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What Does West Egg Represent In The Great Gatsby

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Archetypal Lens of The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby uses the settings of East Egg and West Egg to symbolize the different levels of social status. The superior East Egg consists of people who were born into money, while the people of the less fashionable West Egg worked for their money (Fitzgerald 5-6). The division of the upper class through the symbols of the East Egg and West Egg suggests an archetypal reading of the novel. The East and West Egg are islands to the east of New York that are shaped like massive eggs. These strange land formations are shaped identically and only separated by a bay (Fitzgerald 5). The only difference between them is the type of people living there. East Egg is a symbolic place where those who were born into …show more content…

Tom and Daisy Buchanan live in East Egg in an elaborate Georgian Colonial mansion (Fitzgerald 6). “The lawn started at the beach and ran toward the front door for a quarter of a mile, jumping over sun-dials and brick walls and burning gardens-finally when it reached the house drifting up the side in bright vines as though from the momentum of its run”(Fitzgerald 6). The Buchanans are a great example of a greedy couple who show off their wealth and believe that money can do anything. Daisy was in love with Gatsby before she married Tom, but Gatsby is poor and would not impress her parents (Fitzgerald 76). Daisy only marries Tom because of his wealth and reputation. Tom spends his money in bold ways that he knew would impress Daisy, who simply cares about possessions. “He came down with a hundred people in four private cars, and hired a whole floor of the Seelbach Hotel, and the day before the wedding he gave her a string of pearls valued at three hundred and fifty thousand dollars” (Fitzgerald 76). When Daisy goes to Gatsby’s house, she views his house and shirt collection and begins …show more content…

Nick says that West Egg isn’t as glamorous as East Egg, even though they are almost identical. “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” (Fitzgerald 5). The people of East Egg believe the residents of West Egg are below them and view them as unintelligent (Fitzgerald 102-103). Jay Gatsby and Nick Carraway are neighbors who live on the West Egg (Fitzgerald 5). Gatsby’s house is just across the bay from Daisy’s house, which is the reason he bought it (Fitzgerald 78). Gatsby has a massive mansion and holds large parties in an attempt to get Daisy to come to his house (Fitzgerald 78). “... It was a factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool, and more than forty acres of lawn and garden”(Fitzgerald 5). Even with all of his money, Gatsby still lives on West Egg and will never be enough to satisfy Daisy’s hunger for

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The next major symbols in The Great Gatsby are the East and West Egg, and the differences between them. Nick and Gatsby live in West Egg. It is not as luxurious as East Egg, Nick describes it as, “the less fashionable of the two, though this is a most superficial tag to express the bizarre and not little sinister contrast between them” (14). West Egg seems as though it is for the families and people who are newly wealthy, Gatsby for example, or young, as Nick has moved into a small house, with the “consoling proximity of millionaires - all for eighty dollars a month” (14). When comparing West Egg to East Egg, the reader is able to see what each island symbolizes, which helps to create depth in the novel.

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The Great Gatsby The book The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, takes place in the Long Island and New York City in the Early 1920s. The city was divided into West egg that represents new money, and East egg that represents old money. The most significant theme in this book is love and desire. The young character Nick Carraway met Gatsby, who had a crush on Daisy.

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“It evokes not only the ambiance of the Jazz age search for the American dream of wealth and happiness, but also the larger questions of fading traditional values in the face of fading traditional values in the face of increasing materialism and cynicism” (Povlovski2). Throughout his life Gatsby lives his life, from wealth to his love for Daisy, blinded by his dream. “He has a blind hope in the abilities of life-he trusts money can buy him Daisy’s love” (123HelpMe1). By Gatsby believing money can buy Daisy’s love; it shows a lack of morals in himself. The extravagance of his parties, house, clothes, and cars is a way of him trying to win Daisy through his wealth.

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Gatsby desired to be with Daisy and to win her love. After everything he has done for her he hopes she would choose him over any other rich and respected man, including her husband Tom Buchanan. The novel, " The Great Gatsby," by F. Scott Fitzerald, explains that Gatsby 's destiny is to be with Daisy, but does not end up happening because he dies before his dream can become true. Although, Gatsby becomes wealthy for Daisy, he also goes to Nick's house for tea and to see Daisy, Gatsby eventually man's up and invites both Daisy and Nick over to his mansion. Even though Gatsby became wealthy, he bought a mansion just across the bay to be close to the love of his dreams.

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The Great Gatsby Essay F. Scott Fitzgerald was a famous author who wrote the book, The Great Gatsby. His purpose in writing this book was to show the differences between old and new money. Old money meaning people being born into wealthy lifestyles and new money meaning people who were not born with money but gained a lot of wealth. These were separated by two areas called west egg and east egg. This book gives sort of an exclusive look into the luxury and glamour that people think is the life of a person with a high amount of wealth.

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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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Is there always a difference between the East/ New York and the West ? In some places, there is usually difference between the wealthy and the poor. Also, there tends to be a change in religion or race. Well, in the novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott. Fitzgerald, there is slightly a difference between the East and the Midwest.

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