Fitzgerald uses setting to portray the Valley of Ashes as a wasteland which represents the disparity between the wealthy West Egg communities and the poverty that remains. Nick describes it as a place "where ashes grow like wheat" to highlight how society forgets the things that are vital to it (wheat being the essential ingredient). Nick does not specify the setting and vaguely describes how it is "About half way between West egg and New York. This highlights The Valley of Ashes' ironic irrelevance to reality and portrays how Nick is identifying with with the repellant nature that it has.
Fitzgerald tells the story in Chapter 2 through his description of the billboard 'Doctor T.J. Eckleberg' as part of the wasted setting in the valley of ashes. The 'gigantic' nature of the billboard suggests that it is a dominant god-like feature of this setting and by presenting it with 'blue' eyes Fitzgerald uses the motif of colour to suggest that it gives hope to the 'ashen' setting. However, the fact that it is advertising spectacles and Nick describes it as having an 'eternal blindness' creates an irony of how this figure, seen implicitly as god by George Wilson before he kills Gatsby, is leading the inhabitants of the valley of ashes blindly. Therefore, Fitzgerald is, once again, using setting to highlight the theme that runs through his narrative of how blind the American Dream and materialistic jazz age society are.
The setting of the Valley of Ashes is striking because Fitzgerald describes it as being 'half way between West Egg and New York'. The valley is located in between the physical separation of these two important settings, 'West egg' and 'New York'. This unclassifiable space in which the Valley of Ashes inhabits amplifies how society has discluded and even outcasted the 'desolate area of land'. Furthermore the fact that the area is physically bound by the shoulders of a valley foregrounds how the Valley of Ashes is blockaded from other worlds especially that of Gatsby's.
The people of the Valley of Ashes embody landscape of 'gray land'. Fitzgerald describes the inhabitants as 'ash grey men' metaphorically presenting them as the powdery residue left after the burning of a substance therefore camouflaging the people into the scene. The monochromatic colours of 'grey' emphasise how the people have been drained of colour therefore lacking energy and life.
Fitzgerald highlights the delapedation of the Valley of Ashes within his reference to the personal views of the narrator. It is fair to say that the reader knows Nick Carraway to be a biased narrator as he often exaggerates the truth. This is shown when he talks about the 'men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air'. Use of the verb 'crumbling' emphasises Nick's bias as a narrator as this is only a metaphorical action. Fitzgerald creates Nick's bias in order to highlight the contrast between the Valley of Ashes and Gatsby's extravagant world.
Fitzgerald uses setting as a mechanism to tell the story in chapter two of The Great Gatsby. We learn how The Valley Of Ashes is effectively what was left behind after the roaring twenties. Fitzgerald describes the Valley as 'About half way between West Egg and New York', this stresses how it is physically separated from the worlds in which Nick and Gatsby live. It also creates an idea of how it has not got a place in society as the ambiguity of being 'About half way' implies the idea of irrelevance in society. To add to this Fitzgerald describes the area as a 'Wasteland', this directly addresses the idea of the Valley being what was left behind and places a contrast with the world in which people such as Gatsby live in.
Fitzgerald tells the story in chapter 3 by using setting to present the valley of ashes. The Valley of Ashes is presented to be the ugly by product of Gatsby's dream world. 'ash' is presented to 'grow like wheat'. The significance of 'wheat' is that it is essential, however in the valley of ashes it is portrayed to be wasteful and dead. Fitzgerald places a border around the valley of ashes in the form of 'a small block of yellow brick sitting on the wasteland'. The use of the colour 'yellow' is significant as it is paralleled to the yellow in Gatsby's world which represents wealth. It is also significant that the yellow bricks are placed in the valley of ashes as it suggests a sense of inevitability that Gatsby's world is unsustainable, relating to the inevitability of his death.
In kite runner As Assef sodomizes Hassan, Amir compares the look he sees on Hassan's face to that of the sacrificial lamb. A flashback explains the comparison, as Amir remembers a lamb that was led to the slaughter and has a look of resignation on its face.
Again Amir has the opportunity to stand up for Hassan or to run. In his own words, he says "In the end, I ran. I ran because I was a coward." Amir attempts to rationalize his decision with the dehumanizing thought that Hassan was "just a Hazara." Amir hides until after Assef and the other boys leave, and then he finds Hassan. Hassan relinquishes the kite, yet he and Amir do not discuss what had happened. Amir pretends not to hear the crack in Hassan's voice nor notice the stain on Hassan's pants.
The chapter ends with Amir entering Baba's study, moving toward his father's arms full body embrace. The final lines are "In his arms, I forgot what I'd done. And that was good."
Chapter 7 is a pivotal chapter in "The Kite Runner" as the harrowing rape incident shapes the rest of the novel and it is this chapter where Amir's journey to redemption begins. Hosseini tells the story in chapter 7 by developing major themes that are evident throughout the novel. The symbolism of the kites, the state of Afghanistan, friendship, sin, dreams, violence and betrayal are all interwoven by Hosseini in this chapter in order to portray the incident in the most emotionally effective way possible.
During chapter 7 Hosseini presents time as a slow moving matter when Amir goes to search for Hassan compared to the rest of the chapter, during the kite fight, this helps create tension and suspense for the reader. This is achieved by Hosseini through a sequence of memories and dreams, “did you know that Hassan and you fed from the same breast?” shows that while Amir is telling the event, he’s tried to present himself with the happier memories of his childhood with Hassan, these memories and dreams he has help Hosseini prolong the chapter and keep time moving slow enough to build tension for the reader.
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revisionnut (student)
