Comparing The Houses In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

In the words of Oprah Winfrey, “when you invite people to your home, you invite them to yourself” (“Oprah Winfrey”). A home is representative of one’s character and values at any stage in life; it is one of the few places anyone can express their true self. For typical American families in the 1920s, the home was where the wife stayed to clean and care for her children so her husband could return after work. For those more fortunate, however, the American 1920s marked a time of great prosperity, with houses becoming grand and luxurious, havens filled with life and enjoyment. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald develops the striking distinction between social classes and how it alters peoples’ lives by contrasting the house of Jay Gatsby

For instance, when Nick visits Tom and Daisy’s house for dinner at the beginning of the summer, he describes its classic, Georgian style. It is a large, luxurious home with elegantly manicured landscaping to reflect their well-planned and intentional lifestyle. They live relaxed lives, as Daisy lounges around while Tom plays polo, which reflects their wealth and status, coming from old money and not having to worry about working. Nick also describes Gatsby’s house, on the other hand, as a “colossal affair by any standard… a factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy,” and “spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy” (Fitzgerald 12). In relation to the Buchanans’ mansion, Gatsby’s is new construction and designed specifically to imitate something other than itself. Nick’s description here reveals that Gatsby must come from new money, in stark contrast to the lives of the Buchanans, and had to have come into such money somehow or another. Ultimately, the physical descriptions of both the Buchanans’ and Gatsby’s mansions illustrate their incompatible backgrounds and styles of

For example, the largest gathering that takes place at Tom and Daisy’s house is a luncheon with Nick, Jordan, and Gatsby towards the end of the summer. Other than this one instance, the crowds at the Buchanans’ home are few and far between, with specially selected invitees that are long-time personal friends and family members. These choices of the Buchanans, especially on Daisy’s part, exhibit the cautious lifestyle choices that they must make to preserve their image in the high class of wealthy, old-money East Eggers. At Gatsby’s mansion, however, there is a constant stream of visitors who come uninvited and are cataloged by Nick who finds the entire situation quite puzzling. Contrary to the well-thought-out lives of Tom and Daisy, Gatsby does not invite his guests and does not even bother to meet them once they arrive. As a result, guests are left to speculate about Gatsby’s true identity which does not seem to concern him, offering insight into the lives of the new rich who do not hold personal image with as much value as those belonging to Tom and Daisy’s social group. Decisively, the differing emphasis on persona among the wealthy social classes is summarized by the Buchanans’ careful selection of visitors to their home compared to Gatsby’s ignorance of