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Summary:
The contrast between West and East egg first appears in the novel when Nick addresses the notable difference between his house and Gatsby's mansion. This symbol continuously appears when a person living in either west or east egg differs or has a conflict with another person that lives in the opposite village. This symbol is perhaps the most notable throughout the novel because it serves as the premise for every conflict that arises within The Great Gatbsy. The actions and motives behind each character in the novel derive from the village that they come from.
“I lived at West Egg, the well– less fashionable of the two, though this is a most superficial tag to express the bizarre and not a little sinister contrast between them” (Fitzgerald 5).
"The one on my right was a colossal affair by any standard -- it was a factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool, and more than forty acres of lawn and garden. It was Gatsby's mansion" (Fitzgerald 7).
"'Daisy! Daisy! Daisy! … I'll say it whenever I want to! Daisy! Dai––' Making a short deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand" (Fitzgerald 37).
"Or perhaps I had merely grown used to it, grown to accept West Egg as a world complete in itself, with its own standards and its own great figures, second to nothing becuase it had no consciousness of being so, and now I was looking at it again, through Daisy's eyes" (Fitzgerald 104).
Analysis:
Throughout The Great Gatsby, West Egg and East Egg are brought up in a literal sense of setting, providing context as to the location and residence of many characters. However, because West Egg and East Egg are home to two different kinds of money, and as a result people, these two places become symbols of people's wealth and status amidst the whole novel. The West Egg is full of new money, and people who were not born into wealth which can also be a representation of people who are trying to create a new life for themselves. The East Egg, on the other hand, is old money, people who didn't have to work hard to be in the place they are in now. Their money has been inherited from family and they don't have to work to gain respect, as respect comes with money that has history and a name behind it. The West Egg is also a way to show freedom along with fresh starts because there is no name behind the money to uphold. This allows people to be themselves and to feel as if the "rules" of society aren't as strict. With this sense of freedom, many people think of West Egg as less proper, a place where people don't take things as seriously as a more traditional household would in East Egg.
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