2. VALLEY OF ASHES
• It is a desolate wasteland described as
“a fantastic farm where ashes grow
like wheat into ridges and hills and
grotesque gardens” - everything is
covered with a layer of ashes.
• The people “move dimly” and are
“crumbling.”
3. VALLEY OF ASHES
• Represents the moral and social decay
of American society that results from
the pursuit of wealth
• the rich indulge themselves with
regard for nothing but their own
pleasure – destructive and selfish
4.
5. DOCTOR TJ ECKLEBERG
• blue and gigantic, looking out of no face, with
glasses perched on a non-existent nose
• abandoned and forgotten, slipping into eternal
blindness, brooding over the solemn dumping
ground of the valley of ashes.
• The billboard can be metaphorically representing a
deist religious view - a God that abandoned its
creation and is now just an ignored figure head
6.
7. GEORGE WILSON AND HIS
GARAGE
• the garage is un-prosperous and bare, with dust covered
surfaces
• as a shadow of a garage
• George Wilson was “blond, spiritless man, anaemic, and
faintly handsome.”
• When Tom enters, he exhibits a glimmer of hope - he has not
given up.
• He is described as blending into the gray color of the walls.
• Tom says that Wilson “is so dumb that he doesn’t know he is
alive,” since he has no ideas that his wife is having an affair
with Tom.
8.
9. MYRTLE WILSON
• 30s with a stout, thickish figure.
• carries her surplus weight in a sensuous way - attractive
curves.
• an air of vitality; smoldering
• opposite of the slight and gorgeously frail Daisy
• manages to escape the ash that covers everything else - she
doesn’t belong in the valley of ashes
• She speaks to her husband with a coarse voice and walks past
him into the room as if he were a ghost.
10. MYRTLE
• buys a gossip magazine (she is shallow
and unintelligent),
• movie picture magazine (concerned with
popular entertainment)
• perfume and cream (concerned with her
appearance and trying to look her best)
11. MYRTLE’S DRESS
• The gown emitted a continual rustle - her presence was continually
being announced.
• “With the influence of the dress her personality had also undergone a
change” – vitality, huge gestures, acts like she’s in charge of the “lower
classes” (like servants) – which she is actually a part of
• “crazy old thing” - She clearly cares about her appearance and is putting
on a sense of false modesty to elicit compliments - she is fake and
shallow
• Her voice is described as a shout, in contrast to Daisy’s charming
murmur.
12.
13. CHARACTERISATION - TOM
Read the quotes which follow. Analyse each quote to explain why it reveals
a negative side of Tom.
“It‟s a bitch”, said Tom decisively. “Here‟s your money. Go and buy
ten more dogs with it.”
“His determination to have my company bordered on violence. The
supercilious assumption was that on Sunday afternoon I had nothing
better to do”
“I want to see you,‟ said Tom intently. „Get on the next train.”
14.
15. MARRIAGE
• Catherine says that “neither of them can stand
the person they are married to.” about Tom
and Myrtle.
• the Buchanans pretend to be civil and relaxed
with one another, but they are not happy
16. MARRIAGE/DIVORCE
• If both Tom and Myrtle are miserable in their
respective marriages, she suggests that they get a
divorce and settle together
• Tom says that his wife, Daisy, is a Catholic and will not
grant him the divorce - LIES
• His life with Daisy is important to him for appearances
sake - she is the wealthy, attractive, charming trophy
wife.
• Myrtle is just for fun – cannot be his wife because he is
ashamed of her lower social status.
17. MARRIAGE
• She must have loved him once, but has become
disenchanted.
• she married George because she believed he was a
gentleman - she thought she was marrying into society
and status.
• George borrowed a suit for their marriage; when the
owner came to claim it Myrtle cried, realizing George
does not have money
18.
19. GATSBY RUMORS
• cousin of Kaiser Wilhelm - the ruler of
Germany - and that is where all his
wealth comes from.
• Some people believe he is a German spy.
• Gatsby seems to host giant parties
20. SETTING - NEW YORK
• Fast paced life
• Danger, recklessness
• No close relationship – lots of fake
connections
• Loud, garish, glittering
21. NEW YORK
“People disappeared, reappeared, made plans
to go somewhere, and then lost each other,
searched for each other, found each other a
few feet away.”
22. THEME - AMERICAN SOCIETY
• restlessness characteristic of the Lost Generation
- a group of people so disappointed in life that
they have to keep moving to keep themselves
entertained.
• They buy stuff to fill an emotional void and do
not even notice things right in front of their eyes.
• Everyone in this society seems
confused, unhappy and lost, but trying to hide it
with “stuff”
