The Valley of Ashes the Great Gatsby Essay Example

ford” Fitzgerald portrays the imagery of an old, decaying car, which is a symbol of Wilson himself. This can be compared with the renowned poem by T. S. Eliot “The Hollow Men” as he illustrates “Shape without form, shade without colour, paralysed force” here Eliot is illustrating how the men within his poem are motionless, lifeless.

He does this by the use of “paralysed” symbolising the hollow men’s life, as they have no purpose, similarly as how Wilson is perceived by Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald also depicts the eyes of T. J. Eckleburg symbolise the loss of spiritual values in America. The billboard was erected to promote the business of an optometrist in Queens borough, the eyes symbolise the growing commercialism of America, life in America is all about making money, a lot of money as evidenced by the wealth of people like Tom Buchanan, a man’s success is measured in terms of how much money he is worth, not on what kind of person he may be morally.

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 Carraway returns to reconnect with in 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.

These eyes are demonstrating how the “American Dream” is non-existent for the most of the population in

America, as they have been consumed by the valley, with the eyes overlooking the valley, just as the wealthy and the rest of the American society are doing. This can also be compared with “The Hollow Men” Eliot indicates that the place in which the Hollow Men inhibit is similarly overlooked by society “The eyes are not here, There are no eyes here” here Eliot illustrates how they Hollow Men have been abandoned by everyone, as they are left to fend for themselves, much like the people who populate The Valley of Ashes.