West Egg In The Great Gatsby

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Recommended: American dream in literature

Many forms of literature portray conflicting or contrasting areas in which each place has a significant impact on the story. These opposing forces add to the overall theme, symbolism and meaning of the story. In the ‘Great Gatsby’, by F. Scott Fitzgerald these areas are the ‘East Egg’ and the ‘West Egg’. To illustrate the East Egg represents the former or classic establishment. It consists of wealthy families who have handed down money from generation to generation. However the West egg includes money or fortunes that recently have been acquired. The West Egg sets the standard of the American Dream theme; working hard to become successful. Notably, the Great Gatsby reveals characters that come from both areas and impact the story and other locations.
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Scott Fitzgerald portrays the East Egg as being more corrupt than West Egg. For instance, the Buchanans who ‘married into money’;while they perceive others as beneath their standards. Likewise, residents of East Egg feel that they are more qualified to be wealthy, and believe that the people of West Egg do not deserve the accumulation of wealth due to the fact that they did not inherit money. Namely, Nick’s quote supports this idea when he said “East Egg condescending to West Egg , and carefully on guard against its spectroscopic gayety” (Fitzgerald 49). Considering this, when reading the story Nick returns to West Egg. Nick is attempting to create an identity or title for himself at West Egg because it is the only opportunity to advance wealth. In contrast, East Egg solely is for wealth through heredity instead of progressionConsequently, while the East Egg and West Egg have significant differences in terms of type of wealth, progression or heredity, both areas have a negative impact on the Valley of Ashes. Particularly, The Valley of Ashes represents the impoverished and absolute hopelessness. As seen in this quote “ This is the valley of ashes-a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat in ridges and

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