The Great Gatsby Setting Analysis

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a timeless novel set in the 1920’s about a man named Jay Gatsby who lives merely to grow closer to an old flame, Daisy Buchanan. Fitzgerald uses different settings and descriptions of settings in this story that cause them to impact other elements such as the plot, theme, and characters. The settings of Gatsby’s house in proximity to Daisy’s, the Valley of Ashes, and the state of New York are all settings in the story that dictate the types of symbols, and allusions that are used in the story. Jay Gatsby lives in a mansion that is across the lake from Daisy Buchanan. He specifically lives in this house so that he can see the green light on her dock. “‘Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay’” (chapter 4). This impulse that Gatsby has, gives us an insight on his character. "Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us” (chapter 9). Gatsby’s belief in this green light, was

Gatsby’s mansion is strategically across the bay from Daisy’s so he can see her green light and so that maybe when she sees his parties, that she will be inclined to visit. His house in proximity to Daisy’s affects the plot and the characters while dictating a motif used in the story: parties. The desolation of the valley of ashes is nothing more than the fact that not everyone is as rich and wealthy as Gatsby and the Buchanan’s while alluding the plight of the poor. The plotline is mainly set in East Egg and West Egg, New York. New York in The Great Gatsby is the most important setting to recognize because it is representing moral decay and social values and mainly affects the plot and the characters. Fitzgerald uses each of these settings to impact other elements such as the plot, theme, and characters while dictating the types of symbols and allusions that are used in this