The Valley of Ashes
I
personally feel that F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The
Great Gatsby took a major turn in chapter 2. Up to this point, the story
had revolved around Nick Carraway, his move to West Egg, and the relationship
between Nick’s cousin, Daisy, and her husband, Tom Buchanan. However, as Nick
spends the day (mostly against his will) with Tom and his mistress in New York,
Myrtle Wilson, the story shifts from focusing on a mundane, wealthy lifestyle
to the immoral, secretive, and tacky route chosen by Tom and Myrtle. As I
observed this shift in the concentration of the story, I noticed that this
change in lifestyle was reflected in the startlingly different settings of the
two chapters. In chapter 1, all of the action takes place on the West and East
Eggs, neither of which could be considered shabby on anyone’s terms; in fact,
Fitzgerald utilizes a great deal of imagery to illustrate how luxurious the
area could truly be. Particularly in East Egg, which is seen as superior to
West Egg, many properties were owned by millionaires and extended for acres,
exploding in beautiful pieces of landscape and design. In the last chapter,
Fitzgerald describes just one portion of the Buchanan’s home when he writes, “He
moved a broad flat hand along the front vista, including in its sweep a sunken
Italian garden, a half acre of deep, pungent roses, and a snub-nosed
motor-boat…” (Fitzgerald, 7). However, at the very beginning of chapter 2, at
which point Tom and Nick retrieve Tom’s mistress from her home, the setting
shifts suddenly to the valley of ashes, which lies halfway between West Egg and
New York. The reader immediately learns that the land is dramatically poorer,
barer, and downright uglier than anything the characters have encountered in
the book thus far. The destituteness of this land is emphasized by Fitzgerald’s
description, “This is a valley of ashes—a fantastic farm where ashes grow like…
grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of… men who move dimly and
already crumbling through the powdery air” (Fitzgerald, 23). While a rich and petty
life like that observed at the Buchanan’s home may be far from perfect, such a
life is surely more dignified than the repugnant life that Tom and Myrtle lead
as they betray their spouses and have an affair together for their own personal
gain. Consequently, I feel that the change from a glorious setting to a
desolate and bland town is reflective of these lifestyle choices. If Tom had
Daisy had a happy marriage grounded on fidelity, they could live a happy life
surrounded by indulgent luxuries; however, because he has chosen and unfaithful
and immoral route, he has stooped so low that he would rather sneak off to a
grungy town to have an affair with a classless woman. This is not to say that a
wealthy home constitutes a desirable life and those who live in poor or destitute
towns are automatically ascribed to be classless people. On the contrary, even
a wealthy lifestyle can be empty and miserable (The House of Mirth taught us that), and some of the most genuinely
wonderful people in the world may also be the poorest. Nevertheless, I found
the dramatic shift in settings to a symbolic representation of the quality of
the lifestyles Tom Buchanan chose.
On a
similar note, I would like to comment that I am utterly confused as to why Tom
Buchanan has chosen to have an affair with Myrtle Wilson. Considering the
magnitude of his hubris, I would assume that he would be of the mindset that he
could attain any woman he wanted, yet he has abandoned his beautiful wife and
daughter to have an affair with a woman who seems nothing short of tacky,
classless, greedy, petty, selfish, fussy, and fake. I am anxious to see how
long this affair between Tom and Myrtle will last and whether or not Daisy will
have the courage to take her daughter and leave Tom once and for all.
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