Chapter 2 Analysis

Chapter Summary ● Nick and Tom travel to New York, stopping at George Wilson’s service station in the Valley of Ashes along the way ● George and Myrtle Wilson are introduced ● Tom wants Myrtle to meet him in New York ● Myrtle buys a dog and throws an uneventful party ● Everybody gets smashed and Tom unleashes his anger on Myrtle, breaking her nose

Syntax 1 and Analysis “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.” pg 23 Fitzgerald uses a polysyndeton here to show the fast growing and spreading movement that the ashes have over the city.

Syntax 2 and Analysis “The apartment was on the top floor-- a small living-room, a small dining- room, a small bedroom, and a bath.” pg. 29 Fitzgerald uses an anaphora to provide the audience with a descriptive image of Myrtle and Tom’s secret apartment, “small.”

Syntax 3 and Analysis “People disappeared, reappeared, made plans to go somewhere, and then lost each other, searched for each other, found each other a few feet away.” pg. 37 Fitzgerald uses antithesis and asyndeton to create a sense of quick, sporadic movement between contrasting ideas, showing that people are constantly changing.

Diction Example and Analysis “When he had gone halfway he turned around and stared at the scene--his wife and Catherine scolding and consoling as they stumbled here and there among the crowding furniture with articles of aid, and the despairing figure on the couch, bleeding fluently, and trying to spread a copy of Town Tattle over the tapestry scenes of Versailles.” pg. 37 Fitzgerald uses diction, such as this, to provide very detailed imagery and description of every little event happening in each instance. This example, in itself, expands on the whole chapter by providing pure chaos which happens not only in the chapter, but also in the rest of the book.

Chapter Diction Just like the example above, the rest of the chapter is smothered with detailed imagery and descriptive instances. Fitzgerald’s word choice in this chapter allowed the audience to get into the minds of the characters and understand how they perceive each other and their surroundings. The diction also allowed the true personality of each character to shine brightly by using words such as “spiritless” when talking about George Wilson and “sensuously” when talking about Myrtle Wilson.

Figurative Language 1 and Analysis “The interior was unprosperous and bare; the only car visible was the dust- covered wreck of a Ford which crouched in a dim corner.” pg 25 By using personification to suggest the Ford in Wilson’s garage is crouching in a corner, Fitzgerald creates the image of lying in wait, foreshadowing the time when Wilson will suddenly spring into action near the end of the book.

Figurative Language 2 and Analysis “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 non-existent nose… But his eyes, dimmed a little by many paintless days under sun and rain, brood on over the solemn dumping ground.” pg Using personification, Fitzgerald suggests that the eyes are able to perceive what happens in the Valley, always watching, judging the citizens of the Valley as the eyes of God.

Figurative Language 3 and Analysis “A white ashen dust veiled his dark suit and his pale hair as it veiled everything in the vicinity--except his wife, who moved close to Tom.” pg. 26 Fitzgerald uses words such as “white” and “veiled” to symbolize the purity of certain characters. The “white dust” veiled everything in the room except for Tom and Myrtle, indicating their betrayal and lust for one another.

Figurative Language 4 and Analysis “I gathered later that he was a photographer and had made the dim enlargement of Mrs. Wilson’s mother which hovered like an ectoplasm on the wall.” pg 30 Ectoplasm is associated with ghosts, or spirits that no longer exist, so by comparing a photograph of Mrs. Wilson’s mother to ectoplasm, Fitzgerald is making another reference to how the past influences their actions.

Figurative Language 5 and Analysis “The late afternoon sky bloomed in the window for a moment like the blue honey of the Mediterranean--then the shrill voice of Mrs. McKee called me back into the room.” pg 34 Fitzgerald uses a simile here to help show the beauty and dream-like quality the afternoon sky had on Nick, before he was pulled back to reality by Mrs. McKee.