West Egg

E69056

West Egg is the fictional, nouveau-riche Long Island community in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s *The Great Gatsby*, contrasted with the more aristocratic East Egg.

Aliases (1)

Statements (47)
Predicate Object
instanceOf fictional place
fictional town
literary location
appearsIn The Great Gatsby
coastTypeInFiction North Shore of Long Island
contrastedWith East Egg
countryInFiction United States
createdBy F. Scott Fitzgerald
describedAs populated by self-made men
vulgar and ostentatious in architecture
firstPublishedIn 1925
hasAdaptationSettingIn film adaptations of The Great Gatsby
hasFictionalGeographicFeature Gatsby’s waterfront lawn
proximity to the Valley of Ashes
view of East Egg across the bay
inhabitantInFiction Jay Gatsby
Myrtle Wilson
Nick Carraway
inspiredBy Great Neck, Long Island NERFINISHED
languageOfWork English
literaryMovementContext Lost Generation
literarySignificance canonical symbol of American class divisions
locatedInFictional Long Island
medium novel
narrativeFunction contrast to old-money aristocracy
symbol of materialism
symbol of social mobility
neighborOfFictional East Egg
partOfFictionalRegion the Eggs
representedAs cruder and gaudier than East Egg
less fashionable of the two Eggs
settingFor Gatsby’s mansion
Gatsby’s parties
Nick Carraway’s rented house
socialClassAssociation new money
nouveau riche
symbolizes aspiration and excess
new wealth without social pedigree
social insecurity
themeRelation American Dream
class division
illusion versus reality
social stratification
timePeriodInFiction Jazz Age
Roaring Twenties
workGenreContext American novel
Modernist literature


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