F. Scott Fitzgerald, author of The Great Gatsby, captures a great description of what life was like in America during the Jazz Age. The Jazz Age marked the end of traditional American values ​​and the movement toward new values. The purpose of The Great Gatsby was to show how traditional American values ​​had been abandoned and how the pursuit and desire for wealth could lead to the downfall of one's dreams and goals in life. Happiness obtained from money is just an illusion, money has the power to corrupt and darken the mind and lead to the path of failure and misery. Using symbolism, imagery, personality, and character traits, F. Scott Fitzgerald manipulates language to accomplish the purpose of The Great Gatsby. First of all, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses a lot of symbolism throughout The Great Gatsby. Three examples of symbolism are the valley of ashes, the green light at the end of Daisy's dock, and Daisy's voice filled with money. Fitzgerald uses these three examples to describe the desire for money and its effects on people during the Jazz Age. Fitzgerald states in The Great Gatsby: “This is a valley of ashes, a fantastic farm where the ashes grow like corn into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens… and immediately the ash-grey men swarm with lead spades and raise an impenetrable cloud, which hides their dark operations from your sight” (23). This disturbing and dark description of the “valley of ashes” symbolizes the deterioration of moral and social values ​​in America. Wealth is at the top of everyone's list and everyone is abandoning a social culture and leaving it to die in ruins. Another example of symbolism would be the green light on the dock. Nick Carraway states in The Great Gatsby, "...he [Gatsby] spread......halfway through the paper...asked Gatsby, 'Was Daisy driving?' (143). Gatsby replies, “Yes, but of course I will say I was” (143). This shows yet another example of how Gatsby would do anything for wealth or Daisy. This leads to Gatsby's death: "The driver...heard the shots...It was after we started with Gatsby towards the house that the gardener saw Wilson's body a little way off in the grass , and the burnt offering was complete" (161-162). This simply shows that when you put wealth above all other goals, it can lead to death. In conclusion, the purpose of The Great Gatsby was to show how traditional American values ​​were abandoned and how the pursuit and desire for wealth could lead to the ruin of one's dreams and goals in life. F. Scott Fitzgerald was able to use symbolism, imagery, and character development to establish and fulfill the purpose of The Great Gatsby.