Write about the significance of descriptive language in The Great Gatsby.

In The Great Gatsby, descriptive language is often used to reveal the characters in the novel. The first description of Daisy reflects the allure she has through imagery such as 'her low, thrilling voice' and 'bright eyes and a bright passionate mouth'. By describing Daisy in this manner, Fitzgerald signposts to the reader why Gatsby and Tom desire to retain their hold over her, as she is so captivating. Moreover, this description also reveals the character of Nick, the narrator describing Daisy. Perhaps by building her up with this romantic language, Nick intends for the reader to dislike her even more when this image of her as angelic and lovely is destroyed at the end - 'they were careless people, Tom and Daisy'. In this sense, the descriptive language can highlight Nick as an unreliable narrator, as he adapts his description of characters in an attempt to alter the reader's opinion of them. This is evident in his description of Gatsby: 'there was something gorgeous about him (...) a romantic readiness such as I have never found in any other person'. Not only does this description reveal Nicks romanticism, it is the reader's first encounter with Gatsby in the novel, and intends to affect our opinions of his character before even knowing him. Thus descriptive language not only reveals the nature of characters, but also the destination Nick intends the novel to take. The description of the valley of ashes is pivotal to the story, as it is from this place that the negativity and the ominous end to the novel take root. Adjectives such as 'grotesque', 'desolate' and 'ghastly' are used to describe the setting, imbuing the valley with a sense of depression completely contrasting with the decadent glamour of New York and as a macrocosm the American Dream. Fitzgerald juxtaposes the beauty of the Buchanan's wealth with the grotesque poverty of the valley, yet in drawing the two of them together we understand that one cannot function without the other, one person's good fortune relies on another's misfortune. The billboard with 'the eyes of Dr T. J. Eckleberg' is described as 'blue and gigantic' and the eyes' retinas 'are one yard high'. This impression of the sign as looming and oppressive is symbolic of the crushing effects of capitalism and the East New Yorkers' lifestyle on those living in the valley. In using such negative language, Fitzgerald intends for the reader to recognise this setting as the cause of the catastrophes in the novel, as both Myrtle and Wilson originate here, but also as a mirror to the evils of capitalism and the selfish cruelty of the American Dream.