Keyword Guide · study-guide
Chapter 2 shifts the novel’s focus from glamour to moral decay. It introduces key settings and conflicts that shape the story’s social criticism. This guide breaks down what happens, why it matters, and how to study it.
Nick travels with Tom to the Valley of Ashes, an industrial wasteland between wealthy communities. Tom introduces Myrtle Wilson, with whom he is having an affair. The chapter ends with a chaotic apartment gathering that reveals Tom’s violence and Myrtle’s illusions of status.
Tom Buchanan shows dominance and cruelty, using wealth to control others. Myrtle Wilson seeks escape from her marriage and believes money can elevate her identity. George Wilson appears trapped and powerless, highlighting the imbalance between rich and poor.
The Valley of Ashes represents moral and social decay beneath American wealth. The eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg suggest judgment and the absence of spiritual values. Power, class division, and corruption are central themes developed through Tom’s behavior.
This chapter exposes the cost of wealth and sets up conflicts that drive later events. It contrasts sharply with East Egg’s elegance and prepares readers to question the American Dream presented in the novel.
It is an industrial area symbolizing decay and inequality, showing the consequences of wealth built on exploitation.
Tom’s actions reveal his abuse of power and foreshadow how wealth protects immoral behavior throughout the novel.
Focus on symbolism, class conflict, and how this chapter contrasts appearance versus reality.
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