This sequence shows the relationship between Tom and Nick. It puts Nick in an uncomfortable position, but because of the dynamic the two of them have, he is too afraid to do/say anything about itas he is intimidated by Tom. It also established Tom's character as having a very dominant/powerful personality. It also shows that he has little self control as he had gotten drunk during lunch.

This quote establishes a perfect and descriptive image of how the valley of ashes is. It juxtaposes the rich and the poor, we see that in order for the rich to get to the mansions or the city they have to go through this valley which has a "dismal" feeling. This dismal scene shows how the Valley of Ashes characterizes a mood of depression. This shows a "bridge" between the rich and the poor and how different lifestyles they have.  
As read in this quote the ride is "half an hour", meaning that the Valley of Ashes is a long ride and place that divides the rich and New York City. The authors imagery forces the two places together.

This quote is an elaboration of the description of the "valley of ashes". It illustrates the setting of the location as a blurred and grey valley. 

Through the use of words such as "line of grey cars" and "leaden spades", the author shows the influence of the Industrial Revolution that occurred at that time. This context is important to understand the book and the characters. Another important technique is the characterization of the men as "ash-grey men swarm up". This can also give context about that time period: it suggests how in the Fordism assembly line the workers just became part of a mysterious group and were, in a way, dehumanized.

Through the repetition of words such as "grey", as well as the personification of the line of cars as crawling and giving out "a ghastly creak" and the metaphor of the "impenetrable cloud", the author sets a dark, mysterious and almost haunted mood. This can be related with the cover of the book which already portrayed a mysterious and dark tone.

And finally, the words "obscure operations", an alliteration, introduce a potential theme of secrets and manipulations.

Before anything we must understand what a luncheon is. A luncheon is a formal lunch, therefore, he has had a lunch probably with other rich people (probably men) and had been drinking. This quote establishes how aggressive Tom Buchanan is when asking for someone to be with him. The fact that the writer uses "bordered on violence", seems as a contradiction as even though Sir Buchanan is asking for company (something good) he wants Nick's company without asking if he wants to be with him. Furthermore, the fact that he has "tanked up" at lunch and has become more aggressive suggests that Tom Buchanan is an aggressive person in any state (sober or drunk) and that therefore, is a person that always does things in an aggressive way.
    

This quote is a description of The Valley of Ashes. Through the stylistic device of imagery the author is trying to engage the audience into the story by offering such detailed descriptions of the series of events that occur in The Valley. The sentence “...ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens” wants to show the reader how this Valley has elements in it not belonging to a valley but more of a place were fire has burned and has left ashes behind. The fact that the “ashes grow like the wheat” shows how the fire that had occurred has turned every plant in The Valley into ash, and wheat is a plant that grows relatively fast and this shows how the fire sweeped over everything that was in its way, turning everything into “grotesque gardens”, meaning that it has lost its value and turned into a grey environment. The sentence “where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys” shows how the event that brought the ashes has over come everything, and it is using that juxtaposition to say how even though The Valley doesn’t look alive or with habitants in it, it could still have people living in the terrain. 

In this quote, "The Valley of Ashes" is compared to a wheat farm through the use of a simile. The choice of comparing it to a farm, which is human-designed, suggests that the growth of ashes is intentional, too. The use of diction in the word "fantastic" describes the human power which led to the rise of places like "The Valley of Ashes" as great. Furthermore, this comparison of "The Valley of Ashes" to a "fantastic farm" sheds light on the plentifulness of both crops and goods in the 1920s, the era in which the book is set. 

This passage, using anadiplosis, starts with contrasting the grey town to the blue eyes and yellow spectacles of the doctor to the ashen valley even though the billboard is dimmed and paintless. 


Comparing the billboard's eyes to the watchful eyes of god (position and size hierarchy)
- Highlights how hopeless the town is by showing how the only thing they have watching over them is a picture of the eyes of an oculist that has forgotten them. 

Even the oculist lost hope from this town and moved on. 

compared to the original book cover. 

Highlights the difference of classes as it can be directly contrasted to the first chapter. Future theme? 

This quote served the purpose of establishing the setting, "a valley of ashes". Through out the quote, the author used diction and imagery in order to emphasis on the ashy, and abandoned, description of the setting. Through out the quote, the author used grey and ash related vocabulary, such as "ashes", "chimneys", "smoke", and "powdery". These vocabularies depicts an abandoned place that was covered with dust as time past by without people visiting. Later on in the quote, the author employs imagery, through the vivid description of "ash-grey man". In this part of the quote, the author is referring to the civilians living in that part of the town, by describing them as "ash-grey men, who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air." this creates an image of a grey man struggling through ashes, highlighting how these people are struggling and forgotten. 

This quote portrays how Tom doesn't care who knows that he has a mistress since he takes her out to popular places where he encounters people he knows. Also, he doesn't seem to care too much about Myrtle because when they go out he ignores her and speaks with other people. Lastly, the end of this quote shows the relationship between Nick and Daisy, because he doesn't want to see who his cousin's husband's mistress is, signifying that he prefers to be oblivious to it than knowing that Tom is cheating on Daisy.

This quote really characterises Tom Buchanon. It shows his arrogant personality, and that he is really controlling of people and determined on doing what he wants. Specially the physical contact of "taking hold of [his] elbow" shows that he is aggressive and will use any means, including violence to achieve to have what he wants. The quote also indicates Nick's dislike of him already shortly after meeting him and his disapproval of Tom seeing another mistress and meeting her himself. By saying that he "literally forced" him out of the car he emphasises that he was reluctant to meet Tom's mistress and that he finds Tom arrogant. With the "ash heaps" which is repeated throughout the two pages it still shows that the valley is monotone, boring and depressing. He emphasises this by exaggerating and creating imagery by saying "heaps".

This quote is said by Nick when he goes with Tom to meet his mistress.  The mistress is also married and the scene takes place inside an automobile garage. This quote is relevant because Nick is first of all repeating this action of describing women in a very detailed way, the first time being Daisy at the event where he describes her as an "enchanting" woman with natural beauty. In this quote he does the same thing however describes the woman as a "fixed up" woman whose beauty exists only because she worked for it. We can see how he choses a much less delicate diction for her as he says "thickish figure", "no facet or gleam of beauty", "surplus flesh", "faintly stout".... words that take away the innocence, femininity, and natural beauty of the woman.

The fact that Nick noticed how the woman walked "through her husband as if he were a ghost" and "shook hands with Tom". The fact that the woman is associated with Tom already appears as an unlikable person for Nick since he dislikes Tom's personality and actions. The fact that Daisy is her cousin also may contribute to his hate for Tom since he may care too much for her and yet is taken to meet his brother in law's mistress.

The woman may also represent the result of how Daisy would become if she spent more years living in such a rich and toxic community, married to Tom. Therefore, this is a direct reference to the hate Nick has for the lifestyle in the city.