Class In The Great Gatsby

In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald develops the novel by showing how class influences all aspects of life. The setting of Long Island demonstrates a clear division of the eggs and the valley of ashes.
East egg represents people that have had generations of wealth (old money). An example of east egg wealth is when the text states, “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy—they smashed up things and . . . then retreated back into their money . . . and let other people clean up the mess they had made,” Nick declares his opinion on Tom and Daisy’s disregard to the negative effects of their actions. They smashed many things over the course of the novel such as Gatsby’s heart, Gatsby’s car, Gatsby’s life, Nick’s innocence, and Myrtle Wilson. Nick is troubled by this behavior, and this quote depicts his frustration at how the wealthy take advantage of their class status to do whatever they please.

Gatsby is one of the characters that has newly acquired wealth. This is seen when the text states, "See!" he cried triumphantly. "It's a bonafide piece of printed matter. It fooled me. This fella's a regular Belasco. It's a triumph. What thoroughness! What realism! Knew when to stop, too - didn't cut the pages. But what do you want? What do you expect?" (Fitzgerald 49-50) Gatsby is able buy the things that wealthy people have, but he can't buy the education or experience. It was explained that when Gatsby was younger he grew up in North Dakota and had a family that was not very wealthy. As he got older he was able to turn his life around and become more wealthy which is primarily why he is living in West Egg as opposed to East