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Differences Between West Egg And West Egg In The Great Gatsby

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"Exploring the Differences Between West Egg and East Egg in The Great Gatsby" The setting of F. Scott Fitzgerald's ‘The Great Gatsby’ is 1920’s New York, more specifically the Long Island community of East Egg and West Egg. At the start of the novel, East Egg and West Egg residents are similar on the surface.This is due to the fact that both are communities of wealthy individuals. As the story progresses, clear differences can be seen between East Egg’s “old money” inhabitants and West Egg’s “new money” population. The difference between East Egg and West Egg can be exhibited by the architecture and characteristics of the social class of the residents. The agriculture of both East Egg and West Egg are very distinct throughout the …show more content…

Gatsby threw wild West Egg parties every weekend. Hundreds of people from all different backgrounds showed up for Gatsby’s parties. No invitation was required and most did not meet or know Gatsby at all. Nick Carraway described his experience at one of Gatsby’s parties, “I believe that on the first night I went to Gatsby’s house I was one of the few guests who had actually been invited. People were not invited—they went there. . . . Sometimes they came and went without having met Gatsby at all. (Fitzgerald 45)” Gatsby used his parties to prove he had money and social status. His underlying goal was to impress East Egg individuals and prove he is worthy of Daisy’s love, who is a resident of East Egg. This dynamic of old money and new money alluded to the economic gap during the roaring 20s. East Egg residents like Tom and Daisy have smaller, close-knit gatherings where they have personal connections with each other. West Egg is characterized as flashy because they wish to rise in social standing and have a chip on their shoulder. While East Egg is traditional. They have generational wealth and an image to

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Gatsby hosts extravagant parties in an effort not only to boost his social status, but also to look for Daisy. Many wealthy, and often wild people attend these large social events held by Mr. Gatsby. Some of the guests even come lacking an invitation, “Sometimes they came and went without having met Gatsby at all, came for the party with a simplicity of heart that was its own ticket of admission.” (41)

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397 Words | 2 Pages

This suggests that Gatsby's parties are so unique that people just show up uninvited, just to be a part of something popular. However the West Egg also represents the dark side of the American Dream.

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1255 Words | 6 Pages

If the settings in this story were bland and boring, would there be as much growth and depth to the characters? Well, not only are the settings essential to describe the characters, but they are also necessary for critical events in the story. The settings in The Great Gatsby bring more depth to the story with foreshadowing and imagery. This essay will talk about how each area of in The great gatsby is vital to the plot and helps build to the end and add character that makes the book an American classic. East and West Egg are both very similar but simultaneously completely different, and even though they have a similar shape and size, the people who live on the eggs give the two areas their differences.

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“I lived at West Egg, the—well, the less fashionable of the two, though this is a most superficial tag to express the bizarre and not a little sinister contrast between them. [...] Across the courtesy bay the white palaces of fashionable East Egg glittered along the water” (14-15). -In Francis Scott Fitzgerald’s highly regarded novel, The Great Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan gets caught between a love for her first love, Jay Gatsby, and her current husband, Tom Buchanan.

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East Egg symbolizes the classy, upscale, always-had-money type of families. The Buchanan’s are an example of this, they

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The Great Gatsby Essay There are many symbols in life, like a skull symbolizing death, or a sunshine symbolizng happiness. But what other symbols are there in life? In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, there are many times in which the author has something that sybolizes something and/or foreshadows something later in the story. Some examples of symbols in this story are the West Egg and East Egg, a mysterious green light from across the bay, and the ominous weather occuring at specific moments in the story.

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975 Words | 4 Pages

East and West Egg are significantly similar, but the perception people have of each area creates a wealth and social status separation. The novel is based around New York, but specifically two areas of land labeled East and West Egg. The shell of each egg protects the rich people. The white part of the egg represents purity, while the yellow inside represents corruption and chaos (Olesen, “Color Symbolism in The Great Gatsby”). Just outside of the city, there is “a pair of enormous eggs, identical in contour and separated only by courtesy bay” where Jay Gatsby, Nick Carraway, and Tom and Daisy Buchanan live (9).

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1541 Words | 7 Pages

Daisy and Tom Buccanan are a married couple living in East Egg with generations of old money supporting their comfortable yet complacent lives. In

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925 Words | 4 Pages

The importance of the East and West conflict in The Great Gatsby is a central theme found throughout the novel, both on a literal and figurative level; the geography of the islands differs along with the personalities and experiences of the inhabitants. Fitzgerald describes West Egg as “less fashionable” (5) and “fashionable East Egg” (5) across the bay; the homes on West Egg are either imitations or small while the homes on East Egg are white and sparkly along the water. These physical differences play into the people who live on the islands and connect the ideas to the geography of America. New money was found in the western part of the US while old money can still be found in the eastern states. Tom and Daisy live on East Egg and Tom dresses

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The parties were something to do and engage in with other rich people and “do rich things.” Nobody cared about or truly knew Gatsby the way Nick claims to have known

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483 Words | 2 Pages

Jay Gatsby’s parties were on the rage, and the topic of most conversations at West Egg. Guests filled the mansion from night to morning, drinking their worries away and dancing the whole time. Gatsby was essentially used for his house, as only a few people knew who he was or had even seen him before. Nick Carraway, the narrator, new to these parties comments “As soon as I arrived I made an attempt to find my host but the two or three people of whom I asked his whereabouts stared at me in such an amazed way and denied so vehemently any knowledge of his movements”(42). This reveals that during Gatsby’s parties, he rarely socializes.

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1108 Words | 5 Pages

In the time period that The Great Gatsby takes place; the values of a citizen of New York singly depended on the appearance of one another. The difference between West Egg and East Egg became more prominent as ‘old’ money and ‘new’ money. As a citizen of West Egg, Nick Carraway describes it as “the well less fashionable of the two” (14). This indicates that the location of where one lived was a key dictator of the appearance of a person living in the 1920’s. Gatsby was viewed as a less classy man and was classified as impure based on the fact that he lived in West Egg.

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1796 Words | 8 Pages

“In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars” (Fitzgerald 43). Gatsby was a true West Egg resident. West Egg was where all the “new money” inhabitants resided. Even though they were rich and had nice material belongings, their wild, party nature was nothing like the so called classy East Eggers. East Egg residents were born into their money so they had been raised with very high social standards in them.

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1373 Words | 6 Pages

Risk taking, ground breaking changes, and wild parties are all important aspects of the 1920’s. The massive parties that included dancing, alcohol, and a house full of strangers were so essential to this magical era that F. Scott fitzgerald made them a key element in his book, “The Great Gatsby.” These extravagant parties that Jay Gatsby was notorious for hosting, attracted strangers from all corners of New York to take part in these luxurious events. These parties were so popular and well known in the eastern New York area that they basically become Gatsby’s trademark. Upon hearing the name “Gatsby” guests did not visualize the face of a young man, but rather envisioned the wild parties he threw.

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1981 Words | 8 Pages

For Gatsby it was his passion to keep achieving more. When he became rich he just let anyone into his home to make himself feel like his success was brought him something, but at the same time he did not talk to any of them. The truth was though, that Gatsby held parties not to share his success or even to be around people; he held them just to wait for the only thing that would make him complete: Daisy. All he did was focus on Daisy who he felt was the only person that could bring him happiness, but it led him to being very absent from others’ lives. Nick was invited to a party at Gatsby’s house and when he arrived at his house he explains, “I made an attempt to find my host but the two or three people of whom I asked his whereabouts stared at me in such an amazed away and denied so vehemently any knowledge of his movements” (Fitzgerald 46).

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