The Great Gatsby Chapter 2 Valley of Ashes

Name: __________________________________________ Date: _________ Period: ______ THE GREAT GATSBY Chapter 2: Valley of Ashes KEY QUESTION: How does Fitzgerald create the dreary and depressing mood of Chapter 2’s introduction to the Valley of Ashes? Analyze Fitzgerald’s word choice by citing and explaining the strongest pieces of textual evidence that contribute to this mood. Textual Evidence "Occasionally a line of gray cars crawls along an invisible How does it contribute to the mood? creak.. immediately the ash-gray mean swam up with leaden everything is gray and dull including the men, they describe the men as a "swarm" and the ash created an impenetrable spades and stir up an impenetrable cloud cloud and this seems to be degrading and dehumanizing "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" "The valley of ashes is bounded on one side by a small foul river, and when the drawbridge is up to let barges through, the passengers on waiting trains can stare at the dismal scene for as long as half an hour Why is it fitting that the train always halts in the Valley of Ashes? Why is it fitting that this setting is where Nick meets Tom’s mistress, Myrtle? Explain. The fact that he begins this story with the description of the valley of ashes and why the train has to stop there shows that he sees the valley as a way to show that it isn't only a sad place but also a representation of not only social decay but moral lowness as well. " There is always a halt there of at least a minute, and it was because of this that I first met. Tom Buchanan’s mistress. The fact that he had one was insisted upon wherever he was known. His acquaintances resented the fact that he turned up in popular restaurants with her and, leaving her at a table, sauntered about, chatting with whomsoever he knew. Though I was curious to see her I had no desire to meet her—but I did. I went up to New York with Tom on the train one afternoon and when we stopped by the ashheaps he jumped to his feet and taking hold of my elbow literally forced me from the car. ‘We’re getting off!’ he insisted. ‘I want you to meet my girl.’¨ This quote displays the sad and forgotten town that is just gray and everywhere you look is a cloud of smoke allowing nothing pretty to grow or stand out. The words foul and dismal display how it is supposed to be a sad and more so a place where people go to die. The part about the passangees show how its a bad sight for them What might the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg represent? Explain using textual evidence. ¨the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg. The eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg are blue and gigantic—their retinas are one yard high. They look out of no face but, instead, from a pair of enormous yellow spectacles which pass over a nonexistent nose. " his eyes seem to represent more of a moral high ground or nin judgemental being that just observes everything around him.