Explore the Ways in Which Fitzgerald Uses Location and Setting as Symbolic Forces in the Great Gatsby and at Least Two of the Short Stories You Have Studied

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Explore the ways in which Fitzgerald uses location and setting as symbolic forces in The Great Gatsby and at least two of the short stories you have studied Fitzgerald uses location and setting as symbolic forces in a very hidden way as he uses them to create emotions in his characters and drive the events in the novel. He does this all throughout the novel and makes his characters represent different elements and aspects of his locations and settings he has written. The Valley of Ashes is a symbolic setting and location in Fitzgerald’s novel as it has huge representation. Firstly it symbolises the working class environment that ordinary Americans lived in, ‘...ash grey men who move dimly’ (pg 16) this also suggests that this ‘desolate’ (pg 16) area is where people are dumped here to work and it shows the harsh reality of ordinary Americans. The Valley of Ashes is also shown as the failure of the American dream as it is a place where real working class Americans are working and are unhappy and lifeless. George Wilson’s characterisation shows detail of this as he is described of having a ‘damp gleam of hope’ (pg 17) in his eyes but he is a ‘spiritless’ and ‘anemic’ man showing that he wishes for something more but the Valley of Ashes have his life and he can’t get out. In truth no one can escape the Valley of Ashes as we see Myrtle getting killed as she tries to escape from there, George Wilson keeps his wife captive in their house as she wants to leave ‘I’ve got my wife locked up in there’ (pg 87) but when Myrtle does try to escape she ends up getting killed by Daisy, ‘thick dark blood with the dust’ (pg 88) this symbolises that although Daisy hit her with Gatsby’s car it was actually the Valley of Ashes that killed her because she tried to escape and be more than a working class American failing the American dream. The ‘ash’ also symbolises death and it
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