Vandan Thacker
Word Count: 1562 words
The Valley Of Ashes Extract // IOC Preparation
The extract that I have got for my IOC is The Valley of Ashes from the novel The Great Gatsby. The Great
Gatsby is written by Francis Scott Fitzgerald. He was born on 24th September 1896. Fitzgerald was the most
famous chronicler of 1920’s America, an era that he called“ The Jazz Age”. The Great Gatsby was first
published in 1925, six years after WWI ended in 1919 and 4 years before the stock market crash in 1929.
Although Fitzgerald could not have predicted the Wall Street Crash, there are clear indications in the novel that
he saw the rampant excesses of the jazz age as excessive and destructive. This post-war society was named
“The jazz age” as it was a time of political corruption, the prohibition of alcohol, organized crime, gambling,
illegal speakeasies or bars, and the cultivation of an American dream which was increasingly focused on
gaining wealth by whatever means necessary. Gatsby´s decadent parties reflect the hedonistic pursuit of
pleasure that was popular in the Eastern United States at that time. The old- fashioned American values were
being replaced by the pursuit of success and money.
The Valley Of Ashes is introduced by Nick Carraway to readers immediately after Chapter 1, where he showed
us the world of the Buchanan’s and the opulence of their lifestyles. There is a sudden change of mood as the
author smashes us with the reality of The American Dream in The Form Of The Valley Of Ashes It is situated
half way between West Egg and East Egg
The novel's setting serves as a reflection of the class wars that were common in 1920s America. One of the
main characters, Jay Gatsby, is a self-made man of great wealth. Gatsby lives in a gaudy mansion in West Egg,
the poorer and less desirable side of town. West Egg is skirted by the Valley of Ashes, a filthy and sinful area
that separates Long Island from the glamour, glitz, and indulgence of New York City. The places and settings
epitomize the various aspects of the 1920s American Society that Fitzgerald depicts. East Egg represents the
old money, West Egg the newly rich and The Valley Of Ashes as the moral and social decay of America. F.
Scott Fitzgerald’s depiction of the ‘obscure’ and dehumanized quality of American society in this extract is
encapsulated through the ‘grotesque gardens’ and ‘fantastic farm’ of ‘the valley of ashes’ and materialistic
levels of self-admiration that reduces the quality of human life in order to better the lives of ‘old money’
society. The alliteration in ‘grotesque gardens’ and ‘fantastic farm’ emphasize this message by the writer.
Instead of the conventional green image of a regular farm, here we have a “fantastic farm” (fantastic here
means “something out of the realm of fantasy”) that grows ash instead of wheat and where pollution makes the
water “foul” and the air “powdery.”First, it’s disturbing, as it’s clearly meant to be. The beauty of the natural
world has been transformed into a horrible hellscape of gray ashes. Not only that, but it is turning regular
humans into “ash-grey men” who “swarm” like insects around the factories and cargo trains (that’s the “line of
grey cars”). These are the people who do not get to enjoy either the luxury of life out on Long Island or the
faster-paced anonymous fun that Nick finds himself enjoying in Manhattan. In the novel’s world of haves and
have-nots, these are the have-nots. Second, the passage shows how disconnected the rich are from the source of
their wealth. Nick is annoyed when he is a train passenger who has to wait for the drawbridge to lead barges
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Vandan Thacker
Word Count: 1562 words
through. But the barges are carrying the building products of the factories. Nick is a bond trader, and bonds are
basically loans people give to companies (companies sell bond shares, use that money to grow, and then have
to pay back that money to the people who bought the bonds). In the 1920s, the bond market was fueling the
construction of skyscrapers, particularly in New York. In other words, the same construction boom that is
making Queens into a valley of ashes is also buoying up the new moneyed class that populates West Egg. The
bleakness of the ‘ash grey’ gives the connotation of lifelessness and lack of vitality or meaning in their lives,
the quality in the way they live is an opposing force before the luxurious and grand ‘East Egg’. The ‘ash-grey
men’ are ‘bound’ to the valley, reflective to their unachievable ‘American Dream’ and immobility to move
between the classes; they are trapped in their class and unable to escape it.
The link between the wasteland and the metropolis is crystallized in the image of the ‘eyes of Doctor T.J
Eckleburg’ with his ‘blue and gigantic eyes’ and ‘non-existent nose’, exemplifying the social fragmentation,
loss of spiritual values and excessive value of an object.The billboard was erected to promote the business of
an optometrist in Queensborough. The eyes symbolize the growing industrialization of America. Tom depicted
the ‘Old money’. Tom attempts to lead a glamorous life, but his facade of social ease and sophistication fails to
hide his artificial and lack of basic moral value. Thus, Fitzgerald illustrates that even if ‘ash-grey men’ resort to
‘obscure operations’ in an attempt to better their lives; they are unable to reach the top due to their oppression
by ‘old money’ citizens like Tom, rejecting the notion that the ‘American Dream’ is possible for all. The
billboard, like the spiritual values of America, is neglected – “But his eyes, dimmed a little by many paintless
days, under sun and rain, brood on over the solemn dumping ground.” The old-fashioned values of America,
which Nick uses to reconnect within the mid-West are completely absent from the East, God seems to have
abandoned America, leaving only Dr. T.J. Eckleburg behind to stare down with his empty eyes on people who
have abandoned their spiritual values in the quest to achieve material wealth. Lastly, the eyes also suggest the
hollowness of the American Dream. There is this idea that a person who comes from humble origins could
achieve the Dream if they are willing to work hard and take advantage of opportunities. However, the frowning
eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg look down on the Valley of the Ashes as if to say that the American Dream is one
big lie – the American Dream produced wealth for some (like Gatsby), but for the majority of people, their
hopes for gold is just like the ashes. The reality is that not everyone can have as much money as the Buchanans
have – for every Buchanan, there are thousands of Wilsons. The idea that everyone can live the dream is just a
dream. For most, life is the nightmare of the Valley of the Ashes which the Eyes frown down on all day long.
The author has beautifully painted a picture in our minds by making choice of amazing diction such as
paintless days, eternal blindness and solemn dumping ground. Eternal Blindness could have multiple
connotations being symbolic of death, decay, and hopelessness. It’s clear from this personification of an
lifeless object that these eyes stand for something else - a huge, displeased watcher. It’s clear from this
personification of an inanimate object that these eyes stand for something else - a huge, displeased watcher.
Tom has been seen as an alpha and an arrogant bully who selfish and sexist. Tom expressly invites Nick along
on a trip to New York City so that he can meet Myrtle, his mistress. This trip takes place in the novel's second
chapter.
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Vandan Thacker
Word Count: 1562 words
On the way to the city, Tom and Nick stop at Wilson's garage. Tom and Nick arrive at the auto garage of
George Wilson. Wilson and Tom exchange comments about a car Tom may sell. Tom arranges for Wilson's
wife Myrtle to take the next train to New York for a romantic tryst. It is no accident that Tom introduces Nick
to Myrtle. He goes out of his way to demonstrate his lifestyle to Nick. We can see this as "showing off" and it
is indicative of Tom's personality. Not only is he unashamed of the fact that he is cheating on his wife (Nick's
cousin), he is down-right proud of the power he has over Myrtle and he wants Nick to know all about it. This is
symbolic as Wilson was looking at Tom and Nick with a gleam of hope but instead, his own wife cheated on
him.
In conclusion, society’s dehumanized and ‘vast carelessness’ of ‘old money’ is weighed in comparison to ‘the
valley of ashes’, their lavish life built on the backs of the lower class who were unable to achieve their
‘American Dream’ Nick watches this society similar to ‘T.J Eckleburg’, who is able to see through the surface
veneer of their ‘dazzling’ beauty and see the world that lacks the quality of life and meaning. Fitzgerald
conveys the importance of breaking illusions, even after the crisis and tragedy of war in the ‘Twenties’ society
should not numb themselves emotionally. To have the ‘capacity’ to wonder of their own orgiastic futures,
requiring them to go ‘against the current’ to grasp at our dreams, similar to what Gatsby has done.
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