“Money is the best deodorant” (Elizabeth Taylor). F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is a story of a young narrator, Nick, moving east to West Egg, New York to get a job trading stocks. Almost immediately on his arrival Nick gets a taste of the fruitful life from his old friend Tom and Tom’s wife Daisy, also Nick’s cousin. After spending time with his friend, Nick learns of Tom’s mistress, Myrtle. During a trip to New York, Tom yanks a hesitant Nick off the train to meet her in the rundown town gas station she lives above. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses imagery to build the class barrier between Tom and Myrtle to critique the materialism of women. When Myrtle tries to tell the romantic story of her first encounter with Tom, something …show more content…
We learn of this decaying town as Nick narrates, “The valley of ashes is bounded on one side by the small foul river, and, when the drawbridge is up to let barges through, the passengers on waiting trains can stare at the dismal scene for as long as half an hour” (24). This town is in complete contrast with East Egg, where Tom and the old money live. The description of “ashes” and “the small foul river” communicate images of garbage and low-life. Olfactory imagery is a major part of this quote, and the nose begins to scrunch with the words “ashes” and “foul”. The only boats going through the valley are “barges”, which regularly carry garbage, a huge disparity from the expensive and luxurious boats that are sure to be riding the beautiful Atlantic Ocean waves in East Egg. This description helps the reader sympathize a little with Myrtle and her major affection for the almighty dollar. For Tom it is easy to see Myrtle as an undeserving subject of his respect, because he plucked her from a town that people can not bare to look at “for as long as half an hour”. This little borough holds no place in Myrtle's heart. She just wants to spend her time shopping, away from the stench of