How Does Fitzgerald Tell the Story in Chapter 2
How does Fitzgerald tell the story in Chapter 2?
In chapter 2 Tom takes Nick to the Valley of Ashes where he meets Myrtle and is taken to their New York apartment. Once there he meets friends of Tom and Myrtle the McKee’s and Myrtles sister Catherine. They have a party and Nick gets drunk for second time in his life, at the end of the chapter, Tom punches Myrtle’s nose because she keeps talking about Daisy. F Scott Fitzgerald uses a variety of techniques in chapter 2 in order to tell the story, for example, The Great Gatsby is written with an intra-diagetic narrator, uses a large amount of symbolism and has significant settings.
Fitzgerald uses a first person narrator to tell the story in chapter 2. Nick, the narrator, is reminiscing the summer he lived in West egg and met Gatsby. This narrative technique allows us an insight as to what he thought and makes the reader make judgments based on Nick’s opinion. As the evening wears on Nick becomes inebriated, this is portrayed through his language and his increased confidence. For example he wipes some lather off Mr McKee’s face despite having seen it a while before. This technique is very effective as it is subtle but it makes clear it to the reader as to what is happening.
Fitzgerald also uses symbolism to tell the story in chapter 2. The term the ‘Valley of Ashes’ is not pleasant sounding and the repetition of ‘grey’ emphasises the bleakness of the area. It is a place people travel through on a train, but they never stop, they are outsiders, catching a glimpse of another world. In this way Fitzgerald creates strong contrasts between the areas, lifestyles and societies in America at the time, especially comparing New York, the West and East eggs and the Valley of Ashes. Another use of symbolism is the Eyes of T J Eckleburg, a large painting of eyes, which ‘brood over the solemn dumping ground’. They are used to represent God watching poorer areas of society whose morality has not been so negatively affected by
In chapter 2 Tom takes Nick to the Valley of Ashes where he meets Myrtle and is taken to their New York apartment. Once there he meets friends of Tom and Myrtle the McKee’s and Myrtles sister Catherine. They have a party and Nick gets drunk for second time in his life, at the end of the chapter, Tom punches Myrtle’s nose because she keeps talking about Daisy. F Scott Fitzgerald uses a variety of techniques in chapter 2 in order to tell the story, for example, The Great Gatsby is written with an intra-diagetic narrator, uses a large amount of symbolism and has significant settings.
Fitzgerald uses a first person narrator to tell the story in chapter 2. Nick, the narrator, is reminiscing the summer he lived in West egg and met Gatsby. This narrative technique allows us an insight as to what he thought and makes the reader make judgments based on Nick’s opinion. As the evening wears on Nick becomes inebriated, this is portrayed through his language and his increased confidence. For example he wipes some lather off Mr McKee’s face despite having seen it a while before. This technique is very effective as it is subtle but it makes clear it to the reader as to what is happening.
Fitzgerald also uses symbolism to tell the story in chapter 2. The term the ‘Valley of Ashes’ is not pleasant sounding and the repetition of ‘grey’ emphasises the bleakness of the area. It is a place people travel through on a train, but they never stop, they are outsiders, catching a glimpse of another world. In this way Fitzgerald creates strong contrasts between the areas, lifestyles and societies in America at the time, especially comparing New York, the West and East eggs and the Valley of Ashes. Another use of symbolism is the Eyes of T J Eckleburg, a large painting of eyes, which ‘brood over the solemn dumping ground’. They are used to represent God watching poorer areas of society whose morality has not been so negatively affected by