The Great Gatsby
... The valley of ashes, which lies "about half way between West Egg and New York.. a fantastic farm where ashes grow.. and take the forms of houses and chimneys.. of men who move dimly" (Fitzgerald 27), represents the main theme of the novel. This valley indicates the destructiveness and filfth of America's industry. This filfth symbolizes the loss of the promised American in a world of corrupt materialism, which is the basic theme of this novel. The differences between the social classes in the novel are also symbolized through the Valley of Ashes. The culmination of waste which is depicted here is a representation of the struggles between the classes the Wilson's, the Buchanan's, and Gatsby present. This american class struggle is shown through the transition from where the Wilson's, a working class fami...