Gatsby Stuff

In the beginning of Chapter 4 of The Great Gatsby, Nick describes the inhabitants of the East and West Egg. I think Nick's description of the people further develops the differences in social classes, "old money" and "new money". There is a significantly larger amount of people described living in West Egg compared to East Egg. In West Egg, people "[come] to gamble", are "connected with the movies in one way or another", considered "Dukes", get in fights, get "so drunk" that right hands get run over, and the list goes on (Fitzgerald 62). These people represent new money as they live the more lavish lifestyles and are portrayed as having such. They have the luxury to get drunk and basically do whatever they please. On the other hand, some people in East Egg look like goats, and some people's hairs are becoming white "for no good reason at all" (Fitzgerald 62). These people represent old money as they are quite literally becoming older now, shown by the white hairs. The distinction between the two classes is important because Fitzgerald is trying to emphasize the rivalry between the upper and upper-upper class. This theme recurs throughout the chapters we've read so far and is bound to come back in the later chapters. For example, in Chapter 1, Nick talks about his dad's advice where his dad says to not criticize others because of the "advantages" Nick has, describing the specific class differences between the lower and upper classes. Because this advice is even relevant, it implies that many others criticize others for their class differences.