The Great Gatsby
Significance and Use of Setting
East Egg and West Egg are the peninsulas of Long Island and where the main characters live. In real life the peninsulas are not referred to by these names, but Fitzgerald saw them as egg shaped. East Egg is the place where the "old money" lives. The East Eggers are the aristocrats...
The West Eggers are the "new money" that the East Eggers resent. They are all lower and middle class people who have found themselves with outrageous amounts of money, and as a result spend it in an outrageous manner.
...[T]these geographical divisions occur on Long Island today though with different names. West Egg is known now as the Great Neck, and East Egg is commonly known as Manhasset Neck. As far as we can tell, the terms East Egg and West Egg were made up by Fitzgerald and completely fictitious. Jutting into the Long Island sound, the "Eggs" are located on the eastern part of the island.
In The Great Gatsby, action is divided between the East and West Egg, but Long Island as a whole is divided into East and West Long Island.
Gatsby Reading Schedule: (Read actively, paying special attention to imagery and motifs)
4/25: The Great Gatsby, ch 1-2
4/28: The Great Gatsby, ch 3-4 *quiz?!
4/29: The Great Gatsby, ch 5-6
4/30: The Great Gatsby, ch 7
5/1: The Great Gatsby, ch 8-9
5/2: The Great Gatsby, Lively Discussion
4/28: The Great Gatsby, ch 3-4 *quiz?!
4/29: The Great Gatsby, ch 5-6
4/30: The Great Gatsby, ch 7
5/1: The Great Gatsby, ch 8-9
5/2: The Great Gatsby, Lively Discussion
