'The Great Gatsby' reading journal, chapter two

At the beginning of the chapter, Nick enables the reader to really picture his surrounding because of how descriptive he is. He describes it as 'the valley of ashes' between West-Egg and New York. The image this creates is that of a wasteland - there is nothing out there, expect for the road and the railways. Nick is able to create the setting in just one paragraph. Next, Nick mentions the over-watching eyes of 'Doctor T.J. Eckelberg'. Nick mentions that it it looks from eyes that are 'blue and gigantic' which suggests that it is a some form of large advertisement - the only one in the desert area, which could be why Nick describes the eyes in this way, as being higher than humankind. We are then introduced to a new character - Georg Wilson, who works in a repair garage that is a 'small block of yellow brick sitting on the edge of the wasteland - again Nick has created interesting imagery with his wording - in this wasteland, one small building stands alone, appearing out of place and forgotten. When we first discover George Wilson, Nick describes him as having 'a damp gleam of hope' upon seeing him and Tom. This suggests that George is a lonely character who has not a a visitor for a while. His business also seems as if it is a quite one and that he is desperate for customers - when Tom becomes frustrated by him about a car enquiry, he respond es with "I don't mean that".

The arrival of Tom's mistress (who is also Wilson's wife), Myrtle, appears as being a big moment of importance in the novel because of Nick over-detailed description of her ('she carried her flesh sensuously as some women can. Her face, above a spotted dress of..."). Unlike Daisy, it seems as if Myrtle is a much more powerful women who has control over her husband. When she orders him to "Get some chairs" I imagine her using a forceful but sensual tone of voice towards Wilson, to show that she is able to get what she wants. We see further examples of Tom arrogance - when asking the puppy vendor at at the train station about the gender of the dog, To demands that "It's a bitch" when the vendor had told him that it was a boy. Is Tom only saying this because it is what he wants to hear? Or by getting the gender wrong, has Tom simply decided to be smug towards him? Despite his arrogant ways, Tom then demands Nick's company when he tries to leave the car - "Myrtle'll be hurt if you don't come up to apartment." I would have thought Myrtle would not have cared that much about weather Nick was there or not, so why does Tom want Nick to be there? Because he was mean insulting towards him earlier in the novel, he maybe wants his company to make himself appear better, in terms of status?

Once in the apartment for the party, Nick reveals something that makes us as readers appear sceptical of weather he is telling the truth or not - "I have been drunk just twice in my life, and the second time was that afternoon" we already see his telling of the story as possibly being unreliable as he is doing it from memory, so now that he is telling the story under the influence of alcohol, he has become even more unreliable as his memory for this part of the story will be even more distorted. Furthering the idea that Nick's memory is a photographic one is Mrs Mckee's husband. Chester, who is prompted by her to take a picture of Myrtle in her dress ("If Chester could only get you in that pose..." ) which suggests that there is something special to be remembered at that exact time. Mr Mckee then goes on to describe two of his pictures taken out on Long Island - 'Montauk Point - The Gulls' and 'Montauk Point - The Sea'. This suggests that, even though these two pieces of artwork were created in the same location, and appear similar, they are able to show a contrast, between the land and the sea, just like the contrast Nick described earlier between East and West Egg. Even though we have not been introduced to the character of Gatsby yet, more mystery is created about him when Catherine asks Nick is she knows him, surrounding his characters with mysterious popularity.

During a conversation about Myrtle and Tom, Myrtle overhears ans says that the reason why Tom and Daisy have not divorced is because that Daisy is catholic. Nick tells us that he was 'shocked at the elaborateness of the lie' and that Daisy is not catholic. This causes a question to rise - why would Tom lie about being catholic? and why does he want to stay with Daisy, despite the fact that he also has a mistress? Because Myrtle is of a much lower class than Tom, this could be why he has lied to her, to escape the views that would come his way is someone of his class married someone like her. Nick has been a passive narrator for much of this chapter, not paying attention to a lot of his surroundings or sense of time - he comments that at one point it was 'nine o'clock' and then 'immediately ten' - a lot of important things could have happened in this space of time, and Nick has just missed out on it. 'people disappeared, reappeared, made plans to go somewhere and then lost each other...' we do not who these people are, and it seems that Nick's entire telling of this part of the story has just turned into one big untrustworthy haze.

His passive narration and lack of attention to detail are furthered in the closing sections of the chapter. Something big happens - Tom punches Myrtle and breaks her nose. Instead of re-acting, Nick comments upon the scenery this creates, with no sense of emotion whatsoever - 'there were bloody towels upon the bathroom floor, and women's voices scolding...'). However, at this point, he is not being judgmental, which suggests there is some element of truth to how he talked in chapter 1, which we had been led astray from previously in the novel. What I am most surprised by at the end of the chapter is the sudden change of subject - of Mr. McKee and Nick discussing the idea of having lunch together sometime, making an exit from the party. You would have expected him to help or give some comment that indicates his feeling towards the violence that he has jut witnessed, but at this moment in time, Nick is doing what he said he would do at the start of the novel by not judging the action. It is just something that happened, nothing more, nothing less. What is even more confusing, however, is the brief imagery that Nick creates next. From the apartment, Nick talks of Mr Mckee, and that he is 'standing beside his bed and he was sitting up between the sheets, clad in his underwear...' and finally, Nick ends the chapter by being 'half asleep in the lower level of the Pennsylvania station...waiting for the four o' clock train. How did this suddenly happen? It appears as if Nick let his drunken haze seriously get the better of him. These are only brief details, which causes questioning to arise. Why was Mr. Mckee 'clad in his underwear? are there some factors that Nick has left out or forgotten about? most importantly though, as Nick had said that he was 'drunk' on this night, how much of this part of the story is actually accurate?