Wednesday, December 17, 2008

The Great Gatsby Test Question 7

Discuss what 2 of the following symbols represent in the novel:
a) the valley of ashes
b) the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleberg
c) the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock
d) the mantle clock
e) Daisy’s voice “full of money”

20 comments:

Derek Stemmler said...

a) the valley of ashes: The Valley of Ashes is the deserted area of poverty that is between West Egg and New York City. It symbolizes what will happen when a society becomes greedy and only cares about their own please and wealth. This includes characters Tom and Daisy, who are extremely wealthy, only caring about themselves and their wealth. These arrogant and snobby characters are extremely unhappy even though they have everything. The Valley of Ashes also represents those who are poor, including Wilson. Unlike the Buchanans, Wilson works extremely hard, desperately trying to get by on the little he has. This huge gap between the rich and the poor is symbolized through the Valley of the Ashes.

c) the green light: The green light glowing from the end of Daisy’s dock draws Gatsby’s attention, for he spends hours gazing and staring at it, thinking about Daisy. The light symbolizes the hopes and dreams of Gatsby, for he hopes that he still as a chance with Daisy. This light is hope for him to never give up on his dream of someday being with Daisy in the future.

Anonymous said...

B) The Green Light is a light at the end of Daisy's dock. This light symbolizes Gatsby hope that one day him and Daisy would be reunited.








A) The Valley of Ashes is a wasteland between The West Egg and New York City. This area symbolizes the area where the rich forget about everyone an focus on the self and there wealth. The Valley also represented where the poor lived and struggled just to survive while the rich live comfertably.

Dan McCarthy said...

c. the green light:
The green light that sits on the end of daisy's dock represents the hope for love. Many nights that green light is what Gatsby gave all his attention to because the light was one of the only connections he still had to Daisy. He bought his house specifically for the location across from Daisy, so he could see he light. The light that is on all the time symbolizes the hope and desire Gatsby, and possibly Daisy, held on to for all the years. The love they lost and always wanted to recapture is the light. The light is the reminder of the love they once had. The light is the symbol of the belief that they would somehow be with each other again.

b. The eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleberg:
The eyes of T.J.Eckleberg are really just a pair of eyes on an advertisement, but they grow to mean much more that just an ad. The eyes come to symbolize the belief that God always has an eye on the happenings of the world. George Wilson is the only character to take this symbol as and actual thing but nevertheless it does mean something to the entire story. The eyes of the doctor are meant to suggest that some one is seeing all the evil that has been occurring throughout the story no matter how hard the characters try to hide it behind lies and deception. The eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleberg ultimately represent the erie notion that no matter what someone is always looking, and someone always know what you do.

Kayla Reynolds said...

The valley of Ashes is the huge gap between the rich and the poor. This is where the selfish rich people like tom and daisy forget about the poor people like mr. wilson. It represents what will happen to society if the rich only care about themselves and their own wealth and happiness.

The green light at the end of the dock represents hope for gatsby. As long as the light is there, daisy is still there, and gatsby still has a chance to see the love of his life again.

Lisa Russell said...

A) The Valley of Ashes: The valley of ashes represents the difference between the rich and the poor. It represents what will happen to the rich people's society if they keep acting the way that they do. They are very greedy and selfish and they only care about themselves. Their society will go down the drain if they keep behaving the way they do.

C) The green light and the end of Daisy's dock: This is a light at the end of Daisy's dock that Gatsby stares at all the time for long periods of time. The light itself represents he and Daisy's relationship. The light is basically just representing Daisy and Gatsby's future.

denisgingras said...

C. The green light is very important to this story for different reasons. One reason is that this light represents hope and inspiration to Gatsby. It represents hope because he never gives up because he knows that is how close he is to getting DAisy. IT also is inspiring to GAtsby because he works harder to get Daisy. He made more money and kept working hard because he knew that Daisy was so close.

E. Daisy's voice is full of money as it is put. She used to be a nice understanding young lady, but now that she has money it seems to have kurrupted her and she is no longer that sweet young girl. Now she is all about money and doesnt care for much of anything else.

Carolina Veloso said...

A. The valley of ashed is like the middle of both social classes, it separates the poor from the rich. It also symbolizes the people that are snobby and stuck up who do not have to work for anything like Daisy and Tom, and then the hard working people like Wilson.

E. Daisy's voice use to be sweet and caring, but now since she has gotten married the money has changed her, and she does not care about anything else but her wealth and how she looks, dresses, talks, or even where she goes. To many in the novel she is not the same person she once use to be.

Vanessa Domond said...

c. Green light:
The green light at daisy's represents Gatsby's hope to be reunited with daisy. It is the reminder of the love Daisy ad Gatsby once shared. As long as the light shines, gatsby's hope shall always be there.

b.The eyes of T.J. Eckleberg:

Though it is just a advertisement on a board, one character interpets it much more deeply. Mr. Wilson sees these eyes as the eyes of god. it represents that god can see all things, nothing is gone unwatched

Olivia Fuller said...

A)The Valley of Ashes: The Valley is a symbol for poverty, strife and struggle. The Valley of ashes is where the Wilsons live, and it is very clear that they were not very well off, also the homicide of Myrtle Wilson occured in the vally of ashes. This shows that whatever happenes in the ashes will be od hardship and heartbreak.

C)Daisy's voice "Full of money" represents nievete, selfishness, and of course the obvious; wealth. When Daisy is surrounded by either her or anyone elses money she doesn't know or doesn't care what else is near or going on around her. All she cared about was money in the end. Because she didn't even go to Gatby's funeral, it was almost as if she just forgot because when he died so did his wealth.

Alyssa Sullivan said...

B) The green light represents Gatsby's hope of them being together someday. He thinks of Daisy while he is looking at it and thinks that he is never going to give up the hope of him having another chance with her.

A) The valley of ashes represents those who are poor and do not have the advantages and luxuries of Gatsby and Tom and Daisy. It also represents greed and arrogance of the wealthy people. It represents the mistakes Tom and Daisy and Myrtle have made by cheating on their husbands and wives.

Ian Conway said...

The eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleberg are perched on an advertisement for his optometrist services. The billboard is located right across from Wilson's garage. When Wilson finds his wife's lifeless body he finds God through the billboard. The eyes constantly watching him makes him realize that God is always watching.

The light at the end of Daisy's dock is used to pilot a boat safely back to land but to Gatsby it is a sign of hope. It allows him to always be reminded that she is so close to him after all of these years. They haven’t seen each other in a very long time but to Gatsby the light is Daisy.

Arianna Miranda said...

B. The eyes of T.J. Eckleberg symbolize God watching down on earth. It symbolizes no matter what the characters try to hide the eyes know and can see right through deception.


C. The Green light glowing from Daisy's dock gets Gatsby's attention, he looks at it thinking only of Daisy. The light symbolizes the hope and desires within Gatsby. He hopes and desires to live forever with Daisy.

larry said...

The green light at the end of the dock symbolizes the hope and dreams of Gatsby. he would go out and look across the river at the light and it would tell him that he was close to achieving his hopes and dreams. At the same time though it symbolized being so close yet so far since he was right there but she was still out of reach.

The eyes of DR T.J. Eckleburg symbolizes god even though it is just a pair of glasses on and advertisement. during important parts of the novel the eyes seem to be watching what is happening and almost judging the characters that perform theses actions.

Chuck Barbaro said...

a. valley of ashes- The valley of ashes symbolizes how awful the world will become as the gap between the needy and rich gets larger. The valley of ashes is a nasty area and the world will be a nasty place if the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

c. green light- The green light symbolizes the connection still remaining between Gatsby and Daisy. The light was always distant but still shining. Gatsby and Daisy were always far apart but still had love inside for each other. The light was always on and visible, like how Gatsby's love for Daisy never stopped and was aparent in his Daisy collection.

Unknown said...

a) The valley of ashes represents what the effect of the Great Depression is. The crappy and run down setting provides a key example of the effects of the depression. It shows that money does not come easy in society back in the 1920s. It is funny how the valley is placed between the wealthy areas of West Egg and New York City.

c) The green light is very important in the Great Gatsby. It means the world to Gatsby. The light is actually on Daisy's dock across the lake. Gatsby often stood out and stared at the light to remember the great times that he spent with her. It kind of represents the hope that Gatsby had in the relationship with Daisy in the beginning of the book.

Cam Shepard said...

a) the valley of ashes: The Valley of Ashes is the deserted area between West Egg and NY. It represents what happens and what will happen if rich people continue to only care about themselves. Mr. Wilson resides here.

d) the eyes of TJ Eckleberg are on a billboard. The billboard is directly across Wilson's garage. Wilson finds God through this billboard and he realizes the God is always watching.

Jared Ravagni said...

c) The green light represents the hope to one day find a real love. Gatsby bought his house so he could see this light. He thinks this is all he has left between him and Daisy.

a) The Valley of Ashes is the place where the forgotten people live. It is the gap between rich and poor. The rich only care about themselves making the poor only get poorer and where they live is a wasteland.

Josh said...

The valley of ashes is more of the poor and lower class area of Egg. It is home to Myrtle and her husband. This place is very desolate and no major businesses reside here.
The green light at the end of Daisy's dock symbolizes the passion and love that Gastsby and Dasiy still share for each other. As long as it glows still the two will forever be in love.

Sean Keane said...

The Valley of Ashes: The valley of ashes is where Wilson and Myrtle live. In this area, it is a vast wasteland of nothing, besides some ashes and a railroad. This area represents the difference between the rich people and the poor people. It represents what life will soon be like if the rich people keep on being mean and only caring about themselves.

The green light: The green light at the end of the Buchanon's dock is constantly stared at by Gatsby at night. Gatsby looks at the light to remind himself of Daisy. The light represents Gatsby's hope to eventually be back with Daisy.

bobby teoli said...

a) The vally of ashes represents poverty in the land because it is an area between West Egg and New York that is a desert of ashes where the poor people live. It also represents the greed of the wealthy people that are always mean to the people that live there and make fun of them for it.
b) The eyesof doctor T.J. Eckleburg represent the eyes of god watching over us.