Wealth Symbolism In The Great Gatsby

In the beginning of the book, Nick; the narrator almost immediately tells us that East Egg is the wealthier of the two eggs. This side represents the old money and established credentials that make the people of the area look with contempt upon others who were not born with wealth. While East Egg is expensive and luxurious, it is also beautiful where “white palaces of fashionable East Egg glittered along the water” (5). The “white” symbolizes the purity and royalty of the wealthy, although there is nothing official, and the word “glittered” may perhaps suggest the impenetrability of the magnificent houses. Their wealth is also subtly emphasized with the use of language: following on from a huge lawn are “sundials and brick walls and burning

gardens” (6). The use of plurals suggest that the Buchanans have no limits in money, and this may infer to their carelessness of wealth, since they grew up surrounded with convenient money as if it were easily expendable.

Also, the Buchanan’s home shows the traditional culture of “a cheerful red-and-white Georgian Colonial mansion” (6) The “Georgian Colonial mansion” is a use of an allusion and refers to the traditional culture of the East Eggers because those types of houses were very trendy and popular in New England during the 1700s for well to do colonists. The traditional culture signifies how people like Tom and Daisy were born into wealth and don’t understand the concept of self labour, this leads them to lack the ability to be deeply considerate and to lack proper judgment for sensible morals. At the end of the first chapter much significance is brought to the green light on Daisy’s dock as it is a symbol of envy and hope. Nick, spots Gatsby, “stretched out his arms toward the dark water... a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been then end of a dock” (21). The light is at the edge of Daisy’s dock symbolizes American money and the American dream where the light is always described as seeming so close, yet so far away. The light also symbolises money, and for Gatsby it also symbolises his longing love for Daisy. As innocent as it may seem, Daisy is corrupt by money and materialism because she chooses Tom over Gatsby for his money despite knowing that Tom is having an

affair.