The juxtaposition of the scenes at East Egg - where
everything is grand, beautiful and luxuriously wealthy, and
the 'valley of ashes' - where everything is grey, dismal and
bleakly poor is very effective. It makes the 'valley of
ashes' seem even more depressing and desolate.
'Across the courtesy bay the white
palaces of fashionable East Egg glittered along the
water.......'
'Above the grey land and the spasms of bleak dust which
drift endlessly over it......' 'where ashes grow like wheat
into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens........'
The building where the Wilson's garage is located is
described as a 'small block of yellow
brick sitting on the edge of the wasteland.' Next,
the interior of the garage and George Wilson is described.
He is 'a blond, spiritless man,
anaemic and faintly handsome.'
Another example of juxtaposition in this chapter is when
Myrtle recalls her first meeting with George and then her
first meeting with Tom. It highlights the way she treats
each of them and at the same time we see how each of them
treats her. George genuinely cares for her while Tom, at the
end of the scene in the apartment, breaks her nose.
When speaking about George, she says,
'I thought he was a
gentleman.......but he wasn't fit to lick my shoe.'
and then she speaks of Tom,
'He had on a dress suit and patent
leather shoes, and I couldn't keep my eyes off him....'
