Read the following excerpt from The Great Gatsby:

"This is a valley of ashes—a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air."

What is the most likely purpose of the symbolism used in this passage?

A. To stand for the waste and corruption that characterize the wealthy
B. To foreshadow what will happen to Gatsby's mansion after he dies
C. To describe the environment that Gatsby escaped by coming East
D. To signify the need for the rich to repent for a life of extravagance