1. The Great Gatsby Chapter 2
Aim: How can we analyze the values and themes suggested by the Valley of Ashes in Chapter 2?

2. “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...”

3. What is ash? What is implied by it taking the shape of things?
The Valley of Ashes: “where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and...of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air.”
What is ash? What is implied by it taking the shape of things?

4. What is suggested by the colors of the opening scene in chapter 2?
Wheat field – symbolizing prosperity, fullness, “bread of life”
Oculist: A person who specializes in the medical treatment of diseases or defects of the eye

5. What could the eyes symbolize?
The eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg overlooking the Valley of Ashes are mentioned several times.
What could the eyes symbolize?

6. What is suggested by the colors of the opening scene in chapter 2?
“This is the 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 ash grey men, who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air.”
Notice the contrasts between ashes and wheat/gardens. What effect is created by combing the images?
How long is the sentence? What is the effect of the long sentence? How many times does the word “and” appear? What effect does this create?
Transcendent = beyond usual limits. What is a “transcendent effort”? What does “already crumbling” imply?
Diction = word choice Syntax = sentence structure

7. “’Oh, sure,’ agreed Wilson hurriedly, and went toward the little office, mingling immediately with the cement color of the walls. 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.” (p. 30)
Since the ashes take the form of houses and men, what is Fitzgerald suggesting that the ash heap represents?
Wasted, burned-out lives?
“Whose lives?”

8. How is George Wilson also a defeated idealist?
It was President Wilson who took the Americans into WWI. During the peace process, Wilson was outmaneuvered by England, France, and Italy. Unwilling to compromise his ideals, Wilson set out across the country working to “sell” his position to the Americans. He worked himself too hard and became ill, eventually suffering a stroke. Wilson eventually died a defeated idealist.
How is George Wilson also a defeated idealist?

9. Pay attention to what happens in the City.
How is what happens in the City in Chapter 2 different from the party in Chapter 1?

10. Note where the “old money” and the “new money” live.
Note how Fitzgerald’s choice of characters and geographic locations highlights the comparisons of old money, new money, and no money.
Note where the “old money” and the “new money” live.
What kind of money lives in the Valley of Ashes? 10

11. Both of Tom’s women are named after flowers
Both of Tom’s women are named after flowers. What differences and similarities do you see?
Myrtle
Daisy