The Great Gatsby: Chapter 2

F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, The Great Gatsby, takes place in the New York area in 1922.  The novel is also placed in the prohibition era.  Fitzgerald, at this point in the novel, makes no special note that alcohol is illegal even though the characters drink.  The characters have no regard for the 18th amendment which helps the readers not only understand the characters but also to understand the '20s, where apparently no one followed the 18th amendment.  The novel is also set in an area in the United States where there are distinct classes of people.  The very wealthy usually live on the East Egg and usually the middle class lives on the West Egg.  The poor and those in the lower class live in the ash area between the city and the eggs.  Fitzgerald uses ash to describe the area in between the city and eggs, for example here,

"This is a valley of ashes--a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where shes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air," (Fitzgerald, 23).

 The ashes could be from a coal mine where the men of the in between area work.  The ashes could also just be dust from the dirt roads that is particularly dry and dark in the in between area.  Another area the "ashes" could be from is a dump where they burn trash and the "ashes" are actually ashes and pollution from the constant burning of the waste.  At this point in the novel I am very confused.  It seems like when the characters are in the apartment they are all so drunk they don't remember anything or have very hazy memories, especially Nick Carraway.  With him since he is so drunk, the reader doesn't get all of the details of the scenes just the ones that Carraway drifts back into.  This makes it very hard for the reader to understand what is happening.