The Great Gatsby: English Essay - Excerpt, Theme, and Style

This essay provides an analysis of an excerpt from F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, focusing on the themes, style, and characterization within the selected passage. The excerpt, which describes Myrtle's conversation with Catherine, highlights the theme of the 'valley of ashes' as a symbol of poverty, moral decay, and the stark contrast between the wealthy and the impoverished. The essay examines how the 'valley of ashes' represents the desolation and the consequences of societal issues. The essay also explores the characterizations of key figures like Tom Buchanan, Nick, and Myrtle, and how their actions and motivations contribute to the novel's central themes of social class, morality, and the pursuit of the American Dream. The essay concludes by emphasizing the significance of the 'valley of ashes' in shaping the events and the characters' fates in the novel.

Running head: ENGLISH ESSAY
English Essay
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ENGLISH ESSAY
Introduction
The following paper focuses on the great classical American novel The Great Gatsby
written by F. Scott Fitzgerald (Scott, 2017). The purpose of this paper is to discuss the various
aspects of the excerpt provided with the rationale of the excerpt. It also aims to provide the
matter of the theme, style, aesthetic vision about the excerpt. The characterization of the novel
has to be kept in focus as well. The first excerpt has been chosen here.
Narrative of the excerpt
The event that is described in the first excerpt took place at a time when one of the most
important characters of the novel Myrtle was describing her current condition to Catherine. She
was married to Tom Buchanan and at the present time, she was in the midst of all the troubles
within the mind and her turbulent mental condition (Giles, 2013). The most important theme
mentioned in this part of the novel is the topic of the ‘valley of ashes’. ‘Valley of ashes’ is
supposed to be a place with a physical existence within the country. This falls between New
York and West Egg by which the daily commuter train runs. The train stops at several places in
the way. This is very important in understanding the entire context of the novel. Myrtle was
married to George Wilson’s who used to run a garage in the area (Hauhart, 2013).
The garage that Wilson runs is at the edge of the valley of ashes. This valley signifies the
complete poverty and darkness in life of the lives of Wilson and Myrtle. They were not able to
bring a sufficient earning for themselves which in turn led to their unhappy life. Nick picked up
Wilson and Myrtle and took them to New York to show them the lights and joys of the city.
Myrtle was attracted by this and she had met Tom Buchanan as she was coming to York
accompanied by Nick (Samkanashvili, 2013).

2ENGLISH ESSAY
Theme of the valley of ashes
The valley of ashes here in this novel signifies the desolation and life of poverty that
Myrtle has to live. This also reveals the moral decay of the place that is hidden by the
beautifulness of the Eggs. The valley of ashes is ugly by normal standards and vision. The novel
suggests that the Wrest Egg is beautifully ornamented whereas the East Egg is exclusively well
mannered. In the shelters of these things, lies the actual ugliness of the Eggs that can be
compared as same to the valley of ashes (Meehan, 2014).
Myrtle prepares to tell Catherine that she had gone crazy to get Tom Buchanan being
attracted by his charming manners and lifestyle as she was completely unaware of the moral
flaws that were under the light. The time when she had realized it, she was left broken and
lament for her deeds. She had to escape from that valley of ashes and that garage life led by
Wilson. This had added to her miserable decision. The segmentation between the rich and poor is
shown through the regions of Eggs and Valley of ashes in a subtle way. Literally, the word
‘ashes’ refer the concept of poverty and the leftovers of society. This valley of ashes has been
by-product of the capitalism and therefore, the poor laborers were the ones who stayed in that
place (Meehan, 2014).
Characterizations
As discussed about the themes of the novel and in this particular section, the
characterization of the novel has a lot to say in the defining the plot of the novel. The characters
like Tom Buchanan, Nick and others show the moral decay that took over the society and the
mankind at large in the 1920s (Batchelor, 2013). The ‘faded paint’ of the eyes relates to the fact
that humanity had lost its ground at that time and the lost all the relevant connections with the

3ENGLISH ESSAY
God. The valley of ashes here is looked upon as a ‘solemn dumping ground’. The fact is that the
characters like Myrtle are the victims of the situation as she wanted to chose the life of luxury to
be provided by Tom and fell into that trap (Batchelor, 2013). Later, when she had realized her
mistake, she thought that she was not fit enough for that life and the life of struggle and
hardships in the life run by the garage owner Wilson was best for her. Her craziness had
shattered her life.
Conclusion
It has to be said before concluding the discussion that ‘valley of ashes’ has a necessary
role to play in turning the events of the novel. Tom Buchanan and his life signified the luxurious
life in the Eggs that could not be provided by the garage owner Wilson. Myrtle wanted to sort
out this problem and her decision to escape had caused all ruins in her life that she narrated to
Catherine.

4ENGLISH ESSAY
References
Batchelor, B. (2013). Gatsby: The Cultural History of the Great American Novel. Scarecrow
Press.
Giles, P. (2013). A Good Gatsby. Commonweal, 140(12), 12.
Hauhart, R. C. (2013). Religious Language and Symbolism in The Great Gatsby’s Valley of
Ashes. ANQ: A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes and Reviews, 26(3), 200-204.
Meehan, A. (2014). Repetition, Race, and Desire in The Great Gatsby. Journal of Modern
Literature, 37(2), 76-91.
Samkanashvili, M. (2013). Uses of symbols and colors in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott
Fitzgerald. Journal of Education, 2(1), 31-39.
Scott, F. F. (2017). The Great Gatsby. Рипол Классик.