The importance of setting in The Great Gatsby
Where the story takes place is a major part of the setting. The setting has a tremendous affect on what happens in the story. Furthermore, the setting can do more than affect plot events. It can also establish the atmosphere, or mood of a story. And The Great Gatsby is an example of such a book which uses the setting effectively. The Great Gatsby is set on Long Island, in two areas known as "West Egg" and "East Egg". These settings in The Great Gatsby are specifically very significant because each of these locations is used to convey information about characters as well as the society in which the story takes place.
The East egg is considered to be the aristocracy of the social classes and home to the characters Tom and Daisy. East Egg is the location where the rich people who have inherited family money from previous generations meaning each family has prestige and rich predecessors. This type of money can be “old money” as it is passed through the generations and given to the new generations without effort or work. This aristocratic society has indulged in their money and material views that they have become immoral and superficial. And also, the image of the East Egg society is created as people of inconsideration and selfishness. Furthermore, Tom, a man of great wealth, lives in on an East Egg estate with his wife, Daisy, with whom Gatsby had once been involved and hopes to win back. They have both come from families who have been wealthy for generations and are considered as the ‘old money’ of society. In the East egg, they spend their lives manipulating people to meet their desires and care little about the collateral damage they leave behind. In short, The East Egg is an optimal literary setting mirroring the Eastern American society and the life of careless aristocrats.
The West Egg, on the other hand, is considered as the ‘new money’ of the upper class society and where Gatsby, main character of the story, lives. West Egg is where the newly rich live, bought or built extravagant houses to show off their newly acquired wealth that they earned. This can be called “new money”. Although those who live in the West Egg are super wealthy, they don’t have the high social status that the East Eggers have inherited with their money. However, people living in the West Egg would be considered as honest and hardworking people and retained their values. Jay Gatsby, the main character in the novel, is a man of great wealth who lives in West Egg. Gatsby didn’t grow up with money like Daisy but he acquired it. He owns a mansion and dresses well, but he lacks the background of an old and well established family. He is uneducated. Therefore, he doesn’t quite know how to handle his money or how to operate in his elevated social sphere. Gatsby often looks out longingly over the bay toward Daisy's house in East Egg and aspires to live in there. In brief, nothing but the West Egg represents well the Middle West society and the life of newly rich people with honest and hard working.
In ‘The Great Gatsby’, the settings are extremely important to help readers understand the story better. This is because each of these locations corresponds to a particular type of character encountered throughout the story and reflects the specific society where the story is set in. East and West Egg are the residential neighborhoods of the rich. While they both represent wealth, they are not at all the same; in fact, they represent two different kinds of wealth: East Egg where Tom and Daisy reside represents old wealth, aristocracy, and high social class while West Egg where Gatsby reside represents the new wealth, the quick and easy money earned unlawfully during the 1920's. Those places may have both pros and cons individually. And if you have an opportunity to choose either of those places, then where do you want to be born and live?
