The Great Gatsby: The Relation
The geography and weather in The Great Gatsby contribute greatly to theme, character, and plot development. There is an important relationship between the geography and the character's social values. The themes and characters can be dictated by geographical locations because the themes are embedded into the environments surrounding the characters. This reinforces character traits and helps to develop the themes. The weather predicts the nature of the novel's critical events, driving the plot. All of these factors contribute to creating a physical picture of the social values and the emotions in this novel. One of the best examples of a geographic location representing a theme is the Valley of Ashes. This desolate valley located between West Egg and New York City represents the reality of the moral decay of society in the 1920's. A product of industrial dumping and a by-product of capitalism, the only poor characters of the novel live here. The ugliness of the valley is hidden behind the facades of West and East Egg. The billboard of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg located in the valley accentuates this idea. This billboard contains a faded pair of eyes looking through a faded pair of eyeglasses. To the characters in the novel, this is a re
Therefore, their living place said quite a bit about them: "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," (10). The tension created by putting Tom and Gatsby in the same room is mirrored by the weather. Therefore, the relationship between geography and social values is important in this novel's development because it creates distinct zones in which characters with contradictory ethics are required to confront each other. In this manner, the characters can be dictated by their abode. It could also be perceived as a representation of their faded morals. There is a distinct difference between the new and old aristocracy and the people living in them. Nick comments that Gatsby himself might not have believed that Daisy was ever going to call: "If that was true he must have felt that he had lost the old warm world, paid a high price for living too long with a single dream," (153). The weather in this novel consistently matches the narrative and emotional tones driving the plot's critical events. Gatsby is quite embarrassed and having second thoughts: "This is a terrible mistake,' he said, shaking his head from side to side, 'a terrible, terrible mistake," (85). The showy landscape of summer cannot go on forever, just like Gatsby's own personal show cannot go on forever, because things and people change, much like the weather. The characters can be dictated by where they reside in this novel because all of the geographical locations are associated with an underlying theme as was explained in the last paragraph. East Egg represents the old aristocracy, where Tom and Daisy live. On the opposite end of the scale, New York City is very chaotic hosting many different immoral acts and uninhibited quests for riches. West Egg is like Gatsby, full of showy extravagance, symbolizing the new rich appearing outside of the established aristocracy of the 1920s. The Valley of Ashes is like George Wilson, deserted, desolate, and completely without hope.
Common topics in this essay:
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