Gatsby's dream is revealed to be delusional and unrealizable, so the symbolic meaning behind the green light collapses. Slowly it becomes a sort of symbol of how he can never get what he wants and greeds for - Daisy’s love. Nick Carraway, is the one who realizes the significance of the green light for Gatsby and connects the green light with everyone's hopes and dreams. He realizes this when Gatsby “stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and far as I was from him I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward--and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock.” (Fitzgerald, Pg. 28)
It also represents society and class, which is just as out of reach for Gatsby as the green light is also just out of reach. Throughout the story, Gatsby tries to “reach” for the light, but he can never grasp it. It is posed as Gatsby's hope for Daisy's return and her return back to him especially. It’s always prominent but eventually, he gives up on the light.
The valley of ashes also develops the story’s other themes of society and class, as well as societal inequality. It represents the gap between the unbridled upper class and the poor, forgotten world of the lower class. Gatsby lives in the West Egg, the area populated by the “new money” and between the West Egg and New York, “the motor road hastily joins the railroad and runs beside it for a quarter of a mile, so as to shrink away from a certain desolate area of land.” (Fitzgerald, Pg. 26) The certain desolate area of land refers to the Valley of Ashes, where people were poor and worked hard to give the people living in the West Egg wealth. Beyond Gatsby’s lavish parties, is a colorless, bleak setting of reality. Everyone in every class is miserable, and the valley of ashes only serves to hide the despair the wealthy feel, while clearly showing the despair of the poor. It is a barrier in a sense, where it divides the rich and the poor.
These two symbols are important because they are a central point in the story. The green light is constantly mentioned, and even foreshadows that Gatsby will never be able to win Daisy’s love as he consistently reaches for it, but can never touch it. The valley of ashes is a tangible image of reality, and the lower class’s despair.
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