How the novelist uses more than one location to develop the central concern(s) of the text.
Line of Argument
The central concern of the unachievable nature of the American Dream is effectively conveyed through Fitzgerald's use of setting to expose the social class divide. Each location functions as a symbol of illusion, corruption, or exclusion.
West Egg
Illusion & imitation
East Egg
Exclusion & elitism
Valley of Ashes
Exploitation & decay
New York
Collision & collapse
West Egg — The Failed Imitation
Key idea: West Egg is a superficial copy of East Egg — its buildings and inhabitants attempt to mirror old money but can never achieve the same status.
"The less fashionable of the two… this is a most superficial tag to express the… sinister contrast between them."
Gatsby's parties stage over-ambition and shallow parasitism: "In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths" — blue evoking illusion and fantasy rather than authentic belonging.
The Fake Books
"It fooled me… What thoroughness! What realism! Knew when to stop too — didn't cut the pages." Symbolise the false façade of West Egg and the unachievable Dream.
Fitzgerald's Message
Gatsby is a symbol of America itself — authentic effort, but built entirely on illusion.
Gatsby's Decaying House — The Crumbling Dream
Dust Symbolism
"There was an inexplicable amount of dust everywhere" — the illusion breaks as Gatsby realises his dream is unattainable. Dust links West Egg to the Valley of Ashes: neither location can sustain the American Dream.
The Swimming Pool
A symbol of Gatsby's hope — and ultimately the site of his death. The Dream destroys those who pursue it most fervently.
East Egg — Old Money & Elitism
"White palaces of fashionable East Egg glittered across the water" — wealthier and more attractive; West Egg can only look across at it.
White Symbolism
A façade behind which characters like Tom and Daisy hide their moral emptiness. Wealth presents as purity — but conceals corruption.
The Green Light
"A single green light, minute and far away… a fresh green breast of the new world" — the original Dream was full of promise; Gatsby's version is reduced to something small, artificial, and out of reach.
Permanently an Outsider
Gatsby outside the Buchanans' mansion in Ch. 7 — regardless of his accumulated wealth, he remains forever excluded from genuine acceptance.
"I'll stay in the East, don't worry… I'd be a Gad damned fool to live anywhere else." — Tom Buchanan's shallow elitism; this is the true face of America.
The Valley of Ashes — Poverty & Corruption
"A fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges" — hard work produces nothing; the poor live in the waste products of the rich.
T. J. Eckleburg's Eyes
"…brood on over the solemn dumping ground" — a God-like figure watching over moral decay. Consumerism has replaced religion. Wilson connecting Eckleburg's eyes to God reveals the depths of desperation among those excluded from the Dream.
Colour Symbolism
Blue eyes = false hope. Yellowed = corruption and decay. Capitalism offers the Valley's people an empty promise.
Myrtle's Death
"It was a yellow car" — yellow = corruption; the car = wealth and status. Her death symbolises how the elite use up and discard the lower classes.
New York — Where the Classes Collide
The one space where social classes can meet — but the tension proves this mixing is unnatural and unsustainable.
Pathetic Fallacy
"The relentless beating heat was beginning to confuse me" — the oppressive atmosphere mirrors the impossibility of class equality.
Elite Violence
"Making a short deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand" — the elite assert dominance; Myrtle's only apparent escape route is also her oppressor.
The Dream Dies Here
"Mr Nobody from Nowhere" — snobbery exposes the Dream's lie. Gatsby's relationship with Daisy — the Dream itself — collapses in New York.
Conclusion — Setting as Symbol
Fitzgerald uses setting not merely as backdrop but as the primary vehicle for his critique of American society. Each location maps onto a distinct stage of the Dream's failure.
New York
Collapse — class collision destroys illusion
Valley of Ashes
Exploitation — the poor consumed by the rich
East Egg
Exclusion — old money remains impenetrable
West Egg
Imitation — authentic effort built on illusion
Great Gatsby Essay Plan: Setting, Symbolism & the American Dream