The Connotations and Analysis of Gray
Nick's perspective on life, including the people and the environment, helps readers understand the stark contrast between the wealthy and the working class in New York and ultimately the whole world. Nick is a more understanding character and a more realistic one compared to the others in the novel, especially the extravagant wealthy. Because of this, to the readers Nick is someone you can trust, he even describes himself as "one of the few honest people that I have ever known,"(59). He is honest and kind because he has no reason to lie and has nothing that we know to hide; Nick isn't weighted down by the moral blindness, he is therefore never portrayed as a gray character and is never connoted with grief, sadness, and exhaustion that the other characters seem to take up so heavily on their shoulders, like Jordan and Wilson.
Wilson has a strong relation with gray. After losing his wife in a hit-and-run incident, Wilson gets described with more monotonous appearances and actions which are associated with gray. "Wilson's glazed eyes turned out to the ash heaps"(159) in a manner that made him appear like he didn't belong even in his own society because he felt betrayed and despaired. It also symbolizes the loss of his dreams and plans which have been blown away as rapidly as the clouds of dust.
Over the horizon, "where small gray clouds took on fantastic shapes"(159), is where Wilson sees hope. The "gray clouds" are ash blowing from the Valley of ashes; it symbolizes despair that clings to the inhabitants like the dust. However, since the clouds are forming into "fantastic shapes", it appears that Wilson sees hope and better times in the future in comparison to the dark days.
Wilson, suspecting of his wife's affair with a wealthy man, was hoping to get himself and his wife away and build a new life far away. He felt unimportant and insignificant, both of which are associated with the color gray. This is where he was becoming a gray character with no vitality left in him. By the end of chapter eight, Wilson becomes an "ashen, fantastic figure"(161) who is moving towards Gatsby to shoot him. They have a resemblance in that both Gatsby and Wilson seek to make things right with vengeance.
Over the horizon, "where small gray clouds took on fantastic shapes"(159), is where Wilson sees hope. The "gray clouds" are ash blowing from the Valley of ashes; it symbolizes despair that clings to the inhabitants like the dust. However, since the clouds are forming into "fantastic shapes", it appears that Wilson sees hope and better times in the future in comparison to the dark days.
Wilson, suspecting of his wife's affair with a wealthy man, was hoping to get himself and his wife away and build a new life far away. He felt unimportant and insignificant, both of which are associated with the color gray. This is where he was becoming a gray character with no vitality left in him. By the end of chapter eight, Wilson becomes an "ashen, fantastic figure"(161) who is moving towards Gatsby to shoot him. They have a resemblance in that both Gatsby and Wilson seek to make things right with vengeance.
The Valley of Ashes itself is the embodiment of all despair in the novel; it contains the forgotten working class that sees no light for a better future. "This is a valley of ashes--a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes 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. Occasionally a line of gray cars crawls along an invisible track...the ash-gray men swarm up with leaden spades and stir up an impenetrable cloud..."(23). This describes the simplistic, monotonous life that the working class lives in comparison to the extravagant life the wealthy live. The rich have polluted the valley with their residue and have forgotten about those who have helped create their luxurious life. Wilson goes to the Valley of Ashes to have his affair because anything that happens there is supposedly forgotten.