There is a place that lies halfway between West Egg and
New York City, a desolate plain, a gray valley where New York’s ashes are
dumped. The men who live here are seen shoveling up the ashes. Overhead, two
huge, blue, glasses-clad eyes, an old advertising gimmick by an eye doctor,
glare from the old sign. The eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg, watch over
everything that happens in the area know as the valley of ashes.One day, as
Nick and Tom are riding the train into the city.
Tom forces Nick to accompany him to 'meet his girl'. Tom
leads Nick to George Wilson’s auto-shop, which is on the edge of the valley of
ashes. Tom’s mistress, Myrtle, is Wilson’s wife. Wilson is a dull and drab, yet
handsome man, skin colored gray by the ashes in the air. In contrast, Myrtle
has a kind of desperate vitality; Nick observes her, and see her as a sensuous
woman despite her stout figure. Tom bullies Wilson for awhile, then asks Myrtle
to follow him to the train. Tom takes Nick and Myrtle to New York City, to the
Morningside Heights apartment he keeps for his affair, not before buying Myrtle a puppy as a gift.
This is where ecounters the strange couple of Catherine,
Myrtle's sister and the Mckee couple.
Catherine engages Nick in conversation, telling him of a
rumor she heard, that Jay Gatsby is related to Kaiser Wilhelm. They have a
party oof sorts, exchanging drinks, with Nick commenting that it was the second
time he ever got drunk. Nick tries to leave on several times due to the
repulsive conversations taking place around him, but is prevented from doing
such.
As the evening goes on and everyone becomes exceedingly
more drunk, Myrtle brings up conversation about Daisy. Tom crisply tells her to
not talk about his wife, Daisy being drunk and irrational, states she will
'talk about whatever she wants' which leads to her childishly chanting Daisy's
name, this gets her a bloody broken nose courtesy of Tom. Nick makes his exit,
drunk and catches the 4:00 A.M. train back to Long Island.
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