Theme Of Dust In The Great Gatsby

Ashes to Ashes and Dust to Dust: Monetary Themes is The Great Gatsby

M Benesch

Biotechnology High School

F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author of The Great Gatsby, uses ashes and dust to set the mood and complete the setting of many scenes. Often, they represent the contrast between the rich and the poor and how they overcome different challenges.

In the first chapter, the reader is introduced to Jordan Baker, a character with an arguably minor influence on the overall plot. However, when Nick first realizes who she is, he realizes he knows Baker from the “rotogravure pictures of the sporting life at Asheville and Hot Springs and Palm Beach. I had heard some story of her too, a critical, unpleasant story, but what it was I had forgotten” (Fitzgerald, 2004, p.18). Several chapters later we discover that she was involved in a cheating scandal in one of her golf games, which was the story he had vaguely remembered upon hearing her name. The first location, Asheville, relates to ashes and ties the gossip into the theme portrayed by ashes and dust throughout the novel, which

is the comparison of rich and poor. At “one of her first big golf tournaments, there was a row that … approached the proportions of a scandal - then died away” (Fitzgerald, 2004, p. 57). As we never discover why and how the gossip died away, we do not know for sure what happened. However, one may speculate that she bribed the witnesses in order to keep her name clean. The rich have this luxury, while a poorer person than she would have to endure the blame, unless they had another means of bribery. Either way, the rich person has the advantage in this situation, which is what the mention of ashes alludes to.
Jay Gatsby, the book’s namesake, is another character Fitzgerald represents with ashes and dust. When Nick goes to Tom looking for his connection to Gatsby’s death, Tom admits he told George Wilson that Gatsby killed Myrtle, Tom claims, “[t]hat fellow had it coming to him. He threw dust into your eyes just like he did in Daisy’s” (Fitzgerald, 2004, p.178). From other texts in the book, one can conclude that the “dust” Gatsby threw into Daisy’s and Nick’s eyes was money. Gatsby’s main reason for earning the excessive wealth he had was to impress Daisy, and, like dust, once it got in her eye she could focus on little else. Gatsby’s affluence impressed Nick, too: Gatsby offered Nick a job, invited him personally to his parties several times, and in general favored him over many other similar characters. Without the advantage of money, Gatsby would likely be a nobody, to Daisy, Nick, and the world. Similar to Jordan Baker’s story, Gatsby would be in a much less preferable situation without his assets.
Now, George Wilson has a narrative which is almost the exact opposite of Gatsby’s and Baker’s.

His ashen figure and dusty garage that is “approached by a trail of ashes” (Fitzgerald, 2004, p.25) cannot compare to the golden light that Tom and Gatsby bring. For example, in the beginning of the novel, Jay Gatsby’s car is described as a creamy off-white color. However, while near the garage, everyone describes it as gold. Also, it is shown that the dust does not intermingle with the rich- “[a] white ashen dust veiled [George’s] dark suit and his pale hair as it veiled everything in the vicinity — except his wife, who moved close to Tom” (Fitzgerald, 2004, p. 26). Dust and ash are portrayed as the very opposite of wealth, which is represented here by Tom. It creates juxtaposition between these characters and gives the reader some slight insight into why George’s wife is having an affair with

Tom.
In all of these scenarios, the wealthy use their money for some material gain, whether a woman or a trophy. Ashes and dust assisted Fitzgerald, while writing, to create a marginal difference between the privileged and impoverished characters in this book. With all of these examples together, one can gather that examples of ash and dust are meant to tie in the juxtaposition of money to the whole novel.