TheGGatsby: East Egg Vs. West Egg

East Egg and West Egg are the two main locations and setting in the Great Gatsby. They are both located in Long Island, New York. They both symbolize two different social classes and also two very different areas in life. Geographically, these two areas are separated by the valley of ashes, but metaphorically, it is separated by the two different social levels in the Great Gatsby. East Egg and the West Egg represent the wealth of the people that live there, and the point of how they managed to earn or have all those riches. Also, these two places stand for the separation and isolation between all the characters in the story. It is where people envy each other and desire all the materialistic things in life that are not even worth it.

East Egg is also known as "old money" in the Great Gatsby. This is where all the aristocratic, wealthy people live because they either inherited their wealth and got it passed down from generation to generation. People who live here did not have to work for their money or try to earn all their wealth some other way, because they were "naturally" wealthy already. They thought they were superior and higher than the West Egg people and were more sophisticated because they were already rich. Also, they believe that the "new money" were less sophisticated than them and are at a lower level. Dealing with the West Egg people is like taboo to them because West Eggers are "not fit to be wealthy" The character that live in the East Egg that represent it best would be Tom Buchanan.

West Egg is known as "new money" in the Great Gatsby. The people who live here had to work and earned all their wealth and riches. Because of that, they extravagantly spent all their money on such things like mansions, cars, and clothes. They were disregarded by the East Egg people because they were referred to as a lower level in society. A good example of characters in the West Egg is Jay Gatsby and Meyer Wolfsheim. They both earned all their money through bootlegging, which is illegal selling of alcohol in the 1920's. With that business, Gatsby was able to throw all his luxurious and extravagant parties at his house most of the time. These people try to live up to the name of the East Egg people, but they can never really match up to them and try to even reach them. In the eyes of the East Egg, West Egg will always be below their level and status in life.