What Does West Egg Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

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F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, follows the struggles among characters living in Long Island, New York in 1922. The story centers around Jay Gatsby, a millionaire who is obsessed with his former lover, Daisy Buchanan. This obsession leads to scandal, heartbreak, and death. Fitzgerald deftly uses East and West Egg, the billboard, and the green light as symbols to advance his plot and quality of the novel. Fitzgerald begins the novel by introducing the narrator, Nick Carraway, a young man from the Midwest who travels to New York to learn the ways of a bondman. Nick is Gatsby’s neighbor and Daisy’s cousin, and cautiously assists their relationship. Nick and Gatsby live in the West Egg area of Long Island, while Daisy lives across the way in East Egg. Fitzgerald uses these neighborhoods to symbolize the differences between the newly and old rich. In the novel, Nick and Gatsby are both newly parevenus individuals who do not come from a rich family. Carraway is earning his way to wealth in the banking industry, while Gatsby received his wealth predominantly from bootlegging. On the other hand, Daisy and Tom, who live in East Egg, are from extremely wealthy families. Nick explains this situation in …show more content…

T.J. Eckleburg symbolizes an objective, moral observer. The billboard is in a central location and observes various significant events throughout the story, such as Tom meeting with Myrtle Wilson. “I followed him over a low whitewashed railroad fence and we walked back a hundred yards along the road under Doctor Eckleburg’s persistent stare.” (Fitzgerald 28). The eyes are disturbing and make the characters uncomfortable and consider their actions as the story progresses. After Myrtle dies, George Wilson speaks to the billboard like it is a higher power. “‘I told her she might fool me but she couldn’t fool God. I took her to the window…” (Fitzgerald 167). In this aspect, it acts as a god, and George looks to it for