Gothic setting

The night was not all that different from those I have experienced since arriving in this unkempt countryside, cool and quiet, not a single dead fallen leaf that lay limp on the gravel roadside conveyed a rustle to break the eerie silence, unnerving me by the second. The sky above is concealed by the trees that surround me, their twisted black and lifeless frames extend from the soil, their leafless branches outstretched like fingers into the night awaiting their next victim to take grasp of. Although I can sense the attempts of the moon in it’s struggle to break through the low, brooding clouds, it cannot beat their forces. A twig snaps. The hairs on my arms prickle until they are standing ridged and on end. The eyes of the forest are on me, mocking me and laughing, for my path is a labyrinth and with every turn, I am lead deeper into the maze.

How Fitzgerald critiques society through his use of literary devices in The Great Gatsby.

 

“We hold truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” This text is a segment extracted from the declaration of independence describing the goal set for the American Dream and how they will strive to attain it for everyone in any setting and from every background. This aspect of everyone being equals in society is critiqued by Fitzgerald as the author of ‘The Great Gatsby’ in a negative way which is shown by the descriptions of the characters relating to the setting of which they live.

 

“Across the courtesy bay the white palaces of fashionable East Egg glittered along the water…” The first location I want to talk about is East egg which is the area where the the Buchanans live. In this place, money, status and a family name is everything and the people living here are very materialistic – as partially described in the quote above. This means that, yes, any old millionaire or migrant can move there, but to be part of the community of high society, it is not something that you can just buy yourself into, you have to have that important factor about you that sets you above everyone else. This definitely gives off the sense that the American Dream is not unleashed according to these people if the way they think of themselves is by putting them above everyone else rights wise and in terms of how they should be treated. Fitzgerald critiques this way of life and society in various ways, an example of this is having characters from that place making snarky comments; “Oh, I’ll stay in the East, don’t you worry,” he said, glancing at Daisy and then back at me, as if he were alert for something more. “I’d be a God damned fool to live anywhere else.” This is said by Tom Buchanan – one of the main characters in ‘The Great Gatsby’ from East Egg and from this and how it is interpreted, it’s clear that he doesn’t want anything to do with people who aren’t from where he was as he obviously believes that East Egg is the place to be regarding status and society. From these expansions, it is evident that the Dream doesn’t occur in this setting; it seems as if it has no need to be brought up because – according to the residents of East Egg – it is needless to say that there is no place for this goal if it would put these people’s status and recognition in jeopardy and I think that this is what Fitzgerald is trying to get through to the readers.

 

Next, there is the city of New York, a place described to be forever free of criticism and judgement, and a place that even the wildest of dreams have the opportunity to be achieved. This is where Fitzgerald gives the readers a taste of what the American dream should truly be and if life were fair and we free in it, we could do anything. “Anything can happen now that we’ve slid over this bridge,’ I thought; ‘anything at all..’ Even Gatsby could happen,without any particular won­der.” this quote from the narrator’s thoughts shows us what New York represents to the people – a place to live life as equals and to its fullest extent. When it says “Even Gatsby could happen…“ it hints at us that Fitzgerald sees Gatsby as a very extravagant and eccentric character but that all of his extremeness is accepted and not so strange to find in a place like New York where results of the American dream are clear. This is proven when the quote states that anything can happen, it means that the only thing missing for all of the amazing things that could occur in a place like this are the people to think of them. Overall, Fitzgerald uses New York City to express to us what he believes could happen if everyone were open to ideas that could allow opportunity for others to benefit in happiness and a place in the world as well as themselves as it is selfishness and judgement of others that bring people back to reality – that people are not capable of allowing too many things to occur that will be an advantage to others rather than themselves.

 

Last is the setting of the Valley of Ashes, this place described as “A fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys…” It is located between East egg and the city of New York, the expressed features above is the best way to describe/characterise this area as it represents the hope that is lost and the goal that is now out of site. To elaborate on the quote above, it talks about how everything described is made of ash which is; grey-and represents how dull everything is, dirty, and the waste product of a blazing fire which is all burnt up. All of these ideas that you can take from the single word of ashes is what Gatsby is trying to get across to the reader, he is revealing to us in an intricate way that the American Dream – real or not – isn’t as we perceive it to be. The residents of the Valley of Ashes’ hope is, as I said, all burnt up and they are now living their lives as “… men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air.”  This quote from ‘The Great Gatsby’ portrays fully the physical side to these people after losing sight and motivation toward this goal – it makes us realise how much power the idea of the American Dream being accomplishable has on all of these characters.

 

From what information is gathered above, it is evident that whatever equalities, truths and liberties are expected to come out of the American Dream if it were ever achieved, are not all as they seem. Fitzgerald critiques the dream and how well it has worked through the characteristics of the settings he develops throughout his work and the people who lives there’s personality and outlook of life. In many cases, the text shows the struggle for this goal to become a reality and it also expresses to us that Fitzgerald has realised this and is portraying to us through the physical world as the main characters in this book are quite materialistic which makes sense for him to express his judgement of the goal set for the American Dream through something that isn’t just a feeling or emotion. Ultimately, the people incorporated in the Great Gatsby believe that life should be fair and good for everyone but as Nick finds out throughout this novel, life – as much as we may want – it is not possible because of the different beliefs of everyone regarding this dream.

 

Characters – The Great Gatsby Exploration Task

Nick – Nick has a large role in this novel, not necessarily physically but he narrates the whole book, throughout it, it is obvious to the reader that his opinions of the subject matters change non-stop. In the beginning, he talks about how he would be non-judgemental “reserve all judgments” and not criticize the other characters but as the story proceeds, it becomes clear that this promise is harder for him to keep than it first seems to be. This allows us to easily be aware of how he changes. A person that his opinion on changes drastically is his cousin Daisy. When Nick first moves to Long Island, he was happy to live so close to people that he knew but by the end of the book, Nick thought of the Buchanans as heartless people who would do anything for high status and spotless reputation. Overall, Nick’s personality didn’t change much at all but his opinions of people did.

Illusion – the only illusion that Nick creates is a short term one when he got caught up in the other characters problems. This is represented when he talks about feeling enchanted and repelled by their way of life, Nick is intrigued by what is happening and goes along with it which leads him to feel as if he is part of their lives and status when in reality he is much below them in status. I think that he realises what he has been doing in relation to being carried along by his illusion when Gatsby, the Buchanans, Jordan and him are in New York having the argument and he realises that it was his birthday. I think that this made him realise the depth of the other characters problems that he was buried in. From then on he became less involved with their lives i.e, he and Jordan ended things, Gatsby died and the Buchanans moved away. When he realised that he was preoccupied by their lives I think that he also became aware that he didn’t enjoy it as much as it seemed but he was going with the flow (the reason for the happenings above).

 

Gatsby – I don’t think that Gatsby changed much at all in the novel apart from the fact that before Nick, his hope of Daisy finding him was more distant, and, at one point he was alive, the next he was dead. Otherwise, the character of Gatsby stays reasonably the same throughout, from start to finish he held onto the hope of being with Daisy, no matter how small, it was the thing that kept Gatsby going. It almost seemed as though Gatsby died just as his hope should have when Daisy didn’t call.

His illusion – Fitzgerald definitely presented us with an illusion of Gatsby in this book. Throughout the novel, we as the readers were constantly finding out details about him that he had concealed when we first met Gatsby’s character – this kept the book exiting and made our opinion of this him change many times. Gatsby housed the idea of illusion from when he was a teenager, when he left his home in pursuit of a better future and the “american dream” from there onwards, he had felt the need to conceal his past and create the illusion to us and his fellow characters that he was from an entirely different background. As stated in the book, it started when Gatsby came across the drunk Dan Cody on his yacht and from then on is where we heard his stories of Gatsby coming from a rich family and all of the other extravagant possible activities of his past that his party goers come up with (it’s also where Gatsby gets his “old sport” saying). It’s because they don’t know who he truly is and what his intentions truly were. Gatsby puts on this false identity for the purpose of making a life for himself but he realises that once he created it and built a new life for him around it, there would be no way for him to go back to what he was.

 

Daisy – Daisy’s personality came across as carefree and leisurely when we first meet her, we realise that this was just a false identity she made for herself to appear that way when she really was a sad and almost depressed person, this is shown in her eyes as stated from the novel. Comparing this to the end of the book where she and Tom pack up and leave when Gatsby dies just like they did in Chicago when things weren’t going their way, she can be seen as a rose, although the first glimpse of her may seem beautiful, when you look more closely and peel away the layers, you reveal the thorns and faults.

Illusion – Daisy’s illusion is when she tells herself that she still loves Tom by in reality she knows that him cheating on her has really hurt her and that they as a couple can never go back to the way they were when they first met. And she knows this but refuses to accept it. When she tells nick that she hopes for her daughter to grow up to be a fool, she says this because she can see what the world and people in it really are. And she doesn’t want this for her daughter so, from her experiences, she is trying to create an illusion for her daughter so she doesn’t need to have those same experiences.

 

Symbols – The Great Gatsby Exploration Task

 

Symbol 3 quotes from the book that describe the symbol 3 moments when the symbol appears Major characters that the symbol is connected to What the symbol is representing Important things the symbol reveals about ideas and characters
Water “He stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and … I could have sworn he was trembling.” time’s persona to gatsby is daisy, he is reaching out toward her.

“While the rain continued, it seemed like the murmur of their voices, rising and swelling a little now and then with gusts of emotion.” – shows that time i still passing between them. When the rain is stormy, gatsby and daisy are nervous around each other and the rain settles as they become comfortable.

“Blessed are the dead the rain falls on” it rains at gatsby’s funeral.

At Nick’s house when Daisy and Gatsby meet.

where gatsby dies.

At Gatsby’s funeral.

Gatsby and Daisy – the time separating their relationship. The symbol is representing the presence of time

I also believe that it has the potential to represent renewal and cleansing

It symbolises both the birth of  Jay Gatsby (note; not James Gatz, but on the sailboat)

and the death of him (in the pool and at his funeral). It also reminds us many times throughout the novel about the time that has passed between him and Daisy.

Eyes “Two shining, arrogant eyes had established dominance over his face.”

“Her grey sun-strained eyes looked back at me with polite reciprocal curiosity.”

“A stout, middle-aged man, with enormous owl-eyed spectacles”

When describing Tom as having arrogant eyes.

When Nick first sees Jordan he describes her using the eyes.

Relating back to the eyes of Dr T.J Eckleburg and how George Wilson says that god sees everything by talking about his eyes.

Nick is the Narrator and relates it to so many people so it is hard to name every single person therefore I think that it relates to him as he is the one describing the people. The emotions of the characters that they belong to. The eyes helps Nick decipher these emotions. The reference to eyes in this novel occurs quite often as it is the means of how Nick finds his first opinion/

impression of the particular person. I think that it also relates to the saying, “the eyes are the pathway to the soul”, this fits the story perfectly as this is what Nick sees when he sees the person.

The Colour White “Across the courtesy bay the white palaces of fashionable East Egg glittered along the water”

“Daisy and Jordan lay upon an enormous couch like silver idols weighing down their own white dresses”

“High in a white palace, the king’s daughter”

When Nick first sees Daisy and Jordan.

When Gatsby shows the police officer his white card.

When Nick describes the buildings of East egg.

Daisy and the wealthy people talked about. How gatsby sees daisy and her outer appearance

It also represents the wealthy people and “Old Money” i.e, Gatsby’s white card, the palaces of east egg, Daisy’s white face and dress.

Once we unpick the wording of the white references and put them together, I find that it becomes clear that White not only represents the angelic, innocent outer appearance of Daisy, but also that it is attained by everyone known as rich in the novel. Even Gatsby, with his white card and shirt which are referenced.
Yellow and Gold When relating Daisy as the golden girl.

Gatsby’s gold tie.

Gatsby’s yellow car.

Gatsby, Daisy, Jordan Luxury and greed and power

Gold = gold, yellow = fake gold.

Gatsby’s yellow car represents that, because yellow is the fake gold, it symbolises that Gatsby is failing to fit in to the high society, because he doesn’t belong there and is faking to fit in with the rest of them.
The Green Light “…he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and far as I was from him I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward–and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock… “

“Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter – tomorrow we will run farther, stretch out our arms farther…”

“ It had seemed as close as a star to the moon. Now it was again a green light on a dock. His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one.”

In chapter one when Nick first saw Gatsby reaching out toward the light.

When Gatsby is showing Daisy his house, it comes up in the conversation but isn’t visible because of the mist giving the impression that it isn’t there.

In chapter 9 as Nick was saying how Gatsby believed in it, this backs up the idea of it being Gatsby’s dream.

The green light is related to Gatsby which then pulls in Daisy as it represents her in Gatsby’s perspective. The symbol the green light represents in the book the great gatsby, Gatsby’s hope for daisy and the unattainable dream.

 

IDEA

When Gatsby gets shot and ultimately dies, it almost seems like – because he didn’t let his hope die like he should have when daisy didn’t ring, he took it’s spot and died in its place.

Ideas – The Great Gatsby exploration task

The inevitability of time – time is defined as an indefinite but continuing progress of existence (of the past present and future). It is also a measurement, with this measurement, things have the opportunity to grow apart and to fix this, and grow closer, more time is needed. In relation to the text, the five years separating gatsby and daisy is a considerable amount of time and it is obvious that gatsby wants to pick up where the two of them left off and that sounds easy for gatsby because in the whole novel gatsby’s world revolves around daisy, and everything he ever did was for her, but for daisy, she had made other unique memories and arrangements during the time between them that she can’t just forget about as gatsby is asking of her. This is evident when Nick and Gatsby are talking “You can’t repeat the past,” Gatsby replies, “Why of course you can.”  he honestly believes that he and Daisy can be like they once were and he can’t accept the fact that the time separating has made an impact on Daisy’s life which means that more time is needed for her to forget and grow away from them. Another factor regarding time is that it can’t be stopped or reversed no matter what happens, it will inevitably carry on forever and no one can do anything about it. This means that gatsby cannot get what he wants because gatsby wants to repeat the past with daisy which, as we know, can’t happen because we can’t time travel. This leaves Gatsby’s dream of being with Daisy growing more distant as time goes on because he can’t accept that she has had a relatively good life in the five years she had spent without him . “oh, you want too much!” she cried to Gatsby. “I love you now – isn’t that enough? I can’t help what’s past.” She began to sob helplessly.”I did love him once – but I loved you too.” this quote proves the fact that Daisy has made some good memories over the five years and that she doesn’t want to go with Gatsby if it means that she will have to pretend that they never happened. I think that Fitzgerald is using the factor correctly regarding the real world we live in because it is true that however much we may try and want time to just stand still, that is an idea that, in our time will never be attainable.

The myth of the american dream – fitzgerald’s novel of the great gatsby is filled with little hints of the american dream and how – in reality – the dream was not as amazing as it sounded, for example, when gatsby is in pursuit of his later life of money and a title, he goes through so many struggles and when he finally makes a place for himself in high society, he realises that many of the same struggles are still there. This is where Fitzgerald gives the reader the idea that ‘the american dream’ is much like gatsby and daisy being together, because as much as this dream may be chased, it can never be caught this is because it is nonexistent and just an illusion that will forever trick people into pursuing, which occurred to Gatsby and he is oblivious to it. “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us.” He doesn’t know that wherever he may go, the will always be some sort of struggle, big or small and this is relatable to present day because no matter how wealthy you are or what status you hold, it is in our nature as humans to make every thing to our liking, so therefore there will always be something more distasteful in your life than everything else.

Setting – The Great Gatsby Exploration Task

East egg – “Across the courtesy bay the white palaces of fashionable East Egg glittered along the water” – I think that majority of East Egg hopes that the American dream will never be accomplished as they are the high end of society and they like to have more power over lower class citizens and be treated with more respect. I think that this is a reason why they let money be the priority in their lifestyle, so they have an advantage over people. These ideas are backed up by the fact that Daisy and Tom married for money and a good name rather than love and the way that they put their child on show and treated her like an object instead of a person.

West egg – “I lived at West Egg, the–well, least fashionable of the two, though this is a most superficial tag to express the bizarre and not a little sinister contrast between them.”, “Everyone in West Egg is a bootlegger” – The concept of the American dream of equality, opportunity, democracy, rights and liberty is not foreign to the people who call West Egg their home, I think that this is the area that strives the most to attain that kind of lifestyle. Also, Gatsby lives in this area which adds more depth in the idea that he isn’t so accepted in the high end living of East Egg and that he has had to pursue this dream to get where he is now – from rags to riches.

The Valley Of Ashes – “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.” – The Valley of ashes in The Great Gatsby is the most grotesque area which makes sense that it consists of the poorest people in the novel. The people living here seemed to be incapable of believing that the dream is attainable for them because they think it is impossible to go from having nothing to being happy in the situation they are in when they are clearly struggling. This is shown when it describes George Wilson as a spiritless man.

New York – “The city seen from the Queensboro Bridge is always the city seen for the first time, in its first wild promise of all the mystery and the beauty in the world.” – as a whole, people perceive this place to be full of prosperous people living the american dream, but as you peel away the layers of society, you find that it is an image covering the struggle they are obtaining to hold on to this false identity, they are striving to obtain the American dream.New York portrays to the outside world what the american dream is supposed to look like as it is filled with people who seem to be making the most of what they have.

The Great Gatsby – chapter annotations

THE GREAT GATSBY

 

CHAPTER 4

  • He’s known daisy for a long time, he bought a house across from the buchanans so daisy may realise that he lives there.
  • To add effect to there were so many people who Gatsby didn’t personally know very well but knew of. The text makes these people sound important which are, as we know, the kind of people that Gatsby likes to invite to his parties.
  • I don’t believe all of what Gatsby said about his life as the text made it seem that Gatsby seemed a bit guilty when he said it. I find Jordan’s story more realistic for Gatsby’s character as he doesn’t seem like an oxford man and I think Nick thinks this too.
  • To me, this side of Daisy makes her seem less shallow but not too much as she was still willing to give up on Gatsby.
  • I think that Nick means that these are the status of people in life as people are neither    

 

CHAPTER 5

“Possibly it had occurred to him that the colossal significance of that light had vanished forever”

  • Occurred – moment of clarity/reality
  • Colossal significance – something that matters a lot, big, immense, huge, mammoth, important
  • Gatsby realises that the light was never actually important in terms of symbolism of Daisy.
  • Forever – never going to come back
  • Vanished – if something truly vanishes it never existed. We see ‘vanishing tricks’ in a magic show which are just forms of illusion.

 

“It had seemed as close as a star to the moon, now it was again a green light on a dock. His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one.”

  • As a star – simile, in appearance it looks very close. In reality, it’s really really far away.Gatsby believes daisy to be “just across the bay” so not very far in distance. In reality there is a lot of time and life separating them.
  • Enchanted – Gatsby’s obsession with Daisy is like a spell. He is so fixated on her that it seems unreal or fantastic.

Creative passion = to create with intense emotion

  • Creative  = expressive, outside the box, inventive, innovative, imaginative.
  • Passion = love, affection, intensity, dedication, strong emotion

Gatsby has created the dream with Daisy. Even though he felt such strong and intense emotion for it. It’s still an illusion, not real.

Decking it – creating/designing

Bright feather – material object/opportunities.

Drifted – They came to him. Chance brings them. DRIFT make us think of driftwood which came by water and has no control over its course. Some of the things Gatsby has decked his life (illusion) with have come by chance – it is luck that has brought them to him but he has ensured that he has gathered up all of the driftwood – taken the opportunity.

Ghostly heart – Deathless song

Hinting at us that Gatsby dies and Daisy lives.

CHAPTER 6

“ raw vigour that chafed.”

  • Raw vigour – strength/presence.
  • Chafed – rub

Daisy thinks that West egg has an uncomfortable/imitating presence.

  • Fitzgerald uses air quotes around place to indicate its not the physical place that counts but the vibe/nature that surrounds.

“Nothing to nothing”

  • Daisy didn’t have anything to look forward to and still doesn’t

 

CHAPTER 7

“Her voice is full of money… That was it. I’d never understood before. It was full of money – that was the inexhaustible charm that rose and fell in it, the jingle of it, the cymbals song of it… High in a white palace the king’s daughter, the golden girl…”

Her voice is full of money –

  • Powerful, valuable, attractive. Money is attractive.
  • Sounds like money – high society – posh – UK – confidence – vocab is sophisticated.
  • She has so much money but just does what she wants.
  • Part of why gatsby is so attracted to her as high society is all he has ever wanted.

Inexhaustible charm – You never get tired of it/it never runs out of charm

Jingle –

  • A bell
  • Coins
  • Advertisement have jingles
  • A jingle draws you in just like Daisy’s voice

Cymbals –

  • You hit it and it makes a crashing sound
  • Not always pleasant
  • It stands out

White –

  • Daisy’s colour

Palace –

  • A symbol of wealth

Golden girl –

  • Money
  • So good/perfect trophy

“They weren’t happy, and neither of them had touched the chicken or the ale and yet they weren’t unhappy either.and anybody would have thought they were conspiring together.”

Natural intimacy –

  • Very comfortable with each other
  • Comes easily, it’s how things are supposed to be
  • Love, sense of familiarity, honest, comfortable around the person
  • Tom and Daisy have a relationship that goes deeper than we initially thought.
  • Their status brings them together

Conspiring together –

  • Making a plan, this implies that daisy has told tom the truth and they are now making a plan.
  • They have a natural instinct to protect not only their image but each other

“He put his hands in his coat pockets and turned back eagerly to his scrutiny of the house, as though my presence marred the sacredness of the vigil. So I walked away and left him standing there in the moonlight watching over nothing.”

Sacredness of the vigil –

  • Gatsby believes in his future with daisy like people believe in god

Standing there in the moonlight watching over nothing –

  • We see gatsby in the moonlight reaching for the green light
  • Now we see him reaching for nothing
  • Nothing will make him give up on daisy even though there is now nothing going to happen between them, he still has hope because she is his life.

CHAPTER 8

“Paid a high price for living too long with a single dream”

  • Gatsby did this
  • Single dream – life with Daisy
  • High price – death
  • Single – implies that Gatsby never had any other goals

 

“Shivered as he found out what a grotesque thing a rose is”

  • Grotesque – ugly/disgusting
  • Rose – link with Daisy, both names are flowers  – when you see a rose you don’t think of all of the thorns meaning that you just look at its beauty but really have no idea how dangerous it can be. Daisy is like a rose  and gatsby only sees the perfect and beautiful side in her and only at the last moment realises that she is damaging and dangerous and actually has a prickly an horrible personality.                                

“ A new world, material without being real, where poor ghosts, breathing dreams like air, drifted fortuitously about…”

  • A new world – gatsby creates this, he creates a new person
  • His life is there but is also not, he goes with his new self but it is not actually real. It was an illusion
  • Illusion of being with gatsby was like oxygen for him.

Chapter 4 – The Great Gatsby

 

  1. He’s known daisy for a long time, he bought a house across from the buchanans so daisy may realise that he lives there. I think that Gatsby lied about his wealth and that he went to Oxford.
  2. I think that Gatsby lists all of his guests to add effect that there were so many people who Gatsby didn’t personally know very well, but knew of. The text makes these people sound important which are, as we know, the kind of people that Gatsby likes to invite to his parties.
  3. I don’t believe all of what Gatsby said about his life as the text made it seem that Gatsby seemed a bit guilty when he was talking about his life and how he got to his position financially. I find Jordan’s story more realistic for Gatsby’s character as he doesn’t seem like an oxford man and I think Nick believes her over Gatsby on this topic too.
  4. To me, Jordan’s story of Daisy makes her seem less shallow but not too much as she was still willing to give up on Gatsby. This makes sense though because after 5 years she would have thought that he was out of her life forever.
  5. I think that when Nick makes his statement of the pursued and the pursuing etc, he means that these are the status’ of people in life as people are never just happy with their lives and there is always something wrong or happening.

 

The Valley of Ashes

ABOUT half way between West Egg and New York the motor road hastily joins the railroad and runs beside
it for a quarter of a mile, so as to shrink away from a certain desolate area of land. 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. Occasionally a line of gray cars crawls along an
invisible track, gives out a ghastly creak, and comes to rest, and immediately the ash−gray men swarm up
with leaden spades and stir up an impenetrable cloud, which screens their obscure operations from your sight.
But above the gray land and the spasms of bleak dust which drift endlessly over it, you perceive, after a
moment, the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg.
       – on the way to New York.
      – shrink implies that the road wants to pull away from this area but can’t go far, it’s “creeped” by it. Desolate means bleek emphasis, not much happening, it’s unpleasant, the area doesn’t produce or grow.
     – valley = hole like        ashes = burnt out, dying       NY and other surrounding areas dump their ashes from their fires there.
     – Farm, grow garden – all imply life. however, Fitzgerald states that ashes are growing into things you might normally find on a farm. he also says the gardens are grotesque; ugly, disgusting, repulsive.
     – ashes are forming everything. they are the things that are growing and therefore fitzgerald is trying to illustrate that the feeling of being burnt out has taken over this place.
     – the people live in a world where this is there everyday. above and beyond the range of a normal person’s experiences.
     – worn out, tired
     – you’re going to break, pressure, stress