Symbolism in the Great Gatsby Case

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2.5 West Egg and East Egg

"I lived at West Egg, the—well, the less fashionable of the two, though this is a most superficial tag to express the bizarre and not a little sinister contrast between them. My house was at the very tip of the egg, only fifty yards from the Sound, and squeezed between two huge places that rented for twelve or fifteen thousand a season."

West Egg, conversely, stands for the "new money", or, group of people have recently acquired a great sum of money and are trying to fit into the lifestyle of the rich and famous. They are not respected as equals by their counterparts on East Egg. This is home to Gatsby and Nick in the story. Nick rents a small cottage there for a modest price, while Gatsby has an enormous mansion for entertaining guests and attracting Daisy's attention.

"Across the courtesy bay the white palaces of fashionable East Egg glittered along the water."

East Egg stands for the established wealth accrued over generations, or, "old money." It is the home to Daisy and Tom Buchannan, and other very wealthy families of notoriety. The people who live here have been born into wealth, and have married into wealth. Before Daisy married Tom, she was not a poor girl by any means; in fact, both she and her best friend, Jordan, were aristocrats from Louisville before she married Tom and moved to New York.

Conclusion

Symbolism is commonly used in literature to change or deepen meanings or instill a different meaning to the mind of the readers. The Great Gatsby is filled with symbols and symbolism, which try to convey Fitzgerald’s idea to the reader. In short, symbolism greatly contributes to the success and popular of this novel. The symbols are uniquely involved in the plot of the story, which makes their implications more real.