In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald criticizes 1920s American society for its tendency to waste, advertise, form superficial relationships, and obsess appearances. The work was praised both for its brutal realism and for its acute depiction of the era that the New York Times called the era when "gin was the national drink and sex was the national obsession" (Fitzgerald viii). '. . . is indifference presented as a moral failure – a failure of society, particularly Eastern American society, to recognize the imperatives of truth, honesty, and justice? (Gallo 35).F. Scott Fitzgerald criticizes the wasteful tendencies of American society. He uses the valley of ashes to refer to this ugly aspect of American society. The Valley of Ashes is a desolate area located between West Egg and New York City, "where the ashes take the shapes of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of men moving blurrily and already crumbling through the dusty air” (Fitzgerald 23). This unpleasant wasteland lies just along the road and rail route between Eggs, home of the noble aristocrats, and New York City, the exciting and fashionable metropolis where many of the most people live. The nation's rich live, work, and play. "There is no essential difference between the money-rich wastelands of New York City and Long Island and the valley of ashes," (Gallo 49). an eye doctor in the valley of ashes, Nick, our narrator comments: Evidently some wild buffoon of an eye doctor who had put them there to fatten his practice in the borough of Queens, and then sank himself into eternal blindness or forgot them and walked away. it was going. But...... middle of paper...... Moment: The novels of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Urbana: U of Illinois P, 1970. Whitley, John SF Scott Fitzgerald: "The Great Gatsby." London: Edward Arnold, 1976. Outline Thesis Statement: In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald criticizes 1920s American society for its tendency to waste, advertise, form superficial relationships, and obsess over appearances. IntroductionA. Literary classicB. Social criticism1. tendency to waste2. advertising obsession3. superficial relationships4. fixation of appearances II. Tendency to wasteA. Valley of Ashes B. Gatsby C. Tom and DaisyIII. Advertising obsessionA. Billboard B. McKees C. TomD. Daisy E. GatsbyIII. Fixation of appearancesA. Myrtle B. CatherineC. Gatsby IV. Superficial relationshipsA. Advertising billboard B. The myrtle festival