F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book The Great Gatsby employs a variety of symbols throughout the novel. A repeating symbol throughout the novel is the contrast between the East and West Egg islands. The employment of these two locations creates a distinction between new money and old money, between self-made individuals and inherited wealth. Jay Gatsby lives on the West egg, which is characterized by large wealth and gaudiness and lacks social standing, and the elegant refinement of the East egg where Tom Buchanon lives. Through Fitzgerald’s use of the eggs, he portrays the American Dream and the lack of authenticity in order to depict the stratification of society. Fitzgerald’s use of the East and West eggs provides commentary on the idea of the American …show more content…
Certain barriers will always be in place to keep the old and new as separate worlds, these barriers prevent Gatsby from attaining his dream despite his hard work and efforts to accomplish his goals. Fitzgerald provides commentary on the American Dream in a way that doesn't promote it and instead denotes it as an impossible endeavor that only serves to entice people to work. Fitzgerald furthers the symbolism of the eggs by adding moral and social connotations. The East egg represents inherited wealth but also represents the hypocrisy and over reliance on money and the declining morals of those who live there. The people who live on East Egg only care about money but when someone finally has money they fault individuals on how they haven't had this wealth over generations. The Buchanans live a lavish life off their wealth and live in huge mansions with servants galore, they don’t do anything for themselves. Everything about them stems from money and the waste of it. In addition to this, the Buchanons present a prime example of moral decay as both of them are cheating on each other with outside lovers and Tom is borderline abusive and uses his financial situation to help his lover enjoy a gaudy and expensive
F. Scott Fitzgerald uses the people of East Egg and West Egg to show the false reality that is the American dream and how it can never be achieved because the human race will always want more. East Egg and West Egg are full of rich and successful people. The people East Egg made their money through inheritance and occupy a station of very high class and carry themselves as such. The people of West Egg however have earned their money and occupy a position of high class but are still observed as being lower than the people of East Egg. One of the residents of West Egg, Jay Gatsby, went from being dirt poor to having more money than he knew what to do with through boot legging alcohol and organized crime. Gatsby, like all people, has a dream, and his dream is to be a man among the gods and Daisy, a resident of East Egg whom he fell in love wi...
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.
Class identity and social structure was a big thing in the Roaring 20 's. In the Great Gatsby, Long Island was divided into two to three social classes. There is East and West Egg, and then The Valley of Ashes. The Valley of Ashes were where poor people worked, and where Myrtle, a mistress of Tom Buchanan resides. East and West Egg were where old and new money people are. East Egg residents just made tons of money, but still are looked down upon by West Egg residents. West Egg residents had that money for generations. If West Egg residents want to start a new generation with some other rich partner though, where do they stand? Why are the West Egg residents so looked down upon as well by East Egg?
Benjamin Franklin once said, “He does not possess wealth; it possesses him.” F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby demonstrates the idea of the quote from Benjamin Franklin. The Great Gatsby tells the story of a tragic war for love, wealth, and power which Jay Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan, and Tom Buchanan explore on their own. Fitzgerald sets the scene of The Great Gatsby in East Egg and West Egg. Newly rich people live in West Egg while those who inherit “old money” live in East Egg. East Egg and West Egg contrast the angle of old and new wealth. They help the reader notice the different divisions of the upper-class and the theme of the American dream.
There are many themes that are implemented in the Great Gatsby that Fitzgerald uses as a technique to juxtapose two contrasting topics. During this time of the Roaring Twenties, business and economy was booming, however there’s still was a underlying hint of urban corruption and the gap between the rich and poor became greater. Through the technique of juxtaposition, Fitzgerald paints a detailed picture of society in the 1920’s and its cultural clashes. By comparing the characters living in the East and West Egg, Fitzgerald highlights the contrast between morality and corruption in society during the 1920’s. Additionally, his contrasting descriptions of Tom and Daisy’s house to the Valley of Ashes offers a juxtaposition of the rich and poor.
Many forms of literature portray conflicting or contrasting areas in which each place has a significant impact on the story. These opposing forces add to the overall theme, symbolism and meaning of the story. In the ‘Great Gatsby’, by F. Scott Fitzgerald these areas are the ‘East Egg’ and the ‘West Egg’. To illustrate the East Egg represents the former or classic establishment. It consists of wealthy families who have handed down money from generation to generation. However the West egg includes money or fortunes that recently have been acquired. The West Egg sets the standard of the American Dream theme; working hard to become successful. Notably, the Great Gatsby reveals characters that come from both areas and impact the story and other locations.
Throughout The Great Gatsby, various locations are introduced that correlate to specific types of inhabitants. The geography of the novel is primarily comprised of four scenes: East Egg, West Egg, the valley of the ashes, and New York City. Although all of the localities are situated in the East, Nick muses at the end of the novel that the story is, in actuality, “of the West” (Fitzgerald 176). This discovery insinuates that the materialisms of the East besmirched the characters of the West, symbolizing the deteriorating effects the quest for riches has on traditional values. Employing the four major settings, Fitzgerald is able to translate the moral and social corruption of society which dramatically contrasts with the conventional ethics of the West. F. Scott Fitzgerald utilizes setting and its inhabitants in order to represent the theme of artificiality as well as the corrupt nature of the materialistic pursuit of wealth.
In the novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald emphasizes the demise of the American Dream. Through greed, pursuit of empty pleasures and cynicism many characters throughout the novel realize that life is not always as luxurious as it seems. Based on the East and West egg, both communities live very expensive lifestyles.
...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.
Each place takes on a different meaning of wealth and success. Fitzgerald also used the different locations to divide up the social classes. The community of the West Egg represents “new money”. It is a place where the newly rich inhabit. A society of rich entrepreneurs who have made their money from participating in illegal activity after World War I. The West Egg society is portrayed in the book as being gaudy and showoffs; a community with no class or dignity. Fitzgerald includes Gatsby’s pink suit, Rolls Royce, and white mansion to depict Gatsby as being flashy and trying to copy the people from the East Egg. The East Egg is right across the bay from the West Egg, where the people who were born rich reside. The West Egg represents “old money”. The West Egg social elites are thought to have style, dignity, and class. As for Tom and Daisy, who live in West Egg, have none of those traits. They are both having affairs, Daisy killed a woman, and Tom is a racist abuser. This is an example that having the American dream will not make life easy or make a person any happier. Fitzgerald includes a place where the poor and hard-working citizens of New York live. The place where working yourself to the bone will get you nowhere in life and anyone who is wealthy enough ends up moving far away. It is a community of dirt poor people whose labor in the factories
Setting is essential to any good novel, it envelopes the entire work and pervades every scene and line for, as Jack M. Bickham said, “when you choose setting, you had better choose it wisely and well, because the very choice defines—and circumscribes—your story’s possibilities”. F. Scott Fitzgerald created a setting in The Great Gatsby that not only is an overarching motif in the story, but implants itself in each character that hails from West Egg, East Egg, and the Valley of Ashes. West Egg, symbolizing the new, opportunistic rich, representative of the American dream, East Egg, the established, aristocratic rich, and the Valley of Ashes, the crumbling decay of society, are linked together in the “haunted” image of the East, the hollow, shallow, and brutal land that Fitzgerald uses to illustrate the hollow, shallow, and brutal people living there (176).
The first location, West Egg, correlates to a person who is dazzling and extravagant. A person who became rich and possesses new money just like people who live there. The person who corresponds to West Egg is Jay Gatsby. Both the location and person symbolize the rise of the new rich alongside the conventional aristocracy of the 1920s. Previously, only people who were born into their riches were generally part of the upper class. Social mobility was difficult for those in lower classes because the “old rich” who maintained their prosperity across many generations retained control. During the 1920s however, people were starting to acquire their wealth within their own generations giving themselves the name “new rich”. Gatsby is an example of a person who constituting his own fortune after belonging to a lower social class and economic stratum. Gatsb...
Social class and status is also emphasized through the barrier that exists between East Egg and West Egg which symbolises “old money” and “new money” effectively, and the corruption of morals as witnessed and expressed by the narration of Nick Carraway. Fitzgerald shows that for all the lavishness of society there is ultimately unfulfilled dreams, corruption and separation, and in the case of Gatsby a tragic end to a tragic hero of the lower class.
Many books written today are influenced by an author's life. An author's childhood, career, places they’ve went, and people in their lives can be a big influence on how a book turns out. One of these many authors, was Harper Lee. Harper Lee’s first book, To Kill a Mockingbird, won many awards. Her book, were works of Southern Gothic, coming-of-age, and Bildungsroman but, they have a story behind it. The story, is Harper Lee’s life. Harper Lee’s childhood, success, and aspiring career gave her inspiration to write the novel To Kill A Mockingbird.
The unhappy and careless people of both the East and West Egg represent the immorality and corruption that wealth can bring. Gatsby’s dream was ruined by his own materialistic views. His dream of success transformed into a nightmare that ultimately led to his death. Gatsby and the Buchanans are proof that wealth does not equate to happiness or success. Gatsby’s romantic idealism is so great that he does not understand how wealth cannot bring happiness or love. Fitzgerald’s novel is great reminder to those with materialistic views about the detrimental effects the “American dream” can have on society.