Examples Of Homes In The Great Gatsby

The extravagant and embellished homes depicted in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald all illustrate the novel’s main characters. The novel captures themes such as the American dream, dissatisfaction, social class, and love. Some of these themes are portrayed through the homes of the main characters. Fitzgerald represents the social class, personality, lifestyle, and the hidden intentions of the main characters through the homes of Nick Carraway, Tom and Daisy Buchanan, and Jay Gatsby. Nick Carraway is a simplistic, observant, and down to earth man, he is honest and many characters find him easy to confide in. Although he is of the upper class, he works for his money and is studying to become a bondman. His home reflects this, it is modest and easily dwarfed by the mammoth homes that surround him on West Egg. In the novel, Nick describes his home when he says, “My own house was an eye-sore, but it was a small eye-sore and it had been overlooked…” (22). The way Nick’s home is forgotten when sat next to the grandiose castles that surround him reflects how he is often overlooked when surrounded by all of the rich and interesting characters in the novel, allowing him to bear witness to their activities. Overall Nick Carraway’s small cottage on West Egg speaks to his

Their home is extremely traditional in its architecture and decoration and is filled with antiques. Its style represents the notion of old money, similarly to how East Egg does. Despite all of the extravagance, the home is temporary and feels staged, identical to their lives and loveless marriage. Nick describes their home when he says, “Their house was even more elaborate than I had expected, a cheerful red and white Georgian colonial mansion overlooking the bay.” (23). It is obvious that Daisy and Tom’s ostentatious home represents their traditional and wealthy