In the novel, The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald, the West Egg represents wealth and the dark side of the American Dream. It also represents the self-made part of America during the 1920s. The West Egg is home to Jay Gatsby, a self-made millionaire and the host of many extravagant parties. Gatsby's parties symbolize the excessive and fake nature of the 1920s, where wealth and status was more important than anything else. When Nick, the narrator, describes Gatsby's parties, he says “ People were not invited --- they went there” (Fitzgerald 34). 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.
Jay Gatsby is one of the major characters, he symbolizes the American dream; as he started small and became the Great Gatsby whose parties and wealth are a part of everyday gossip in East Egg. At first "his parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people—his imagination had never really accepted them as his parents at all" (The Great Gatsby 105). As for the Buchanans; Daisy was a spoiled rich girl who left Gatsby, at the end, for a more stable life with her husband and his money. " 'her voice is full of money ', he said suddenly" (The Great Gatsby 128), here Gatsby states that she is extremely wealthy that her voice was full of money, and throughout the novel, Fitzgerald praises her movements, her sweetness and tenderness.
West Egg represents new money. The people who live there have worked for their money. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby is a millionaire who lives in a luxurious mansion, next to his neighbor, Nick Carraway (the narrator), on West Egg. Gatsby earned his money through bootlegging and other suspicious means that are never quite brought up. Gatsby represents the hollowness of the wealthy by throwing lavish parties, obsessing over material possessions, and caring very little about other’s feelings.
(Fitzgerald, 140) Earlier on in the book, Gatsby had an extravagant party for basically anyone that heard about it. He wanted to be noteworthy, so he dressed up looking lavish. All the guests Gatsby invited partied hard and consumed an excessive amount of illegal alcohol. The party was very fancy and rich looking. According to the article, “The Demise of the 1920s American Dream in The Great Gatsby”, it notes that the guests wanted to be a part in the upper class which was the ideal American Dream for Gatsby.
East Egg is where people born into wealthy families live, while West Egg is home to those who acquired wealth. This indicates that the American Dream is not equal. Gatsby, who comes from a lower-class family, must do illegal activities to achieve
Despite Gatsby’s efforts of throwing big parties at his estate and living in an extravagant mansion, Daisy is not impressed and Gatsby’s fate leads him to a life without Daisy. Additionally, the parties Gatsby hosted “offended her — and inarguably, because it wasn’t a gesture but an emotion… appalled by its raw vigor that chafed under the old euphemisms and by the too obtrusive fate that herded its inhabitants along a short-cut from nothing to nothing” (Fitzgerald 83). Daisy is unimpressed due to her old money status of East Egg, which provides her with stability and security. While, the new money of West Egg is illustrated in a way that Daisy is
-Symbolism of East/West egg -The first chapter of The Great Gatsby introduces the two main settings for the novel's events: East and West egg .These opposite sides are the way of the author juxtaposing two different social classes : the old aristocracy and the new capitalists .These two geographical areas are symbols for the social and economic status ,and values of the people dwelling on them .On one side East egg ,where the Buchanans live, is home to people who are rich just because they belong to a certain family and by inheriting the money .Here social values ,prestige ,and etiquette are given a tremendous importance which puts its inhabitants under so much pressure , deprives them from their freedom of choice , and confines them
West Egg, according to Nick, a member of the new money class, is "the less fashionable of the two, though is a most superficial tag to express the bizarre and not a little sinister contrast between them” (Fitzgerald, chapter 1) By providing examples of how some individuals lived, The Great Gatsby uses imagery to further emphasize the idea of how class matters. Furthermore, imagery is used in Gatsby’s parties. The extravagant nature of Gatsby's parties. “Movement”, “bustle”, and “gaudiness” are the types of imagery that are employed to depict Gatsby's parties.
In The Great Gatsby, almost all of the characters are separated into West Egg and East Egg, symbolizing new money and old money, respectively. In spite of both sides being filled with the absurdly rich, many of the characters prefer East Egg and think of those residing in the West as inferior. When compared to the notorious Valley of Ashes, a land deemed inhabitable and depraved, West Egg is the epitome of luxury. The separation of different wealth and the poor seems to be an obvious jab at greed and classism, which is almost necessary when striving for the so-called ‘American dream’ Fitzgerald wrote about. Such a critique of capitalism overlaps with the concepts developed by Karl Marx and manifests themselves into the roles of the novel’s main
There was a division between financial classes, which can relate to East Egg and West Egg in The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald included jazz music in the novel by using it as background music for Gatsby’s parties. These parties had guests from both East and West Egg, which was a significant point. People who came from East Egg were typically born into wealth. West Egg consisted of new, wealthy people, who flashed their money for others to see.
By doing this Gatsby soon found himself near the top of American Society. He did not live in the illustrious East Egg but had a great house in the lesser West Egg. Gatsby threw many parties that the East Eggers had no problem enjoying. Gatsby pulled himself up from nothing and did it mainly to win the affection of Daisy. Gatsby and his Dream are doomed from the beginning as he used to be poor and Daisy cannot marry him based on the disparity of their original social standings.
West eggs wealth was considered more materialistic and also the American Dream. Daisy lived just across the bay on the east egg. the east egg society were more classy and not as flashy as the west egg. Although they were on opposite sides gatsby still longed for
The parties of west egg and east egg are very different by comparison. For example the parties in west egg are crazy and very full of life, while the parties in east egg are still a little crazy but has only a small group of people and is more private. In this quote from the book “At least once a fortnight a corps of caterers came down with several hundred feet of canvas and enough colored lights to make a Christmas tree of Gatsby’s enormous garden.” you can see that gatsby from west egg has very livful parties with a lot of lights and a ton of people. And from the quote “Myrtle decides to throw a party, and the apartment fills with people and social chatter.
The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald depicts two fictional places, East and West Egg, as well as the people who are a part of each society. East Egg represents people in the novel who are born into wealth, also known as old money, whereas the West Egg represents those who have earned their wealth, new money. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel follows the story of Jay Gatsby, a mysterious man from West Egg who throws over the top parties and flaunts his wealth through his material possessions, all to earn the heart of a past lover. F. Scott Fitzgerald contrasts “old money” and “new money” through the character of Jay Gatsby, emphasizing the differences in material possessions, lifestyles, and personal values. F. Scott Fitzgerald differentiates the materialistic possessions of those who live in East and West Egg to highlight the impact of wealth on each society.
In the Great Gatsby, the character Jay Gatsby shows off his abundant wealth through parties that he throws periodically, these are a result of excess consumerism. Through the character of Jay Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald shows how an excess consumerist approach to life can drive a person to rely on their material wealth to bring them happiness, this is done by showing off their affluence in often extreme ways to increase their name and status. The parties that Gatsby throws aren't meant to simply be a fun evening with friends, but have a deeper symbolic meaning. Due to his excess consumerist mindset, Gatsby’s parties are a statement of his wealth. They are a way in which he can show the life he has made for himself and get attention for it.
The East Egg is where people born into wealthy families live, while the West Egg is home to the nouveau riche. This geography emphasizes how some people are born into wealth, while others must work for it, and that the American Dream is not equally attainable for all. For example, Gatsby, who comes from a poor family, must engage in illegal activities to achieve his wealth, while Daisy, who comes from an old-money family, is born into her privilege. The novel shows how the American Dream is easier to achieve for those who are born into privilege, and harder for those who are not.