Editing The Great Gatsby (section)

==== Technology and environment ====
Technological and environmental criticisms of ''Gatsby'' seek to place the novel and its characters in a broader historical context.<ref>{{harvnb|Keeler|2018|pp=174–188}}; {{harvnb|Marx|1964|pp=358, 362–364}}; {{harvnb|Little|2015|pp=3–26}}.</ref> In 1964, [[Leo Marx]] argued in ''[[The Machine in the Garden]]'' that Fitzgerald's work evinces a tension between a complex [[Pastoralism|pastoral ideal]] of a bygone America and the societal transformations caused by [[Technological and industrial history of the United States|industrialization]] and [[machine technology]].{{sfn|Marx|1964|pp=358–364}} Specifically, the valley of the ashes, in between East and West Egg, represents a man-made wasteland which is a byproduct of the industrialization that has made Gatsby's booming lifestyle, including his automobile, possible.{{sfn|Marx|1964|p=358}} Marx argues that Fitzgerald, via Nick, expresses a pastoral longing typical of other 1920s American writers like [[William Faulkner]] and Ernest Hemingway.{{sfn|Marx|1964|p=362}} Although such writers cherish the pastoral ideal, they accept that technological progress has deprived this ideal of nearly all meaning.<ref name="Leo Marx">{{harvnb|Marx|1964|pp=363–364}}</ref> In this context, Nick's repudiation of the <!--Please do not change to "East Coast" as "eastern United States" is conceptually distinct.-->eastern United States represents a futile attempt to withdraw into nature.<ref name="Leo Marx" /> Yet, as Fitzgerald's work shows, any technological demarcation between the eastern and western United States has vanished,{{efn|name=East-West Theme|Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald identifies his native region of the [[Midwestern United States|Midwest]]—those "towns beyond [[Ohio River|the Ohio]]"—with the perceived virtuousness and rustic simplicity of the [[American frontier|American West]] and as culturally distinct from the decadent values of the [[eastern United States]].{{sfnm|Mizener|1965|1p=190|Marx|1964|2p=363}}<ref>{{harvnb|Turnbull|1962|p=46}}: "In those days the contrasts between [[Eastern United States|East]] and [[American West|West]], between city and country, between prep school and high school were more marked than they are now, and correspondingly the nuances of dress and manners were more noticeable".</ref>}} and one cannot escape into a pastoral past.<ref name="Leo Marx" />

In 2018, scholar Kyle Keeler argued that the voracious pursuit of wealth as criticized in Fitzgerald's novel offers a warning about the perils of [[environmental destruction]] in pursuit of [[self-interest]].<ref name="Keeler 2018">{{harvnb|Keeler|2018|p=174}}.</ref> According to Kyle Keeler, Gatsby's quest for greater status manifests as self-centered, [[anthropocentric]] resource acquisition.<ref name="Keeler 2018" /> Inspired by the predatory [[Strip-mining|mining practices]] of his fictional mentor Dan Cody, Gatsby participates in extensive [[deforestation]] amid World War&nbsp;I and then undertakes bootlegging activities reliant upon exploiting [[Agriculture in South America|South American agriculture]].<ref name="Keeler 2018" /> Gatsby conveniently ignores the wasteful devastation of the valley of ashes to pursue a [[consumer culture|consumerist lifestyle]] and exacerbates the [[Wealth gap in the United States|wealth gap]] that became increasingly salient in 1920s America.<ref name="Keeler 2018" /> For these reasons, Keeler argues that—while Gatsby's socioeconomic ascent and self-transformation depend upon these very factors—each one is nonetheless partially responsible for the ongoing [[Global warming|ecological crisis]].<ref name="Keeler 2018" />