The Valley of Ashes

ABOUT half way between West Egg and New York (on the way to NY) the motor road hastily joins the railroad and runs beside it for a quarter of a mile, so as to shrink away from certain desolate area of land (shrink implies that the road wants to pull away from this area but cant go far, its “creeped” by it. Desolate means bleek emphasis, not much happening, its unpleasant, the area doesn’t grow or produce. This is a valley of ashes -valley = hole like, -ashes = burnt out, dying. NY and other surrounding areas dump their ashes from their fires there. a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; Farm, grow, garden – all imply life. however, Fitzgerald states the ashes are growing into things you might normally find on a farm, he also says the garden is grotesque – ugly, disgusting, repulsive where ashes ashes are forming everything. they are things that grow and therefore Fitzgerald is trying to illustrate  take the form of houses