The great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald (chapter 2)

Valley of ashes

Chapter two starts with a description of a “desolate area of land”. It seems a deserted and a lifeless place. The narrator even gives a name of this industrial location. He says : “This is a valley of ashes”. The site is dark and dusty because it’s full of grey-black powder, which is left when something is burnt. The word “ashes” is repeated a few times in the first paragraph (“ashes surrounded houses”, “ash-grey men”, “ashes are dumped”) to create a dark and depressing atmosphere. The spot is very different to the setting in chapter one. The writer creates a contrast between the high society living in beautiful mansions and the lower class working hard in factories or using their spades all day long. We are no longer in an upper-class environment.

The illustration on page 29 show Tom and Nick in the valley of ashes. The two men are standing next to each other, looking at the garage without absolutely no lights on. The place is grey and miserable. It also must be noisy. The writer describes the sounds characters can hear : “From time to time, a train comes slowly to a stop with a terrible creak.” How do they feel about being there? Are they feeling uncomfortable or a bit embarrassed?

Sequencing

Nick and Tom catch a train to New York. When the train halted at the drawbridge, Tom leapt out of his seat and took Nick to meet his “woman”. Tom in that moment is quite bossy and it almost feel Nick has no other options than following Tom. “Tom jumped out of his seat and forced me out of the carriage.”

The description of the garage in this section matches perfectly to the depression sight.  The writer uses adjectives like “bare”, “dusty old Ford” to create a dark atmosphere. The description is followed by a discussion between Tom and Wilson about selling a car. We know what Wilson looks like. “He was quite handsome, but he had an unhealthy look.”

The setting is presented through sounds and noises. A new character appears in chapter 2. Nick does not see her first. He hears her. The story is written through the eyes of Nick and he seems very curious about who he is about to see. The author creates a sense of mystery when he writes : “Then I heard footsteps…”. The first thing he sees is a “stout woman coming down some stairs”. I did not know the meaning of the descriptive adjective “stout”. Now I do. It means large in body, plump and I don’t think being called stout is a compliment.

Her arrival is quite theatrical. She is the only woman. The writer describes meticulously her actions. “She went past her husband as if he were a ghost and shook hands with Tom while looking him directly in her eye.” For the first time, Nick sees Myrtle Wilson and he is looking at her attitude. She sounds quite bossy and treats her husband like a child. “Mrs Wilson turned to her husband and ordered him to fetch some chairs.” He is doing as he’s been told.

While Wilson is away, Tom tells that he wants to see her. He explains her what to do and where she needs to go to. There’s no room for discussion. He is using the imperative tense. “Get on the next train.” So, there she is, travelling to New York in a separate railway carriage.

Tom seems quite proud of his decision because he is verbalizing his feelings. “It does her good to escape.” Nick is not judging. He only asks questions.

The arrival in New York is quite funny because there is an unexpected and unusual situation. Myrtle starts buying unnecessary items.  The enumeration tends to show that she is quite sophisticated and pays attention to what she looks like. “When we arrived, she bought a couple of magazines, some skin cream, and some perfume.” But then suddenly, she starts acting like a capricious and spoiled child and she asks for a pet. “I want to have a dog for the apartment.” A dog? So she wants a puppy like she would fancy an ice-cream. Who is going to look after the dog when they will be away? Does she find it funny to act as if everything was normal? And here is Tom : paying and being rude toward the old man. According to him, the dog is a “bitch.”

Nick constantly tries to escape from this awkward situation. He might not want to be the one who sees and knows what’s going on there in the taxi. This is why he says : “I have to get out of here.” But once again, Tom stops him from doing what he would rather do.

A drink party takes place in an apartment on 158^th avenue. The writer offers a description of the top-floor apartment. The writer is using an anaphora in the following sentence. Anaphora is when a particular word or a phrase is repeated at the beginning of successive clauses. “The top-floor apartment consisted of a small living room, a small dining-room, a small bedroom and a bath”. So the place is narrow, nothing to do with the big mansion where Tom lives with Daisy. In addition, someone has filed the living-room in the apartment with too much furniture so  it made it very difficult to move around.

Nick decides to leave the flat to go to the drugstore to buy some cigarettes. After he came back, he could not see Tom and Myrtle anywhere. So, he began to read a book. However, it made no sense to him at all.

More people are coming to the party: Catherine (Myrtle’s sister) and a couple : Mr and Mrs McKee. Myrtle decides to get change and wears a “cream-colored dress which seemed to change her personality”. She pretends not to take care of her appearance, but her behaviour says the opposite. Catherine suggests to her husband that he should photograph Myrtle’s sister.  

Catherine discuss about Gatsby with Nick. Rumours about him being a “nephew or a cousin of Kaiser Wilhelm’s” (German emperor from 1859 to 1941). We notice that people talk about Gatsby, his fortune, the place where he lives, a man who seems to enjoy hosting parties however the reader still does not know much about him.

The party is still on. It seems that everyone is drunk and the characters start talking about their unhappy lives. Nick is not very comfortable and wish once again he could escape and go for a walk towards Central Park.

However, he can’t and he has to listen to Myrtle explaining him how she met Tom for the first time ever. She gives him details about the circumstances until the party turns into a series of wild arguments. Tom changes into a violent and aggressive man. “With a short movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand.” To make the scene even more cruel, the writer is using disgusting details like “bloodstained towels on the bathroom floor”. In this chapter, we see the dark side of Tom.

At the end of the chapter, Nick wakes up at Pennsylvania station. When Nick is drunk, the reader is drunk. God knows how he got there and what happened to the other characters in the apartment ?

Writing

In this chapter, Nick receives a “formal” invitation to a party at Gastby’s house. Imagine what the text of the invitation says, and then write Nick’s reply.

Dear Nick,

My name is Gatsby. I know it’s quite an unusual name. This might be the first time ever you read that name. Anyway, I am your next-door neighbour and I’ve recently noticed that you moved here not long ago. I am organizing a party next Saturday. I would love you to come along so we could get the chance to meet up. I’ll introduce you to my friends. Most of them live in our district.  I prefer to let you know that there will be a dress code. I would appreciate you to be smart and elegant.  A jazz-band will be coming to perform a few songs. I’ve always loved private concert, listening to a band from the comfort of my own living-room.

Talk to you soon,

Gatsby

Nick’s reply

Dear Gatsby,

I would like to thank you for the invitation. I shall be very please to come to your house next Saturday. I might have to buy a suit for the ceremony. To be fair, I am noy yet very familiar with this new environment so your party will certainly help me to settle in well.

Bye for now,

Nick