The Great Gatsby
East Egg consists of
people such as Tom and Daisy Buchanan who have inherited their great wealth.
Representing the upper class of society, most of the inhabitants of this island
seem to lead immoral lives. Living in West Egg are people such as Gatsby
who have procured their great wealth status over their lifetime. Known
as the nouveaux riches, the residents of West Egg are often looked down
upon by the people of East Egg since the "West Eggers" do not hold the traditional
values of high-class people. These two islands signify the separation of
Gatsby and Daisy. Although Gatsby has attained great wealth, he will never
be able to capture Daisy's heart because of the invisible barrier of social class
that severs them, similar to the body of water that separates the East Egg from
the "less fashionable" West Egg.
Nick Carraway relocates
from the West, a place where moral values are upheld, to the East, a place of
meretricious values of wealth and social affairs. Moving to New York City,
Nick lands a small job in the stocks and bonds business. After living in
New York, people sacrifice their moral standards and turn to corruption.
For example, Nick becomes more dishonest than he was when he first left for the
big city. Furthermore, Nick, Gatsby, Tom, Daisy, and Jordan all migrated
from the west to the east, and in doing so, they desert most of the moral values
that they had acquired while living in the west. Making a permanent move
to the East symbolizes the complete loss of moral esteem in Tom, Daisy, and Jordan;
however, Nick, who will regain the moral standard that he had once lost while
living in the East, moves back to the Midwest after Gatsby's death.
As the sultry days
of summer produce discomfort and irritation to many, the concern of a love affair
between Gatsby and Daisy arises in Tom. Hoping to find refuge from the
blistering heat, Tom, Daisy, Gatsby, Nick, and Jordan flee to the Plaza Hotel.
The hotel suite that they occupy provides an neutral war ground for the
battle over Daisy's love between Tom and Gatsby. Towards the end of Tom's
confrontation, Gatsby discovers that Daisy was at some point in love with Tom.
Finally, Gatsby realizes that he has lost the war.
The physical
appearance of Gatsby's home represents the distasteful, pretentious display of
the newly rich. With shoots of climbing ivy creeping up the walls, a marble
swimming pool, and over forty acres of land, Nick describes the mansion as an
"imitation of some Hôtel de Ville in Normandy" (8). Gatsby uses his chateau
to impress Daisy.
Living in
a Georgian Colonial mansion portrays the eloquent style Tom and Daisy possess
because of their innate wealth. Decorated with majestic gardens and lengthy
brick walks, their home oversees the bay. The Buchanan home is where Nick
and Jordan Baker first meet. Also, after his encounter with Pammy at the
Buchanan household, Gatsby realizes that he cannot make the present similar to
the past when he and Daisy were first together.
Nick Carraway's
one-story, conservative house not only views the shore of the West Egg but also
locates him in the midst of the multimillion dollar mansions owned by the
nouveaux riches for only eighty dollars a month. Since Nick's home
neighbors Gatsby's, Nick and Gatsby form a close relationship. In addition,
Gatsby and Daisy are reunited in Nick's small bungalow.
The
Great Gastby covers a course of approximately half a year from spring to
autumn. Nick first arrives at West Egg in the spring. Later, as
the dog-days of summer become unbearably hot, so does the tension between Tom
and Gatsby. In fact, the climax occurs the day when Tom confronts Gatsby
in the Plaza
Hotel and when Daisy hits Myrtle with Gatsby's
car which is during the most scorching, most irritable day of the year.
In the end, the descending leaves and the changing of seasons from summer to autumn
signify the termination of Gatsby's dream of marrying Daisy and inevitably the
fall of Gatsby's life.
Page last updated April 19, 1999.
Curator: Aliza George
GREAT GATSBY HOME
