The Great Gatsby - Chapter 2 Flashcards
Valley of Ashes
-Source of harm juxtaposed with a source of life
-Simile
‘Ashes grow like wheat into ridges’
Tom Buchanan
- Dramatic irony
-Wilson is oblivious to Tom delaying due to the affair
‘Next week;I’ve got my man working on it now’
Wilson & Myrtle
-Forgotten and disregarded
-Tangible sense about her
-Contrast between characters- Wilson’s lack of life compared to Myrtle
‘as if he were a ghost’
Wilson & Daisy contrast
-Myrtle demonstrating colour and livelihood
-Wilson demonstrating a dulling sense
‘Mingling immediately with the cement colour of the walls’
Nicks attitudes towards women-
-Different attitudes towards Daisy and Myrtle
-Representation of men at the time
‘No facet or gleam of beauty’
Tom and Myrtle’s relationship-
-Based on conspicuous consumption
-Little care towards each other
-Importance of tangible items
‘Cold cream and a small flask of perfume’
Myrtle description
Symbolism- the tainted, lesser version of Daisy (white dress)
‘Afternoon dress of cream-coloured chiffon’
Description of Gatsby
Powerful and dangerous individual
Vague sense of anxiety surrounding him
‘A nephew or a cousin of Kaiser Wilhelm’s’
Myrtle and Wilson’s marriage
She has lifted herself out of the Valley of Ashes
Despises her husband’s lower class
Marriage as an opportunity to raise one’s status and wealth
‘But he wasn’t fit to lick my shoe’
Myrtle’s immediate focus on Tom’s clothes
Attracted to his money and not him as a person
Materialistic, superficial and shallow
‘He had a dress suit and patent-leather shoes’
Tom Buchanan and Myrtle- embracing an element of tragedy
Hidden darkness to the jazz age
The darkness of what was supposedly a charmed/exciting time
‘a short deft movement’
‘Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand’
