Analysis of The Great Gatsby Novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald

 The Great Gatsby Novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald Analysis

1. Summary

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            Nick Carraway has moved to West Egg, Long Island, hoping to become a well-rounded man as well as trying to experience the feeling. Making his way as a sales bondsman, he rents a small house next door to a very pricey mansion, which turns out to be Jay Gatsby's. Nick's cousin, Daisy Buchannan, and her husband, Tom, live across the bay in East Egg. Nick goes to visit Daisy and her husband when he meets Jordan Baker, a professional golfer. As they are all sitting and having conversation over numerous topics, Tom gets a phone call and leaves to take it. While Tom is gone, Jordan tells Nick that the caller is in fact Tom's mistress. All Nick can make out is a green light like the one found at the end of a dock across the sound. When Nick looks back, Gatsby had disappeared.

            Valley of Ashes is a place that is a ghostly, formerly developed land that has been given up on, which marks the intersection of a city with the suburbs. This area is home to a decaying billboard that draws attention. This billboard shows an advertisement for the Eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg. Here Nick meets Tom's mistress, Myrtle Wilson by getting off the train on the way to New York. George Wilson, a car repair garage owner, also Mrytle's husband, talks to Tom about business manners until he tells Myrtle quietly that he wishes to see her. They arrange a meeting and Myrtle uses the excuse of seeing her sister in New York to get away. They go to Tom and Myrtle’s apartment. At the apartment, Myrtle phones her sister, Catherine, and her friends, the McKee's. After getting increasingly drunk, Myrtle becomes more outspoken about her life and soon becomes upset and starts shouting "Daisy" loudly. Tom, upset about this, hits Myrtle and breaks her nose.

            Jay Gatsby, being known for his huge parties, throws one over the weekend. You can see the people flocking to his house to use his pool, boats, cars, and etc. His parties served two dinners including an orchestra and a small amount of musicians. Gatsby's parties often lasted throughout the night into the morning. Nick receives a handwritten note asking him to join the parties. Many participants are not actually invited, but simply arrive and know they will not be turned away. During the party, Nick tried to find Gatsby, but the party is too busy. As Nick walks around, he finds Jordan Baker and she joins him in walking around. They hear all kinds of different rumors about Gatsby such as that he once killed a man. Then Nick meets Gatsby. Later, Gatsby takes Jordan Baker to the side to talk to her about something between only the two of them. What they talked about isn't told. Nick meets back up with Jordan Baker in mid-summer.

            Gatsby shows up at Nick's door and tells him that they are having lunch in New York. On the way to lunch, Gatsby feels the need to clarify his past with Nick to make sure there isn't any confusion about the topic. Nick is suspicious at the fact that he was born into a wealthy Midwest family (in San Francisco) and educated at Oxford. Lets this go as a policeman pulls them over for speeding, but lets them go after Gatsby shows the police a card from the commissioner, saying he did him a favor.  At lunch, Nick meets Meyer Wolfshiem, a professional gambler. Nick also learns from Jordan Baker that in 1917, she met Daisy and an unknown military officer who watched Daisy's every move. However, Daisy's parents didn't approve. Tom is now her husband. Jordan tells Nick that on the day before her wedding to Tom, she broke down drunk reconsidering her decision, but decided to go through with the wedding anyway. The next April, Daisy and Tom had their girl. During Gatsby and Jordan's talk from the earlier chapters, they talked about why Gatsby was where he was. He chose his house in West Egg so that the house of his lost love would be just across the bay. Gatsby was doing by the water bay that night. Gatsby wishes that Nick invite Daisy over on an afternoon so he can arrange to come by and see her. It supposed to be a surprise for Daisy.

            When Nick gets back home, Gatsby's house is lit top to bottom, but there is no party while Gatsby walks over towards him. Nick tells Gatsby that he will call Daisy and invite her to tea. Nick phones Daisy and tells her not to bring Tom. When the day comes, Gatsby wants everything to be perfect. He sends a man over to Nick's house to cut his lawn and has flowers delivered. When the time comes, Daisy arrives while Gatsby exits only to reappear at the front door looking pale. Gatsby comes into the living room and joins Daisy. In a weird reunion, the three characters feel awkward and continue their tea preparations. When Nick tries to excuse himself to give them privacy, Gatsby gets scared and follows him out. Nick sends Gatsby back in to Daisy. When Nick comes back, Gatsby has changed from being scared to being happy. Daisy also has an unexpected joy in her voice. They then go to Gatsby's house and wander from room to room. When Daisy sees Gatsby's fancy shirts, she buries her head in them and cries. By the end of the afternoon, Daisy has seen all of Gatsby's possessions. Nick goes home and leaves Gatsby alone.

            Gatsby is he had anything and suspicious thoughts about Gatsby. This is satisfying to Gatsby because he is really christened James Gatz from North Dakota. James Gatz became Jay Gatsby when he saw Dan Cody drop anchor on his yacht on the shores of Lake Superior. Before this, Gatsby spent part of his like roaming parts on Minnesota making what he would be like up. Cody fifty years old with a penchant for women took Gatsby under his wing and taught him yachting.  They went for the West Indies and the Barbary Coast. Within the 5 years they were together, they went around the continent 3 times, and in the end, Cody was mysteriously killed by his mistress. After weeks of Nick not seeing Gatsby because he was spending time with Jordan. Tom Buchannan and two others that were out for a horseback ride showed up for a drink. After some small talk, Gatsby is invited to dine with the group, the three riders leave without him.  Tom begins to become worried about Daisy's activities and joins her to one of Gatsby's parties. Gatsby tries to impress the couple, then dances with Daisy. Note that this is the only time Gatsby gets involved at one of his own parties. Daisy and Gatsby go to Nick's steps for half an hour for privacy. Daisy finds the party unnerving and appalling and after the Buchannans leave and the party breaks up, Nick and Gatsby talk about the party. Gatsby expresses that he is worried that Daisy didn't have a good time, and when Nick cautions Gatsby that what happened in the past can't be repeated, he answers that it can.

            Gatsby's Saturday night parties stop. When Gatsby come at Daisy's asking to lunch at her house the next day, Nick learns that Gatsby has new servants, some people Wolfshiem wanted to do something for he feared they would leak information about he and Daisy. Because of the weather during lunch, everyone is uncomfortable. Tom leaves the room to talk to his mistress on the phone while Daisy kisses Gatsby and declares her love for him. Tom, extremely upset, agrees on going to town and gets a bottle of whiskey and they set out. Tom, Jordan, and Nick are in Gatsby's car while Gatsby and Daisy are in Tom's car. Tom has been suspicious of Gatsby all along and decided to have him investigated. Tom pulls into Wilson's gas station to get gas when he sees Wilson is not looking his best. Wilson tells Tom that he caught Myrtle having an affair with an unknown person and they were heading to West soon. Tom, being even more enraged for losing his mistress and wife, questions Gatsby and confronts him about his love for Daisy. Gatsby shows no signs of being intimidated and tells Tom his wife doesn't love him. Tom turns to Daisy who hesitates. Gatsby is now shaken, but tries another way to get Daisy. He declares that Daisy's leaving Tom, but Tom assures him Daisy would never leave him for a bootlegger. Tom makes Daisy and Gatsby go home in Gatsby's own car, while Jordan, Nick, and himself to follow in his car. George Wilson who was found ill by his neighbor, Michaelis, tells him that he has Myrtle locked inside and how she'll stay there until they leave in two days. Michaelis heads back into his restaurant and returns a couple hours later when he hears Myrtle's voice and sees her break away from Wilson and run into the road. As she is entering the highway, she gets hit by a passing car that doesn't stop. Nick, Tom, and Jordan arrive on the scene closely after the accident to find Myrtle's body laying on a worktable. Tom learns that the car that struck Myrtle sounds like the same of Gatsby's car by description. Tom invited Nick inside to wait for a cab from East Egg to take him home. Nick can see the upsetting attitudes in Tom, Daisy, and the whole society they represent and declines. Outside, Nick bumps into Gatsby who asks if there was trouble on the road. After asking a couple of questions, Nick learns Daisy was driving, but that Gatsby will take the blame.

            Nick wakes up when he hears Gatsby return home from his all night stay out at the Buchannans. He goes to Gatsby, who says that nothing happened. Nick tells Gatsby he should leave town for a while because his car would be found out as the "death car." This makes Gatsby spill the story of his past and tells Nick that Daisy was Gatsby's social superior, and they fell deeply in love. While they courted, they had been intimate with each other that bonded him to her, feeling "married to her." Gatsby left her for the war, succeeded in battle and when the war was over, he tried to get home, but ended up at Oxford instead. Daisy didn't understand why he didn't immediately come back, and ended up breaking the relationship.  Gatsby and Nick continue to talk of Daisy and how Gatsby had gone to find her when he returned to the United States, but she was on her honeymoon and left Nick to wish that he searched harder to find her. The day goes on, and when Jordan calls Nick, he cuts her off. He tries calling Gatsby, but after no answer, decides to go home early. Wilson, upset about Myrtle's death, is irrational when Michaelis tries to talk to him and converse with him. Michaelis is tired by morning and goes home to sleep. When he goes back to Wilson four hours later, Wilson is gone and has gone to Port Roosevelt, Gads Hill, West Egg, and Gatsby's house. Gatsby is floating on an air mattress in the pool thinking things over when Wilson shoots and kills Gatsby, sure that he is responsible for his wife's death. Nick finds his body floating in the pool and while walking to the house with Gatsby's dead body, the gardener finds Wilson's dead body in the grass.

             Nick is concerned that he might have to handle Gatsby's burial arrangements. He calls Daisy to tell her about Gatsby's death, but finds out she and Tom left, leaving no itinerary. The next day, Nick sends for Wolfshiem, but he sends a letter back saying he won't be involved with Gatsby's death. When Gatsby's phone rings and Nick answers, the speaker hangs up after he tells them Gatsby is dead. Three days later, Nick gets a telegram from Henry C. Gatz, Gatsby's father in Minnesota. He learned of his death through the Chicago newspaper. He refuses to take the body to the Midwest. Later that day, Klipspringer calls and Nick answers, hoping it would be another mourner joining the funeral, but it is not. The morning of the funeral Nick forces his way into Wolfshiem's office, hoping to convince his closest business associate to show up to the services, but he refuses again. When Nick gets back to Gatsby's, he finds Mr. Gatz going through his son's house, getting more and more proud as he sees more and more things. He pulls out Hopalong Cassidy, which used to be owned by Gatsby as a kid. He had a daily schedule written in the back on the book. The men then go to the funeral. A few servants, the mail man, the minster, Nick, and Mr. Gatz are all that attend. Not one person from the parties thrown by Gatsby. Nick starts to think about the memories of traveling West when he went home from college. He remembers how as the train got closer and closer into the West, he got more and more comfortable. This puts Nick into a conversation about the Midwest versus the vices of the East. Nick talking to two people from his past, Jordan, who he still feels fondly for, dismisses her once again. The other, one fall day, is Tom on Fifth Avenue. Tom sees Nick first and speaks. Nick refuses to shake his hand. During this short talk, Nick learns that Tom had a role in Gatsby's death. Wilson worked his way to the Buchannan house in East Egg when Tom told him who owned the car that hit Myrtle. At the end, he shakes Tom's hand because he felt suddenly as though he were talking to a child. The night before Nick leaves to move back West, he goes over to Gatsby's place and remembers how his house used to be. He thinks about how far Gatsby had gone in his life, how he took all the time to pick out a house to pick out Daisy's dock in the night, and how he hoped he had a future. Nick has one last thought, which is how society is the boats that always move against the current on the Sound.

2. Plot

- Beginning:

            In the summer 1992 Nick Carraway a Yale graduate and world War veteran from the Midwest, takes a job in New York as a bond salesman.

- Exposition:

        Nick Carraway is back from World War I and renting a house in West Egg, a small but fancy town on Long Island. Cousin Daisy and her ex-football player husband Tom live across the bay in fancier East Egg. Jay Gatsby, Nick's next door neighbor, is a wealthy newcomer who throws large parties weekly, during which his guests are happy to drink his (illegal) booze while snubbing.

- Conflict:

            Gatsby wants something he can't have: Daisy, and a shot at being in the American upper class. Tom wants something he can't have: a mistress and a wife who know nothing about each other. Nick wants something that he definitely can't have: all these crazy people to stop being crazy. Oh, and the hot young golf pro, Jordan. He'll have her, too.

- Complication:

            Tom Buchanan takes an instant disliking to Gatsby, even before he knows that Daisy is weeping over Gatsby's beautiful shirts. His investigation complicates matters considerably. Turns out, Jay Gatsby is really James Gatz, a poor kid who earned all his wealth from organized crime (gambling, bootlegging liquor). Uh-oh. No wonder Gatsby has so much trouble fitting in.

- Complication: Gatsby’s lavish parties, Gatsby’s arrangement of a meeting with Daisy at Nick’s

- Climax:

            Tom and Gatsby have a tense but understated showdown around who gets to control Daisy, and (surprise) Tom wins. He seals his victory by letting them drive home together, just to rub it in Gatsby's face. But when the others follow behind, they discover that Myrtle was killed by a speeding yellow car that failed to stop. Apparently, a meteoric rise to the top sometimes comes with casualties.

- Resolution:

            Gatsby watches Daisy's house all night, worried that Tom will do something to her now that her infidelity has been revealed. We don't blame him: he broke his mistress's nose just for saying Daisy's name. What's going to happen to our intrepid anti-hero?

- Resolution:

            Nick starts digesting last night's events and comes to the understandable conclusion that "They're a rotten crowd" (8.45). We're with you on that one, Nick. It's too bad Gatsby didn't have the same revelation: George Wilson finds him in the pool and then kills both Gatsby and himself in retaliation for mowing down his wife.

- Ending:

            Daisy and Tom have fled, Nick and Jordan have broken up, and Gatsby is dead. We end with Gatsby's dismal funeral, of course, sparsely attended by Nick, Gatsby's father, and the owl-eyed man who once marveled at all of Gatsby's books. And Nick sends us off with this enigmatic conclusion: the future is always out of reach. Instead, "we beat on, boats against he current, borne back ceaselessly into the past" (9.151).

3. Characters

1. Jay Gatsby: Mysterious, fantastically wealth young man.

2. Nick Carraway : Honest, responsible, fair-minded, easy-going, sarcastic, optimistic

3. Daisy Buchanan : Unfaithful

4. Tom Buchanan : Brutal, hulking man,

5. Jordan Baker : cynical

6. Myrtle Wilson : Vital, earthy, voluptuous woman

7. George Wilson : Listless

8. Henry Gatz: kind

9. Meyer Wolfsheim : wicked, irresponsible

10. Dan Cody : coarse man,

11. Michaelis : kind

12. Catherine : Brutal,

13. The McKees : Gossipy and Shalow, status and fashion oriented

14. Ewing Klipspringer : shiftless freeloader

4. Setting :

- Time:

Neutral

a. Sunday:

“On Sunday morning while church bells rang in the villages alongshore, the world and its mistress returned to Gatsby’s house and twinkled hilariously on his lawn.” (Page 67, line 1)

Spiritual

a. Summer:

“And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with

the summer.” (Page 10, line 9)

b. Morning:

“A chauffeur in a uniform of robin’s-egg blue crossed my lawn early that Saturday morning with a surprisingly formal note from his employer.” (Page 47, line 20)

c. Afternoon:

“The front was broken by a line of French windows, glowing now with reflected gold and wide open to the warm windy afternoon, and Tom Buchanan in riding clothes was standing with his legs apart on the front porch.” (Page 13, line 1)

d. Evening:

” And so it happened that on a warm windy evening I drove over to East Egg to see two old friends whom I scarcely knew at all.” (Page 12, line 25)

- Place:

Neutral

a. East Egg:

“Across the courtesy bay the white palaces of fashionable East Egg glittered along the water, and the history of the summer really begins on the evening I drove over there to have dinner with the Tom Buchanans.” (Page 11, line 29)

b. New York City:

“The morning of the funeral I went up to New York to see Meyer Wolfshiem; I couldn’t seem to reach him any other way.” (Page 176, line 25)

c. Gatsby’s house:

“I believe that on the first night I went to Gatsby’s house I was one of the few guests who had actually been invited.” (Page 47, line 8)

d. Nick’s house:

“Then they sauntered over to my house and sat on the steps for half an hour, while at her request I remained watchfully in the garden.” (Page 112, line 28)

e. Daisy’s house:

“Probably it had been tactful to leave Daisy’s house, but the act annoyed me, and her next remark made me rigid.” (Page 161, line 18)

f. Michaelis’ restaurant:

“Just as the latter was getting uneasy, some workmen came past the door bound for his restaurant, and Michaelis took the opportunity to get away, intending to come back later.” (Page 143, line 23)

g. Tom’s rented apartment:

“Just as Tom and Myrtle (after the first drink Mrs. Wilson and I called each other by our first names) reappeared, company commenced to arrive at the apartment-door.” (Page 35, line 30)

h. Plaza Hotel:

“And we all took the less explicable step of engaging the parlor of a suite in the Plaza Hotel.” (Page 132, line 7)

Spiritual

a. West Egg :

“I lived at West Egg, the—well, the less fashionable of the two, though this is a most superficial tag to express the bizarre and not a little sinister contrast between them.” (Page 11, line 11)

b. Valley of Ashes :

“This is a valley of ashes, a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens;” (Page 29, line 4)

5. Point of View

Nick establishes himself as a reliable first-person narrator on the first page, saying “ I am inclined to reserve all judgments”. Although he is part of the plot, he is truthful observer surrounded by people who lie, including Gatsby and the Buchanans. One disadvantage of first person point of view is that it is limited to the narrator experiences. Because the story is told from Nick’s perspective, the reader is never able to see what the other characters are thinking. In addition, Nick does not witness some events, such as Myrtle’s death, and can offer the reader only hearsay.

6. Theme

The major theme of The Great Gatsby story is the decline of the American dream, the spirit of the 1920s, the difference between social classes, the role of symbols in the human conception of meaning, and the role of the past in dreams of the future.

7. Style

Figurative Language :

Simile

·                     "The middle west now seemed like the ragged edge of the universe." (Page 9,        line 10)

·                     "They stood on my shelf in red and gold like new money from the mint."    (Page 10,   line 17)

·                     "Blew curtains in at one end and out the other like pale flags." (Page 14, line          12)

·                     "As cool as their white dresses..." (Page 18, line 31)

·                     "Then the glow faded, each light deserting her with lingering regret, like     children leaving a pleasant street at dusk..." (Page 20, line 31)

·                     "A fantastic farm, where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and     grotesque gardens..." (Page 29, line 5)

·                     The late afternoon sky bloomed in the window for a moment like the blue honey of the Mediterranean." (Page 40, line 20)

·                     "In his blue gardens, men and women came and went like moths among the           whisperings and the champagne and the stars." (Page 45, line 2)

·                     "His station wagon scampered like a brisk yellow bug to meet all trains..."   (Page 45, line 11)

·                     "At intervals she appeared suddenly at his side like an angry diamond..." (Page      58, line 15)

·                     "Flipped up their noses like goats." (Page 67, line 24)

·                     "With fenders spread like wings" (Page 74, line 15)

·                     "The sun had gone down behind the tall apartments of the movie stars in the          west fifties and the clear voices of little girls, already gathered like crickets on   the grass, rose through the twilight." (Page 84, line 28)

·                     "A damp streak of hair lay like a dash of blue paint across her cheek." (Page           92, line 12)

·                     "Gatsby, pale as death, with his hands plunged like weights in his coat        pockets, was standing in a puddle of water glaring tragically into my eyes."       (Page 92, line 30)

·                     "It had seemed as close as a star to the moon.” (Page 100, line 10)

·                     "His shirts piled like bricks in stacks a dozen high." (Page 99, line 10)

·                     "Now, in the reaction, he was running down like an over wound clock." (Page        99, line 5)

·                     "At his lips' touch she blossomed for him like a flower and the incarnation was       complete." (Page 118, line 15)

Metaphor:

·                     "...a sudden emptiness seemed to flow now from the windows and the great          doors.." (Page 62, line 16)

·                     "...a white ashen dust veiled his dark suit and his pale hair as it veiled         everything in the vicinity." (Page 32, line 5)

·                     "The eyes of Doctor T.J Eckleburg are blue and gigantic---their retinas are one        yard high." (Page 29, line 18)

·                     "My own house was an eyesore." (Page 11, line 24)

·                     "...as if he were related to one of those intricate machines..." (Page 8, line 12)

·                     "...advice that I've been turning over in my mind..." (Page 1, line 2)

·                     "... aware of the accusations that flavored conversations in the halls." (Page 71,      line 8)

·                     "... the exhilarating ripple of her voice has a wild tonic in the rain" (Page 92,           line 9)

Hyperbole:

·                     "...their retinas are one yard high..." (page 29, line 19)

·                     "I'm paralyzed with happiness." (page 15, line 8)

Personification:

·                     "The lawn started at the beach and ran toward the front door..." (page 12, line        30)

·                     "...until the air is alive with chatter and laughter." (page 46, line 16)

·                     "...the groan of a picture..." (page 14, line 24)

·                     "I wanted the world to be in uniform..." (page  8, line 4)

·                     "...a ford which crouched in a dim corner..." (page 30, line 2)

·                     "...her voice glowing and singing.." (page 21, line 5)

·                     "My eyes picked them out." (Page 75, line 20)

·                     "My house looks well, doesn't it?" he demanded. "See how the whole front of       it catches the light." (Page 96, line 33)

·                     "The quiet lights in the houses were humming." (Page 118, line 1)

·                     "On Sunday morning while church bells rang in the villages along shore the            world and its mistress returned to Gatsby's house and twinkled hilariously on       his lawn." (Page 67, line 1)

Imagery:

·                     "It was a rich cream color, bright with nickel, swollen here and there in its monstrous length with triumphant hat-boxes and supper-boxes and tool-boxes,       and terraced with labyrinth of wind-shields that mirrored a dozen suns." (Page            70, line 17)

            Nick is describing Gatsby's car, this shows how extravagant Gatsby's life is.

·                     "...there was a glimpse of red-belted ocean-going ships, and sped along a    cobbled slum lined with the dark, undeserted saloons of the faded-gilt           nineteen-hundreds." (Page 74, line 8)

Nick is describing the town around him as he walked to meet Jordan.

·                     "Once more it was pouring, and my irregular lawn, well-shaved by Gatsby's           gardener, abounded in small muddy swamps and prehistoric marshes." (Page 95, line 8)

            Nick is describing his lawn that Gatsby mowed.

·                     "...shirts with stripes and scrolls and plaids in coral and apple-green and      lavender and faint orange with monograms of Indian blue." (Page 99, line 20)

            Nick is describing the shirts that Gatsby is showing Daisy.

·                     "The rain was still falling, but the darkness had parted in the west, and there          was a pink and golden billow of foamy clouds above the sea." (Page 101, line         7)

            Nick is describing what Daisy is in awe of.

·                     "A massive and lethargic woman..." (Page 113, line 19)

            Nick is describing the appearance of the woman wanting Daisy to play golf.

·                     "...where there were no trees and the sidewalk was white with the moonlight."       (Page 117, line 30)

            Jordan is describing the scenery of the night with Gatsby and Daisy.

·                     "The quiet lights in the houses were humming out into the darkness and there         was a stir and bustle among the stars." (Page 118, line 1)

            Jordan is describing the setting and the atmosphere of the night when Gatsby and             Daisy were young and in love.

·                   "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. " (Page 29,            line 4)

            The author has created a picture in the minds of the readers about the 'Valley of     Ashes', which is completely different from the rich areas.

·                     "Her face was sad and lovely with bright things in it, bright eyes and a bright         passionate mouth, but there was an excitement in her voice that men who had             cared for her found difficult to forget: a singing compulsion, a whispered       "Listen," a promise that she had done gay, exciting things just a while since   and that there were gay, exciting things hovering in the next hour." (Page 15,         line 29)

            The author tries to create a vivid picture of Daisy's beautiful face, an enthralling     voice, and her irresistible looks that could make men go all gaga over her.

Symbol

- A single green light (Page 28, line 3)

The color green is probably the most recognizable use of color as a symbol in the novel. Not only does green symbolize new money and greed, but it also prominent throughout the novel as  the green light at the end of the Buchanan dock, the one for Which Gatsby yeams symbolizing his quest for an orgastic future with Daisy. Green also describes the long island sound. And, while Fitzgerald uses it to describe George Wilson’s face after he discovers that his wife is having affair, Fitzgerald rarely uses the color as a description of jealousy. Rather he uses green as a symbol of Gatsby’s hope of a future with Daisy.

-Valley of Ashes (Page 29, line 4)

This valley symbolizes the poor conditions in which the economically down people have to live, in contradiction to the lavish lifestyle of the neighboring areas.

Tone

Nick’s attitudes toward Gatsby and Gatsby’s story are and contradictory. At times he seems to disapprove of Gatsby’s excesses and breaches of manners and ethics, but he also romanticizes and admires Gatsby, describing the events of the novel in a nostalgic and elegiac tone. The tone of the story is also Cynical, Ironic.