What Does West Egg Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, we see his ideals and beliefs take form in a 20th century community. The characters in the novel all are aspiring to capture the “American Dream” In the beginning of the book, we are introduced to our narrator Nick. Nick has just moved into the fictional town of West Egg on long island. Across the water, there is another town called East Egg, and these communities are separated based off of wealth and social status. West Egg is home to the people who have acquired wealth during their life, also known as “new money”. East egg is home to people who were born into wealth, which is also known as “old money”. The social hierarchy that is depicted in this community holds “old money” as more important

F. Scott Fitzgerald uses symbolism throughout the book with subtle hints that point towards waste in the American Dream. The best symbol the author uses is the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock. The color of the light at the end of the dot is green. We can infer that this is a reference to money, and how money is the American Dream. The reason that this indicates waste is because money is a fake sense of happiness. No matter how much money we as humans possess, we can never find contentment. This is the sad, but true reality that grips onto every person's mind in society at this time. In the novel Nick says ,“And as I sat there brooding on the old, unknown world, I thought of Gatsby's wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy's dock. He had come a long way to this blue lawn and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him, somewhere back in that vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the night.” (180). This quote shows symbolism because of the green light, and it incorporates the American Dream because of the reference to Gatsby’s dream. The green light can be seen as Gatsby looking off into the distance towards his lover Daisy, but it can also be depicted as wealth and money which he aspires to prove his social statues. He is insecure about what others think of him,

Imagery is used throughout the novel to show the waste in the American Dream. Decadence is shown in the book because of the lifestyle choices and values of these rich families of the 20th century. The characters in the book show immoral values, because of all of the cheating and gossiping that occurs throughout, and it seems like the characters that have affairs don’t have any concern for the people that they hurt. These lifestyles that the characters express are ones of crime, affairs, and materialistic greed. Traditional values are lost here in the societies in the book, and characters lack to take care of their moral obligations as well. Nick states, ““I wanted to get out and walk eastward toward the park through the soft twilight but each time I tried to go I became entangled in some wild strident argument which pulled me back, as if with ropes, into my chair. Yet high over the city our line of yellow windows must have contributed their share of human secrecy to the casual watcher in the darkening streets, and I was him too, looking up and wondering. I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.” (35). This quote shows the waste in the American Dream, because of the lack of recognizing the decline of morals. Nick obviously sees that there has been a problem in the morals of these people, but he doesn’t object to it, he seems to just accept it and move on. This