Why I Chose to Live in the Valley of Ashes

                 There is this miserable little plot of land in between West Egg and the corrupt, sin-ridden city of New York. It is a God-forsaken place, a place filled with the rotting corpse of industry. It is my home, this Valley of Ashes. 

                  You might wonder why I would choose to live in such a place. I would tell you that I live here because I am afraid of what would happen to me if I didn't live here. 

                    To my left lies the city of New York, where I hear accounts of bootleggers shooting people and smuggling goods everywhere. If I lived there, I would constantly fear for my life. To my immediate right is West Egg, where the newly rich throw wild parties into the wee hours of the morning. If I lived there, I would never get a moment's sleep, and I would be constantly on edge as drunken men and women drove cars around my property. East Egg is a little beyond West Egg, and that is where the established wealth are ruined by the easy inheritance of money and social niceties. I would be afraid of the effect the place would have on me, perhaps turning me arrogant and dull as the years wore on. Anywhere beyond those places is really out of the question. Firstly, I could never afford to move everything Myrtle and I own that far. Secondly, Myrtle wouldn't ever hear of it. I don't know why, but she seems strangely attached to the place despite having only a few friends here.