Setting Of The Great Gatsby Essay Example

The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a book that takes place in New York City around the 1920’s, after  the Great War. The setting plays a significant role both in time and place. It establishes a perspective on the characters, society and the views of the American dream. East Egg is meant for people who have old money. It is for the people who have been in the upper class for generations, Tom and Daisy live there. The author refers to West egg as the less fashionable of the two and who have worked for their wealth in a short period of time, Jay Gatsby lives there. On the other side, people who live in East egg have old money. It represents people who were born rich and who are considered to be upper class. The Valley of Ashes is a very depressing area. It demonstrates the inequality between the residents. The Valley represents the failure of the dream everyone wishes for. The setting is important to our understanding of the novel and helps us identify the main characters and the key themes. 

East egg is known to have residents who are very greedy and selfish. They like the attention they get since they feel they are ahead of everyone else because they have “old money”. Tom and Daisy Buchanan live in the east and they have inherited their money from past generations which realistically makes them suitable for living in an American dream. Daisy represents the American dream because she is wealthy and an upper class woman. She is also married to Tom and he is very wealthy as well. Earlier in chapter 1 Nick insults Tom that he is a hard mouth and wastes his money living in the east but Tom finds his insult very insulting and says that he will remain in the east. Tom says “Oh, I'll stay in the East, don't you worry, 'he said glancing at Daisy and then back at me as if he were alert for something more. I'd be a God  damn fool to live anywhere else." (page 15) Tom knows that East egg is better than West egg and doesn't want to live anywhere else. East egg is home to people who are snobby and stuck up but it is more classy. Tom says " Everyone in West Egg is a bootlegger" (page 141) it just shows that Tom is very judgy when it comes to the people who are in the west. When people tell Tom that he gets “rich quick” it bothers him so he calls them bootleggers. This quote also shows that they don’t accept the new money and thinks that the only place to live is Eats egg because it is more superior. " Across the courtesy bay the white palaces of fashionable East egg glittered along the water" (page 1) this quote explains how much of an advantage and how perfect their life is in the East. Since Tom and Daisy lived in East egg they wore a lot of white to show their wealth and purity.