The main character in the story, Nick Carraway, lives on Long Island in New York in the area known as West Egg. West Egg is a place where “newly” wealthy people live, such as the bootleggers, mobsters, and others that have not inherited or achieved traditional wealth through the usual means. Gatsby also lives on West Egg and wants to eventually move to East Egg with all the traditionally wealthy people. Nick moves from the Midwest of the US to West Egg for the summer. He cannot afford to live on East Egg but his house on West Egg is still surrounded by mansions, such as Gatsby’s house. The inhabitants of East Egg are most likely people who have inherited their wealth or gained it from the economic boom of the 1920’s. Tom and Daisy Buchanan live in East Egg and have carefree lifestyles and spend all day drinking and socializing with friends. Daisy is Nick’s cousin and Gatsby’s love interest. Gatsby central goal in the novel is to gain enough wealth and social standing that he can move to East Egg, convince Daisy to leave Tom and to marry him. Nick said this of Tom and Daisy in the end of the novel after Gatsby is killed and Tom and Daisy continue their lives as normal: “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy - they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money of their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made” (Fitzgerald). It shows how Nick feels about Tom and Daisy and why Nick eventually moves back to the Midwest when he finds out that Tom and Daisy really do not care about others but themselves. It also shows how money and wealth can make people self-centered and how they cannot see their impact on the world around them.
The disparities of wealth in this novel are shown by the extremely wealthy people that live on Long Island in East and West Egg, and the lower to middle class people that live in the Valley of Ashes or near it, most likely Queens, New York. The wealthy people of East and West Egg commute to the city on Manhattan Island for their business. The middle and lower class people that live in the Valley of Ashes usually work near their homes doing blue-collar and low-skilled jobs. George and Myrtle Wilson own a mechanic garage in the Valley of Ashes and we see how the wealthier characters interact with them mostly by using them for their own excitement. Tom and Myrtle have an affair throughout the novel and when Tom punches Myrtle in the face and when Daisy kills her in the end we see how much they really care about people who are socially below them. Nick notices that Tom and Daisy do not care about anyone but themselves and their money. Nick said this to Gatsby about them, “‘They are a rotten crowd,’ I shouted across the lawn. ‘You're worth the whole damn bunch put together.’ I've always been glad I said that. It was the only compliment I ever gave him, because I disapproved of him from beginning to end” (Fitzgerald). It shows that Nick even though disapproves of Gatsby’s lifestyle still treats him as a person.
Jay Gatsby has several alcohol-fueled parties at his house throughout the novel with many people in attendance. Nick said about Gatsby’s parties, “I believe that on the first night I went to Gatsby's house I was one of the few guests who had actually been invited. People were not invited - they went there” (Fitzgerald). We come to find out that most people who attend these parties have never seen or met Gatsby; they just spread rumors about him during these parties. The people who attend these parties are most likely upper-middle class or higher, but do not care about the nationwide prohibition. This shows how the upper classes during this period lived a life of ease and luxury without the worry of law enforcement or social sanctions. Most people at the parties suspect that Gatsby has all the alcohol and money because he has connections with or is a bootlegger, but no one seems to mind. This connection to bootleggers is probably the reason why Gatsby cannot make the jump up the social ladder and move to East Egg.
In conclusion, The Great Gatsby’s setting is very important to the story. The novel centers on the wealthier members of society and their luxurious and carefree attitudes from this wealth. Gatsby, Tom and Daisy are never mentioned in the novel to be at work or worrying about losing money because they are not working. They live a lifestyle, which is characterized by daily alcohol consumption, driving sports cars, driving to Manhattan Island for various reasons, or talking about their money while in their mansions. Nick is the only one in the story that shows remorse about Myrtle’s death and seems like the only one not living in a worry-free bubble. After Gatsby’s death only three people showed up to his funeral. It shows how many friends a suspected bootlegger really has and how many people really care about him and not his money and lavish parties.
Works Cited
Fitzgerald, Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1925
Shmoop Editorial Team. “Setting Analysis of The Great Gatsby.” Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 28 April 2011.
