18. EXT. THE VALLEY OF ASHES - DAY HIGH AND WIDE: A vast dumping ground comprised of massive mounds of smoldering ash; train tracks cut through its heart and the gleaming towers of the city shimmer in the distance. NICK (V.O.) New York’s dumping ground, half way between West Egg and the city... IMAGES illustrate the poverty and hopelessness of life here. NICK (V.O.) ...Where the burnt out coal that powered the booming, golden city was discarded by men who moved dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air. A train waits at a drawbridge spanning a small, foul creek. DISCOVER: Nick, aboard the train, looking out at the awful wasteland... NICK (V.O.) ...This fantastic farm was everwatched by Dr. T. J. Eckleberg... NICK’S POV: A gigantic paint peeling billboard reads: “Dr. T.J. Eckleberg.” NICK (V.O.) ...A forgotten oculist whose eyes brooded over it all like the eyes of God. INT. TRAIN - DAY Tom, flushed with booze and heat, glances covertly around the halted carriage. Nick sits opposite. NICK (V.O.) Tom had invited me to town, on the pretense of a lunch at the Yale Club.... As the carriage moves, Tom suddenly pulls Nick to his feet. NICK (V.O.) But the day took an unexpected turn... Tom drags Nick from the moving train.
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