The Great Gatsby NotesChapter 1●The relationship between geography and social values is an important motif inThe Great Gatsby.●two regions are nearly opposite in the values they endorse.●East Egg represents breeding, taste, aristocracy, and leisure. East Egg isassociated with the Buchanans and the monotony of their inherited socialposition●West Egg represents ostentation, garishness, and the flashy manners of the newrich. While West Egg is associated with Gatsby’s gaudy mansion and the innerdrive behind his self-made fortune.●The unworkable intersection of the two Eggs in the romance between Gatsbyand Daisy will serve as the fault line of catastrophe.“I hope she’ll be a fool—that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool”.●Speaker: Daisey to Nick Carraway●Daisy is not a fool herself but is the product of a social environment that, to a greatextent, does not value intelligence in women. The older generation values subservienceand docility in females, and the younger generation values thoughtless giddiness andpleasure-seeking●while she refers to the social values of her era, she does not seem to challenge them.●describes her own boredom with life and seems to imply that a girl can have more fun ifshe is beautiful and simplistic.●She conforms to the social standard of American femininity in the 1920s in order to avoidsuch tension-filled issues as her undying love for Gatsby.●The book confirms that Tom is RacistChapter 2●** MOTIF OF GEOGRAPHY begins with a description of the valley of ashes, a desolateand forsaken expanse of formerly developed land that marks the intersection of the citywith the suburbs●its desolate feel and uniform grayness, this forlorn area is home to a decaying billboardthat calls attention to itself. Depicted on the advertisement are the Eyes of Doctor T.J.Eckleburg, which are described as "blue and gigantic — their retinas are one yard high.”●It is worth noting, however, that Myrtle rides in a different train car from Tom and Nick, inaccordance with Tom's desire to pander, in this small way, to the "sensibilities of thoseEast Eggers who might be on the train."●the valley of ashes that Nick first meets Tom's mistress, Myrtle Wilson●The two men proceed to a car repair garage owned by George Wilson, a "spiritless man"who is also Myrtle's husband.○George Wilson: He is common, "blond," "spiritless," "anæmic" and only faintlyhandsome. His business totters on the brink of failure, and he seems ignorant ofwhat goes on around him. It is unlikely that he is, in Tom's elitist words, "so dumbhe doesn't know he's alive," but he does seem trapped by an unnamable force.○Tom orders Nick around and announces what it is they are going to do; these areclear indicators of Tom's nature and continue to mark him as the story continues