The Great Gatsby

what is the author's style in the Great Gatsby chapter 2?

i need a paragrah or more of an awnser please and thank you.

Asked by
Last updated by Aslan
Answers 1
Add Yours

Fitzgerald's style in Ch. 2 has a mythic surrealness about it that is rooted in the American experience. It is an experience opposite to the American Dream that can be found in East Egg. The road from West Egg to New York City exemplifies decay. It is a "valley of ashes," a place of uninterrupted desolation. The eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg are an indelibly grotesque image: these are eyes unattached to any face or body, gazing out over a hellish wasteland. Fitzgerald's description of the drawbridge and passing barges makes an allusion to the River Styx, a mythological river which one crosses to enter the realm of the dead. The eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg seem to be a monstrous parody of the eyes of God: they watch, but they do not see; they are heartless, and entirely unknowing. Like the scene in which Gatsby reaches for the green light, high symbolism is given priority over the demands of realism: the reader is presented with an implausible, but highly effective image of two detached eyes looking out over dust and ashes.