From The Great Gatsby describe and analyze two or three specific physical settings - Essay Example

For example, according to Fitzgerald, Nick’s father runs a wholesale hardware dealing that has been in the family unit since fifty-one (10). It is palpable that living in the Midwest is not as exciting as that in the city, as exemplified by Nick’s decision to leave the Midwest and go to the city in search of business opportunities in the bond business. The bond business has attracted practically every age of Nick’s, thus the latter feels that life in the Midwest had become boring. The long island, versus the valley of ashes, versus New York City Lying on the Eastern side of North America, the New York in Fitzgerald’s work is also divided into three distinct geographical settings.

There is a distinction between the countryside, composed of the long island, the valley of ashes, and the city of New York. The countryside is characterized by a serene environment, where the rich go home to relax at the end of a long day, and where people like Gatsby enjoy hosting endless parties (Fitzgerald 37).The valley of ashes that separates the countryside from the city, however, is a different story. According to Fitzgerald the valley is a desolate area of land, occupied by hills and grotesque gardens and men working in ashy scenes (25).

One of the characters that serve to elucidate the hopelessness of the valley of ashes is Wilson, myrtle’s husband, who has worked and lived in a garage covered in ashes for ten years (Fitzgerald 34). This description denotes a small town occupied by the far less wealthy people whose source of livelihood is working with in an industrial wasteland, digging through the cement with leaden spades. In the city, life is characterized by fast moving cars, traders, people going for business meetings, and for others, such as Tom, the city was ideal for secret meetings with their lovers (Fitzgerald 28-29).

The East Egg versus the West Egg The use of the EastEgg and WestEgg residential areas in the text is also a great physical setting that contrasts the American social classes of the 1920s.Essentially, there are two distinct residential areas of New York that depict differences in social classes even among the rich. On one side, there is the EastEgg residential area, and on the other, the WestEgg residential area. Both residential areas are characterized by wealthy inhabitants who lead a relaxed life, only worrying about their socialstatus.

It is interesting to note that the inhabitants of both Eastand WestEgg have little value for other aspects of life, such as politics and education. For example, the inhabitants consider it inappropriate to wear a pink suit (Fitzgerald 100), yet they do not see the value of learning anything in school, so long as one gets a degree in the end. On the other hand, EastEgg is characterized by white palaces, for example, the white Georgian Colonial Mansion owned by Tom Buchanan (Fitzgerald 13). Living across the wealthier people of the EastEgg village, Nick notices how the latter lead more sophisticated lives than their counterparts on the West.

The people of EastEgg and those from WestEgg are not only separated by the water, but also by class and culture.Fitzgerald refers to WestEgg as less fashionable than EastEgg, for example, because his house, which he refers to as an eyesore, is squeezed between two big houses, one belonging to Gatsby