The society of the mid nineteen-twenties, as depicted by F. Scott Fitzgerald in his novel “The Great Gatsby”, is one of glamorous parties and shallow, superficial and material-based relations. East Egg is home to the more apathetic portion of New York’s elite, which cares only for their money and view the world around them as disposable. West Egg, however, is full of hardworking people who are willing to peer beyond one’s surface to discover the true potential locked within one’s self. Though both Eggs are similar in the fact that they are both very careless due to their social status, the two vary greatly when it comes to their levels of compassion towards others, as well as their morals. East Egg and West Egg, although similar in nature, ultimately demonstrate differences in value, integrity and responsibility. Throughout the novel, East Egg demonstrates time after time the shallow underbelly of New York’s upper side. The inhabitants of this section of the city are what are known as the “old money”, meaning they come from families with money passed down through generation upon generation. Nick Carraway demonstrates unto the reader the grandeur of the area when he says, “Across the courtesy bay the white palaces of fashionable East Egg glittered along the water…” (Fitzgerald 5) referring to the homes opposite the bay of his. The people who occupy these homes, such as Tom and Daisy Buchanan and Jordan Baker, have never had to work a single day in their lives to secure and maintain their lavish and luxurious lifestyles, and will never have to because of the money that their families have procured throughout the generations. People here are reckless, and tend to not want to take responsibility for their actions. Jordan demonstrates... ... middle of paper ... ...itality.” (154) Nick had to contemplate his leaving Gatsby for about an hour before actually getting up to go to work, meaning that he had thought about it and decided against leaving his friend, whereas the people of East Egg would have made the snap decision to leave right away for their benefit only. The sole way in that the two Eggs are similar is they are both careless, though in their own way. The East moves forwards to escape their troubles, as depicted when Tom and Daisy leave New York after the deaths of Myrtle Wilson and Gatsby, whereas the West lives in the past, namely Gatsby and his expectations for Daisy. In both circumstances, neither Egg is really thinking about the people around them, but solely for themselves and their own longings. Works Cited Fitzgerald, F. Scott, and Matthew J. Bruccoli. The Great Gatsby. New York, NY: Scribner, 1996. Print.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s American classic, The Great Gatsby, tells a story of how love and greed lead to death. The narrator of the novel, Nick Carraway, tells of his unusual summer after meeting the main character, Jay Gatsby. Gatsby’s intense love makes him attempt anything to win the girl of his dreams, Daisy Buchanan. All the love in the world, however, cannot spare Gatsby from his unfortunate yet inevitable death. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald utilizes the contrasting locations of East Egg and West Egg to represent opposing forces vital to the novel.
Chapter 1: Chapter one introduces the reader to the narrator Nick Halloway and most of the other other characters of the story. Including his cousin daisy, her husband tom and their friend jordan - the golfer. Nick comes from a wealthy family; however, doesn’t believe in inheriting their wealth. Instead he wishes to earn his own wealth by selling bonds in the stock market. Chapter one also talks about the separation of the rich. Where the east egg represents the inherently rich whereas west egg represents the newly rich. The people in the east also seem to lack social connections and aristocratic pedigree. Whereas the people in west egg possess all those qualities usually lacked by people in the east.With nick living
The first example of Gatsby's belief that money can buy his happiness is when Nick Carraway describes the subdivision in which he lives, West Egg. The subdivision across the water is East Egg. The houses are very luxurious to say the least. On the other hand, there is a distinction between the two. The West Egg house are more recently built and are elaborately decorated, where as the houses in East Egg are still as big but very conservative in architecture. The two neighborhoods represent the division in the upper class at this time in America. During the 1920's, the conservative "old rich" despised the "new rich". A good example of an "old rich" family would be the Rockefellers, where as a "new rich" family would be the Kennedys. The East Egg represented the conservative money of the "old rich". For generations their money passed down giving them the belief that the "new rich" with their newly acquired wealth were still lower and not equal to them. The "new rich" liked to display their wealth in lavish ways that the conservative wealthy did not approve. In addition, the "new rich" often did not earn their money in legitimate ways; most earned their money from boot legging. Carraway in an ironic way is neither "new rich" nor "old rich". He lives in a rather modest house compared to Gatsby's huge mansion. Gatsby owns a huge house but is the only person living there besides some servants. Gatsby tries to use the house to win the happiness and respect from others. Another reason for the house is to hide the way in which he really makes his money.
The heart of the whole notion of wealth lies in the setting of the novel, the east and west eggs of New York City. The west egg was a clustering of the "Nouveau riche" or the newly acquired rich, and the east egg was where the people who inherited their riches resided. The eggs divided the people rich in two with the poor being limited to the middle, the "valley of ashes". Even the way the narrator, Nick Carraway, describes the two communities' gives off a feeling of superiority. Nick describes the east as " the less fashionable of the two, through this is a most superficial tag to express the bizarre and not a little sinister contrast between them" (...
“Two unusual formations of land,” located not far from the bustling city of New York, “identical in contour” and yet differing in apparently all other aspects, provide the main setting for F. Scott Fitzgerald’s masterpiece, The Great Gatsby (4). On one side lies West Egg, the garish center for the newly rich, teeming with low-lifes and criminals. Across the bay lies East Egg, the more “fashionable” home of the idle rich, where the wealthy elite live in carefree luxury, safe from scandal and worry (5). At least, that is the image that Fitzgerald attempts to portray in his quest to reveal the corruption and infallibility of society. However, the discrepancies in his argument are obvious under further examination, for even while he labels West Egg inferior, highlighting the vulgarity in construction and society, Fitzgerald inadvertently reveals the inadequacies of East Egg, thus undermining his entire theory and leaving the reader wondering if all of society is corrupt or if there is some hope for the world.
Fitzgerald’s uses setting to describe how West Egg and East Egg represent new money and old money. West Egg represents the new money and East Egg, the old money. While they seem quite similar at first, because they are expensive places to live. West Egg is described as “the less fashionable of the two, although there is little contrast between them.” But, yet there are many differences. Such as when Nick describes his own house as "an eyesore" that is "squeezed between
Fitzgerald, F. Scott, and Matthew J. Bruccoli. The Great Gatsby. New York, NY: Scribner, 1996. Print.
In the beginning of the novel, Nick establishes residence in one “of the two formations of land” which “extends itself due east of New York” (4). These land configurations resemble “a pair of enormous eggs” and are consequently referred to as East Egg and West Egg (4). Each society is characterized by the distinct origins of the wealth of their inhabitants. East Egg is based on familial wealth, and therefore values a prestigious family name. Despite being “fashionable” and glitzy, East Egg becomes notorious for harboring bullies as represented by Tom and Daisy Buchanan (5). Physically, Tom is “enormous” and powerful, which translates into his internal psyche (7). He is portrayed as cruel and unthinking throughout the novel, later causing murder by blaming Myrtle’s death on Gatsby, thereby compelling Wilson...
East Egg is home to the more prominent established wealth families. Tom's and Daisy's home is on the East Egg. Their house, a "red and white Georgian Colonial mansion overlooking the bay" with its "wine-colored rug[s]" is just as impressive as Gatsby's house but much more low-key (Fitzgerald 11)(13). East egg and Tom's home represents the established wealth and traditions. Their stable wealth, although lacking the vulgarity of new wealth, is symbolic of their empty future and now purposelessness lives together. The House also has a cold sense to it according to Nick. This sense symbolizes Tom's brutality, and as Perkins's says in his manuscript to Fitzgerald "I would know...Buchanan if I met him and would avoid him," because Tom is so cold and brute (Perkins 199).
...and the upper middle class members mixed in the neighborhood, creating a disturbing mix. West Egg provided a direct confrontation to the establishment that disturbed the rich such as Daisy Buchanan (107). The residents of the city have foreign names like “Joens”, “Muldoon”, and “Eckheart” with uncouth professions such as actors and politicians (63). Epitomizing the qualities of the people and the buildings of West Egg is Jay Gatsby. Gatsby possesses a house designed to imitate royalty. However, Gatsby fills that very house with the risque parties, juxtaposing the old idea of wealth with a new one. The juxtaposition between the two ideas strongly characterizes the West Egg resident.
Due to rapid urbanization as a result of the growth of industrialism, the east was a metaphorical bloodbath consisting of people doing whatever they could to get ahead of their fellow man. It was a vicious arena where only those with a competitive edge would prosper and all others would fail miserably. With big business there were very few winners, but those who were on top held an unfathomable amount of importance and wealth over the rest of the citizens. Such as Gatsby’s acquaintance Meyer Wolfsheim, who through immoral measures gained enough sway in American life that he supposedly became “the man who fixed the World’s Series” (Fitzgerald 52). In the setting of The Great Gatsby, those who were bested by their fellow man lived fruitless lives in the valley of ashes, scrounging for every penny. Those who succeeded lived with the rest of the upper class in either East Egg or West Egg. East Egg represented “old money” and harbored those with large inheritances who had possessed wealth in their family for years. These citizens had lost the drive and desire in their lives that once fueled their ancestors to create the fortune which citizens of East Egg used to carry on their legacy of wealth and prestige. Citizens of East Egg had reached a state of complacency and had accepted what their lives had come to. Daisy acts as the epitome of a complacent East Egg resident
For example, the Valley of Ashes in its state of decay. Also, the East and West Eggs in New York City. Driving through the Valley of Ashes on the way to New York City was a reminder of the separation between those on each side with new and old money. The Valley of Ashes was the wasteland left behind by the wealthy. The people who lived there lived in extreme poverty. The place where you lived contributed a lot to your social status. In New York City there is a clear distinction between the two towns, East Egg and West Egg. East Egg was where the people with “old money” lived, which meant that the people living there were born into a long legacy of money. The Buchanan’s lived there in the novel. The West Egg was where the people referred to as “new money” lived. Gatsby’s mansion was located in the West Egg because he was considered “new money”. Nick says, “I lived at West Egg, the-well, the less fashionable of the two, though this is a most superficial tag to express the bizarre” (Fitzgerald 5). Nick was Gatsby’s neighbor and treated Gatsby as a good friend of his, unlike most people who knew him. People treated Gatsby differently because he made all of his money on his own, which is the reason why he was considered “new money”. “Regardless of Gatsby’s financial success, he is still considered
East Egg and West Egg, the “less fashionable of the two” Eggs, house the established rich and the new rich respectively, while the Valley of Ashes shrouds the refuse, the failed dreamers of the illustrious American dream. The aristocratic, well established families, such as Tom and Daisy Buchanan, safe in their money, time tested and held true, live in the “white palaces of fashionable East Egg”. In West Egg live the “less fashionable” wealthy, who worked to obtain their money and fulfill their American dream, such as Gatsby, and who are looked down upon by the old rich of East Egg (5). In the Valley of Ashes, there is no wealth, no fulfillment of the American dream, only “ashes [that] take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and … men who move dimly and already crumbling”, men that are beaten down and trampled upon, hidden behind the façade of the highfalutin rich...
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 2004. Print. The.
From the East Egg to the West, each Egg contains its own assortment of intricate detail defining East to West, and from those details come Fitzgerald’s usage of simple American locations to symbolize the rise and decay of American society. Nick Carraway, West Egg’s newest resident describes his sights across the bay, the “white palaces of fashionable East Egg glittered across the water,” (5). Just like any new resident of any neighborhood, Nick soaks in the sights and sounds surrounding his newly-purchased house, one of the sights being the Buchanans’ castle. Like all large and prominent houses, Tom and Daisy’s residence screams lavish, inherited, and most evidently, old. As Nick continues basking, he notices Gatsby’s residence, a “colossal