Why Is Home Important In The Great Gatsby

Jay Gatsby views wealth as an image of success. Through Dan Cody, Gatsby learned the key on how to become financially wealthy and the inner workings of how to get there. He “taught Gatsby about wealth, about the accoutrements of money and how to enjoy them”, which greatly influenced Gatsby’s future decisions. Cody taught Gatsby “how to acquire prosperity” and how to handle it (James Nagel 117), which helps to elicit to the reader how he was very boastful and he was known for squandering his earnings and inheritance on parties, rather than investing in his future. Gatsby feels a sense of inferiority to his friends, Daisy and Tom whom live over in East Egg, the wealthier side of Long Island. When he hosts his parties, he is under the impression that he

However, to be part of the American dream, and the right social class it was almost impossible to create a perfect 'glittering surface ' that would make you a part of this materialistic society. Gatsby, constantly working on his 'glittering surface ' to become a part of this society, tries to perfect the elements of his American dream, which included financial success, material acquisitions, proper self-image, and social status. The most fashionable financial situation is "old money", meaning that you have been born into a large wealth and therefore do not need to work to support yourself. Tom and Daisy are in this classification, along with the rest of fashionable East Egg. Daisy was born into a life of wealth and privilege in Louisville and has no reason to trouble herself in anything involving the slightest bit of work. This almost makes it seem as her life is void of meaning, "What 'll we do with ourselves this afternoon?" cried Daisy, "and the day after that, and the next thirty years?" Gatsby, on the other hand is the complete contrast of this. He is in the less fashionable, but certainly tolerable "new money" situation of West Egg. He has worked to acquire his wealth , even if he has done it through illegal means, "A lot of these newly rich people are just big bootleggers, you know." He has built up a great wealth from nothing, as he was born into a common life, with nothing but a dream, or an

Gatsby’s stubbornness to rekindle his past love causes his to spiral out of control. He would constantly try to put his needs aside in order to fulfill hers. Gatsby is blind to the fact that Daisy does not have the same feelings towards him. Daisy was only going with Gatsby in order to get back at Tom for having multiple affairs. Gatsby is still not in the same social circle because Daisy is a part of West Egg, which is old money; inherited money, while Gatsby is a part of East Egg, which is new money. This naivety from Gatsby causes him to be blatantly unaware of everything that is happening around him. “Gatsby, just like the brand new monstrosity he inhabits, is ‘flashy’: he wears pink suits, gaudy shirts, and drives an extravagant Rolls Royce. Despite all of their obvious wealth, the nouveau riche are imposters—cheap materialistic imitations of the American Dream. They can never possess the Buchanans's old-wealth taste, epitomized by their "cheerful red and white Georgian Colonial mansion, overlooking the bay" (4). On Long Island, aristocratic grace and elegance cannot be purchased, only inherited. Try as they may, the inhabitants of West Egg will never be able to acquire true opulence. Daisy Buchanan's white roadster and "spotless" flowing gowns,

Those islands are East and West Egg. East Egg is for wealthy who have had money in their families for generations. West Egg is for the wealthy who have recently come into money; West Egg is “the less fashionable of the two.” (Fitzgerald 5) Gatsby’s mansion is on West Egg across the bay from Daisy. Jordan tells Nick, "Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay." (Fitzgerald 78) Gatsby's parties and mansion are constructed so Daisy will be closer than she was before. It may look like he's living for the moment, with his flashy parties and careless wealth, but he's actually stuck in the past. Gatsby’s wildest dreams come true when Daisy comes to his house. While she is there Gatsby tells her, “If it wasn’t for the mist we could see your home just across the bay.” He made his fantasies reality, and that distance between the two, was no more. The doubts Gatsby had about the “distance that had separated him from Daisy...diminished by one.” (Fitzgerald 93) Now that Daisy is there a piece of the puzzle finally falls into place as Gatsby is in the past. But the piece that is now in his past, came and took an opportunity from his

Summary- In Chapter 1, the reader finds that Nick Carraway, a moral and tolerant man from the Midwest, narrates and takes the role of author for the rest of the story. Throughout the book, the reader looks at the happenings through Nick's eyes and finds out what he is thinking. Chapter 1, like many chapter 1's, starts out with someone or something explaining themselves and showing how their life has gone thus far. The Great Gatsby is no exception. Nick says that he came from the Midwest to New York's "West Egg" on Long Island. As the name might imply, there is also an "East Egg", which Nick describes the more fashionable of the two. East Egg is where Nick goes one evening, in order to reacquaint himself

There are two types of people, those who are consumed by money and those that have a decaying amount. Both of those types of people crave more and more, both reside in either of the two contrasting peninsulas, East Egg and West Egg. The two headlands have numerous amounts of variance with each other in the novel, The Great Gatsby. Written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the narrative is set during the 1920’s in New York City, as well as Long Island, and the two peninsulas dubbed “East Egg” and “West Egg.” There is a striking contrast between the two regions, however, not as many similarities. East Egg represents people who are vulgar and crude, who are also the social elite and old money, while West Egg represents good social values and new money. Nonetheless, both areas are equally dissatisfied with their life, always wanting more and more.

In the Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald creates a division between the East egg who are inheritably rich and the West Egg, who are newly rich and have worked for their money. Although they are both wealthy cities, there are many differences portrayed throughout the book. The East Egg snobbishly rejects the West Egg since it lacks traditional social conventions they have always lived. The two cities are used to emphasize the character development in the story and show the struggle of Gatsby trying to be with someone from a different class structure.

As a society, America has created certain ideas and stereotypes of each class including the citizens within them. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald focuses around the superficial communities of West and East Egg, and their misconceptions of one another. The citizens of East Egg, such as Daisy and Tom Buchanan, frown upon the up-and-coming men of West Egg. This includes Gatsby, who dreams of the riches they take for granted. Gatsby, who obtains his money through dishonest means appears villainous, unsuccessfully attempting to join the wealthy and elite society of East egg. However, there may be more to Gatsby's story. As Nick, the narrator, says he is “worth the whole damn bunch put together”(154). Through his descriptions and comparison of Tom’s house and Gatsby’s house, Fitzgerald reveals the true nature of the two men. While Gatsby appears to be morally corrupt, in the end he actually has pure intentions, instead it is Tom who emits negativity and is ungrateful for his life.

Jay Gatsby is a self-made man, he turned himself from a farm boy to one of the richest men in America at the time and bought himself a beautiful mansion on West Egg, Long Island with the other new millionaires. In contrast to the newly rich, there are those who have inherited their wealth from family before them such as Tom and Daisy Buchanan. These people were lucky to be born into their lives and reside on East Egg along with other family’s with “old money”. Readers come to easily

Our homes are the reflection of the people we are, or that we try to be. Authors can use a character’s home to indirectly characterize their social position, lifestyle and personality. This is clearly shown in the novel “The Great Gatsby”, which depicts the early 1920s, which were famous for the strength of the economy and the strive for a higher social status. F. Scott Fitzgerald developed his main characters by describing their homes. Gatsby’s “new money” is shown off by the appearance of his home and his huge parties. The Buchanans’ home flaunts their wealth. Nick, on the other hand, has a small house that seems misplaced next to the two mansions between which it sits.

One of the major topics explored in The Great Gatsby is the sociology of wealth, specifically, how the newly minted millionaires of the 1920s differ from and relate to the old aristocracy of the country’s richest families. In the novel, West Egg and its denizens represent the newly rich, while East Egg and its denizens, especially Daisy and Tom, represent the old aristocracy. Fitzgerald portrays the newly rich as being vulgar, gaudy, ostentatious, and lacking in social graces and taste. Gatsby, for example, lives in a monstrously ornate mansion, wears a pink suit, drives a Rolls-Royce,

West Eggers are the newly rich; the people who have worked hard and earned their money in a short period of time. Their wealth is epitomized on material possessions. Gatsby, like the West Eggers, lacks the traditions of the East Eggers. He is considered 'new money', in the sense that his wealth came to him more recently through his own success. Although Gatsby is now a part of this class, his faith and belief in the success of his dreams has allowed him to preserve some morality. Nick Carraway, the narrator of the novel, lives in West Egg and exhibits honesty in this place of superficiality. Clearly the West is able to preserve some ethics while the East is not able to grasp any. Although West Egg is the more moral, it is still a place of superficiality and materialism.

Going from poor, living on a farm to living in a palace is a big step. Gatsby makes everyone believe that he inherited his money. If the rich people in East Egg were to know that he didn’t then they would look down on him because he wasn’t born rich. That’s the difference between the two. West Egg is new money, while East Egg is old money. When Daisy first goes over his house, Nick and Gatsby are looking at his house and he says: “‘It took me just three years earn the money that bought it!’ ‘I thought you inherited your money.’ ‘I did old sport ,’ he said automatically, ‘but I lost most of it in the big panic --- the panic of the war’”(90). At this moment Gatsby accidentally slips up and states his truth. He proceeds to try to cover up his lie but he’s stuttering and Nick already knows that he’s lying. Just before that Gatsby and Nick were speaking and Gatsby proceeds to ask Nick if he would be interested in any work he can do to make extra money, “I carry on a little business on the side… and you might pick up a nice bit of money. It happens to be rather confidential sort of thing”(82-83). Gatsby is implying that he has a private business that only certain people know about. One can infer that his business isn’t legal either. If it was, it wouldn’t need to be private. He got into this business with Meyer Wolfsheim before he got rich. He was bootlegging, selling alcohol to people that wanted it. He got his money in a short time, with an outcome of him becoming very wealthy. So, it doesn’t matter how he got it, he still got it and he is still just as wealthy as everyone else there. Maybe even

The west eggers on the other hand would do anything to be looked at as equal as their foes. The whole idea that inherited money meant more then earned money was more important then if you even had money at all. Tom, when realizing the lust that Gatsby and daisy were hiding for each other, was angrier at the fact that she would associate let along long to be with someone from the "west egg". This whole notion of the expectations that the East eggers had for the wealthy and rich society of New York were constantly strived toward by the west eggers driving some, such as Gatsby mad with greed and corrupting both societies from the inside out. Gatsby constantly strived to lead a rich and glamorous life to impress people like the long time wealthy such as daisy, corrupting him form a young age which he carried throughout his whole life.

Another theme in The Great Gatsby is one that is very evident throughout the novel. It is the conflict between the new wealthy class of self-made men and the "old rich." This is most noticeable in the physical separation between them. The new rich live in West Egg and the old rich live in East Egg. The new rich people are not yet acclimated to being upstanding citizens so they are not well connected in the social world, not to mention their incredibly ostentatious nature. In Gatsby's situation, he lives in a huge, repulsively tacky gothic mansion and he throws wild, lavish parties that could be better classified as raves. Daisy and Tom, who represent the old rich, are very refined, tasteful, and very well-mannered. However, the old rich also have come to rely on their money as a defense against trouble (either that they have caused or become victim of). This is exhibited very well when Daisy and Tom simply move away instead of going to Gatsby's funeral. Gatsby, on the other hand, is extremely loyal to his friends