What Does West Egg Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

843 Words2 Pages

“Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, he told me, just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages you’ve had,” (Fitzgerald 5). The Great Gatsby, by Francis Scott Fitzgerald, is about the troubles of an elite society throughout the “Roaring Twenties.” Throughout the story there are several symbols that help Fitzgerald advance and help the quality of the plot and the themes of the novel. First, East Egg and West Egg are the two cities on Long Island that contribute to the plot in The Great Gatsby. The two cities symbolize the line between the wealthy, greedy, higher class citizens and the less corrupt, lower class citizens. Tom Buchanan and Nick Carraway are an example of the many differences between East Egg and West Egg. Tom Buchanan is a wealthy corrupt man who throws his money at whatever his newest desire is, and …show more content…

The valley symbolizes the difference between the higher class and lower class society. The lower class contains factories, run down buildings, mountains of trash and a working class community whereas the higher class is filled with elegant buildings, wealthy citizens, and extravagant lifestyles. “A white ashen dust veiled his dark suit and his pale hair as it veiled everything in the vicinity,” (17). The term ‘ashes’ is not figurative and the land is covered in ash from the many factories that help supply the wealthy like Tom and Daisy, but hurts the lifestyle of those who live in the Valley of Ashes like, George and Myrtle Wilson. The story contains some irony in that the citizens of West Egg and East Egg look down on those who live in the Valley, but those who work and live in the Valley of Ashes contribute greatly to the higher class and their lifestyle. Fitzgerald uses the Valley of Ashes to advance the plot and enhance the theme of the story by expressing the poverty within this land and how it affects the

Show More
Related

  • The Great Gatsby: A Plate of Scrambled Eggs

    529 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • How Does Myrtle Use Social Class In The Great Gatsby

    460 Words  | 1 Pages

    “This is a valley of ashes—a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys”(Fitzgerald 2). Tom and Nick a driving through a place between West Egg and New York, which is an industrial zone where the lower class lives. Here alone we can see how the poor class lives their daily lives in filth, but the rich live in shiny clean houses.

    Read More

  • Great Gatsby Device Connection to Meaning

    814 Words  | 2 Pages

    In this quote, the Valley of Ashes is portrayed as a “desolate area of land” where the glory of West Egg and New York are separated by a valley characterized as “grotesque,” dim, and “crumbling.” Fitzgerald includes this setting to describe important characters, such as Myrtle Wilson, who have an extreme influence on others because they are considered impoverished and trashy with no class. The Valley of Ashes symbolizes despair and poor lifestyles, which is why Myrtle is able to be used by Tom, who, in disdain, no longer shows feelings for his wife. The road is also personified to represent those who reside in the West Egg, who are snobby and want nothing to do with the poor.

    Read More

  • What Does The Water Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

    922 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Great Gatsby is a novel written by Francis Scott Fitzgerald and is based throughout the ‘roaring 20’s’. Throughout the novel there are affairs and corruption, proving life lessons that the past cannot be repeated. Fitzgerald uses many forms of symbolism throughout the text some of these include; colours, the eyes of T.J Eckleburg, clocks and the East and West Eggs. The Great Gatsby is a story of love, dreams and choices witnessed by a narrator against the ridiculous wealth of the 1920’s.

    Read More

  • Sympathy For Myrtle's Death In The Great Gatsby

    686 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Great Gatsby displays how the time of the 1920s brought people to believe that wealth and material goods were the most important things in life, and that separation of the social classes was a necessary need. Fitzgerald’s choice to expose the 1920s for the corrupt time that it really was is what makes him one of the greatest authors of his time, and has people still reading one of his greatest novels, The Great Gatsby, decades

    Read More

  • Symbolic Setting In F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great G

    392 Words  | 1 Pages

    Within the novel of the Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses a symbolic setting to contribute to the novel's overall purpose. Right in the beginning of the great Gatsby, he introduces the idea of West Egg and East Egg. East Egg being where Tom Buchanan and Daisy reside, among other people who live lavishly off of their inherited family money,”across the courtesy bay the white palaces of fashionable East Egg glittered along the water”(Pg.8). This part of the two eggs represents “old money,” which is the way the author calls wealth that has been passed on through generations within families.West Egg being the location where the narrator, Nick Carraway, and Jay Gatsby reside, represents “new money,”or people who are new to wealth, as opposed to people who have had it in their families,”West Egg, the—well, the less fashionable of the two”(Pg.7). Fitzgerald sets this sort of tension between the West and East Eggers. Many of the East Eggers thought the entrepreneurs living on the West were shady, “A lot of these newly rich people are just big bootleggers…”(114). Between West Egg and East Egg, there is a place the author calls the Valley of Ashes, “a fantastic farm where ashes grow like

    Read More

  • West Egg In The Great Gatsby

    552 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Materialism in the Eggs in The Great Gatsby

    998 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...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.

    Read More

  • Parallelism In The Great Gatsby

    1135 Words  | 3 Pages

    He reveals how separated the American culture is as a whole. F Scott Fitzgerald uses figurative language to shape the portrayal of the setting by contrasting light vs. dark, comparing the Valley of ashes to the East Egg. For instance, Fitzgerald quotes, “where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills”, utilizing a simile to exaggerate and emphasize that the ashes are taking the form of hills, which essentially is all trash. The ashes are a symbol of the hopeless and dead, the social corrosion that is yielded from the unrestricted pursuit of wealth, as the upper class nourish themselves with regard simply to self pleasure. Fitzgerald states, “where ashes take the form of houses and chimneys”, a form of imagery that gives the audience a visual aid to emphasize how prevalent the ashes are. These claims prove that the valley of ashes is a darken city bewitched with poverty and illness. With the pile of ashes growing larger, the classes of society further disjoin, removing their opportunity to escape and acquire their American Dream. By Fitzgerald using figurative language it makes the storyline come alive in the readers mind. He symbolizes certain emotions within the reader to embody and visualize the contrast between the Valley of Ashes and the East Egg as if we were there with them. Scott Fitzgerald also uses figurative language to

    Read More

  • Gatby Symbolism Essay: Symbolism In The Great Gatsby

    707 Words  | 2 Pages

    “The valley of ashes is bounded on one side by a small foul river, and when the drawbridge is up to let barges through, the passengers on waiting trains can stare at the dismal scene for as long as half an hour”(Fitzgerald 28). This is representation of the social classes and how the wealthy not only perturbedly but physically ruined the townspeople. In pursuit of their own success and happiness the affluent individuals have no regard for the others that are being dragged through their path. The valley of ashes also represents not only the rich hurting others, but themselves and making their souls hollow. In result of this it overall symbolizes hopelessness and

    Read More

  • Context In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

    2054 Words  | 5 Pages

    The message of numerous literature novels are connected to the context of the time and can enlighten readers to understand the meaning. This is true of the novel, The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald and first published in 1926. It highlights a materialistic and consumerist society where social and moral values were slowly decaying. Portrayed through the eyes of the narrator, Nick Carraway, itillustrated the world , the people surrounding him and their values; starting with Daisy and Tom Buchanan and the infamous Jay Gatsby, a man chasing after his first love.

    Read More

  • East and West Egg in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

    619 Words  | 2 Pages

    The East and West Egg are two opposite parts of Long Island. The East Egg is where people of old money reside, like Daisy and Tom, who have inherited their riches of the aristocracy. However, The West Egg is the home of the nouveau riche or new money. It is where Gatsby and Nick reside, who have accumulated great wealth on their own. Fitzgerald...

    Read More

  • Theme Of Society And Class In The Great Gatsby

    1192 Words  | 3 Pages

    In conclusion, The Great Gatsby reveals the carelessness and shallowness of the characters in the upper class. Society is totally corrupted and the character’s lives revolve around the money and extravagant lifestyles. All of the characters are surrounded with expensive and unnecessary itms, which in turn, dulls their dream of actual success. Scott F. Fitzgerald provides a powerful and everlasting message of a corrupt, materialistic society and the effects that it has on the idea of the American dream.

    Read More

  • Decaying Morals in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

    813 Words  | 2 Pages

    The 1920’s were a time of social and technological change. After World War II, the Victorian values were disregarded, there was an increase in alcohol consumption, and the Modernist Era was brought about. The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a perfect presentation of the decaying morals of the Roaring Twenties. Fitzgerald uses the characters in the novel--specifically the Buchanans, Jordan Baker, and Gatsby’s partygoers--to represent the theme of the moral decay of society.

    Read More

  • Marxist Lens The Great Gatsby

    1158 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald took place in the 1920’s when the nation was undergoing rapid economic, political, and social change. Looking through different literary lenses the reader is able to see the effects of these rapid changes. The marxist lens reflects the gap between rich and poor while the feminist lens showcases the patriarchal society.

    Read More

More about What Does West Egg Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

Open Document