What Does West Egg Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses West Egg and East Egg as a symbol for class systems to reveal the differences between the two social classes. The difference between the two social classes are vast. East Egg refers to whom came into wealth. West Egg refers to whom carried down wealth from traditional upper-class families. During the 20th century, East Egg residents were more prestigious. “Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone,” he told me, “just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages you had (Fitzgerald 1).” Many wealthy people were born into wealth. Some wealthy are born poor but had to earn their way up. “And I hope she’ll be a fool - that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool(Fitzgerald 30).” Women who were housewives in the 1920s didn’t get as much respect as Men did (BBC 7). “An Oxford man!” He was incredulous. “Like hell he is! He wears a pink suit (Fitzgerald 110).”

Eckleburg. Since the billboard is placed in a poor area that has no hope of good health, the true meaning of the eyes of T.J. Eckleburg can be interpreted as the symbol for the eyes of god, the god of the spoiled American dream that encourages people to forget about everyone else and everything else and just focus on their “dream” to be super rich. The only image that represents the God are the eyes of Dr. J. L. Eckleburg that are looking at everyone from the billboard advertising glasses. These eyes serve as a symbol of hope for the wretched people of the valley of ashes who aspire to become wealthy with the progress of the “American Dream”. These previously hopeless people of the valley, instead of looking up to the sky for god’s light, would only be met with the gaze coming from this deity on the billboard. The eyes allude to being the eyes of god of the material world because they, just like the eyes of most gods of religions, are all seeing. This omnipotent aspect is evident throughout the novel and one of the events is when George Wilson recalls his last moments with Myrtle before she died, he ends his recollection saying, “Standing behind him, Michaelis saw with a shock that he was looking at the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg, which had just emerged, pale and enormous, from the dissolving night”. The eyes are, without any

People generally get to live their lives normally, as in, their normal. As humans, We all adapt to our own lives while it is completely different from one another’s. Just like in the novel, characters are living a different life compared to those across the body of water, when it comes to old money and new money, the characters mannerism and their social setting to live the American dream differ. A vast contrast can be easily identified between East Egg and West Egg in the novel. The Great Gatsby written by, F. Scott Fitzgerald as characters are living for the same dream in different life situations.

Symbolism is the use of symbols to supply things with a representative meaning or to represent something abstract by an existing object. In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, colours are used to symbolize a person’s inner thoughts and feelings. Colours, such as green, white are used to find ones true feelings; while others use colours to hide their true persona. Colour symbolism is used to convey a deeper message to the readers and help us understand the characters true colours.

The Valley of Ashes setting in The Great Gatsby represents the theme of the extreme difference in social classes in New York during the early 1900’s. The ideology that the Great Gatsby is only filled with liveliness and wealth is wrong. There is whole other side of the wealth spectrum that nobody cares about. The difference in materialistic items from the two places was incredible but it was in the “... a factual imitation of some Hôtel de Ville in Normandy,...”(Fitzgerald 5). that was the main factor. The level of houses in West Egg was beyond extravagant; they were magnificent. This compared to the buildings in the Valley of Ashes, was like missing a free throw twenty yards wide. The quality of the Valley of Ashes was like having “... a small block of yellow brick sitting on the edge of a wasteland,...”(Fitzgerald 24). The quality difference is too intense to be true, yet it is. The money of wealth of one person, except Nick, can buy all the homes in Valley of Ashes. Just by the type of homes there are, it is like it is a whole other world.

"Never has symbolism played such a crucial part in the very foundation of a novel as it does in Scott Fitzgerald's masterpiece, The Great Gatsby." Harold Bloom has written about this book. The author used several types of symbolism in The Great Gatsby. The colours are probably the easiest to be recognized and guessed what they symbolized. According to the definition “symbolism” is "the practice of representing things by means of symbols or of attributing symbolic meanings or significance to objects, events, or relationships."

F. Scott Fitzgerald manages to define, praise, and condemn what is known as the American Dream in his most successful novel, The Great Gatsby. The novel is set in 1922, and it depicts the American Dream--and its demise--through the use of literary devices and symbols. While the theme of the diminishing American Dream in the movie is portrayed through the use of color/lighting and various camera angles to capture the class difference that occurs between the citizens from the Valley of Ashes and East/West Egg.

In the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and some of the symbols that were in the story was the green light that was between the East Egg and the West Egg. The green light was at Gatsby's house and that represents the love between Gatsby and Daisy. Daisy was living at the other side and you could see the light from that far away. The two characters that are associated with the symbol are Daisy and Gatsby they are in love with each other. Also, it represents Gatsby's hopes and dreams for the future. One of the quotes that are used is that Involuntarily i glanced seaward and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and faraway that might have been the end of a dock(Pg. 22).

The locations of East Egg, West Egg, show the differences between old and new money, and how each can exemplify the American Dream. Fitzgerald used the atmosphere to represent more than just a location, but add a deeper meaning to the novel and make it “seem longer than its length of fifty thousand words”(“The Great Gatsby”). Fitzgerald uses the settings to represent something, adding significance to the places visited in the novel. By making the two locations of West and East Egg, Fitzgerald indicates that there is a significant difference between the two of these, “not just in style but in what might be called moral geography, between the East and West people”(Bruccoli.) The location of New York’s East Egg, the more wealthy and fashionable

. . . High in a white palace the king's daughter, the golden girl...” Ch. 7. Daisy marries and stays with Tom because of the lifestyle he can provide her, Myrtle has her affair with Tom due to the privileged world it grants her access to, and Gatsby even lusts after Daisy as if she is a prize to be won.This all relates back to money and materialism and how they have valued more than other things that should be held at high importance. And some that is God. The Billboard is there in the first place as advertisement, that right there is a sigh of materialism. That someone's needed those opticals simply to “make life better or easier.” But, The real reason that there is no moral or ethical underlining to the lives of these characters in that their world is based on a greedy, money-based notion of success. Even the object that is the closest thing to a religious figure is in reality trying to compel those who see it to buy something and make someone else richer. Now to explain the how the eyes of T.J Eckleburg relates to the Valley of Ashes. “Then the valley of ashes opened out on both sides of us, and I had a glimpse of Mrs. Wilson straining at the garage pump with panting vitality as we went by” .Ch. 4 Pg: 43-54 The billboard of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg is located in the middle of the valley of ashes, right next to Wilson’s garage. The Valley of Ashes reveals the huge gulf between the poor and the rich, so the eyes stare at the devastation that capitalism has created. This also contributes to how Wilson views the billboard in how it watched over the devastation of what occurs beneath

The scene was before Daisy discovered her love for both Tom and Gatsby, and before Jordan found out about Gatsby’s love for Daisy. It represents them both in a blissful, carefree world where they are not burdened by knowledge. Gatsby’s yellow car represents a sense of falseness and corruption. His car mirrors his overall façade of his life, as Gatsby is trying to obtain a life he does not own to begin with. He even attempts to hide is original background with stories of being well-educated and well supported (the narrator catches him “hurry[ing] the phrase ‘educated at Oxford,’ or swallowed it or choked on it as though it had bothered him before” (69)).

With the Valley of Ashes, Nick wants the reader to feel the change in locations from the wealthy East Egg to the poor Valley of Ashes. The Valley of Ashes is decaying and empty a describes one of the buildings as, “a small block of yellow brick sitting on the edge of a waste land, a sort of compact Main Street ministering to it, and contiguous to absolutely nothing” (Fitzgerald 24). When Nick describes New York, he describes it as, “so warm and soft, almost pastoral” (Fitzgerald 28). This makes New York seem like a peaceful and relaxing place. However, Nick also describes Tom and Myrtle’s apartment in New York. The description of the apartment holds an overall different vibe from the description of New York. The apartment consisted of “a small

The valley of ashes lies in the middle area of West Egg and New York, which is formed by dumping industrial waste. It stands for the social and moral corruption. Wilson “a blonde, spiritless man” lives in his bare garage. His home symbolizes what he is, a mechanic, and is located in his valley of ashes overlooked by the eyes of Dr. Eckleburg. His wife is Tom’s mistress. He is the under-class in this society, who is bound to be looked down upon by the riches. And the valley of ashes symbolizes the barren in people’s mental and society.

According to yahoo education, symbolism is one of the literary elements featured in the novel, The Great Gatsby. To understand why symbolism is important one needs a definition of symbolism. According to yahoo education,

To start there is a sign in the heart of the Valley of Ashes with which shows the eyes of T.J. Eckleburg. Fitzgerald directly describes is here. "The eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg are blue and gigantic—their retinas are one yard high. They look out of no face but, instead, from a pair of enormous yellow spectacles which pass over a nonexistent nose (27). Although it may seem like an everyday billboard the sign holds a much deeper meaning. Characters such as Gatsby and Tom are somewhat afraid when looking at it. The eyes of Mr. Eckleburg are even referred to the eyes of God by Mr. Wilson. The eyes seem to be constantly watching the main characters and making them second guess