The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald
With close reference to the novel, discuss FOUR (4) main physical settings of the story. Relate the
setting to the social aspects of the time period in which the story was written. With reference to the
setting discussed, write an analysis of what each setting symbolizes as represented by the characters
in the story.
Your essay should be about 1,500 words in length and should be supported by direct references to the
text.
Due date: 31 Jan 2021
The Great Gatsby is a novel written by an American author, F. Scott Fitzgerald. The
novel is set in and around New York in the 1920s, in the wake of World war I, at an era known
as the Jazz Era. In this era, legislation was the order of the day, but many people defied the
law and fought hard. This story is narrated by Nick Carraway who comes from a wealthy family
but chooses to be independent and moved to New York to work. In this novel, the author uses
the four-element theory which is air, earth, fire and water was derived from Empedocles, a
Greek philosopher to describe the settings and the characterisation of each character that
correlated with the settings (The Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 1967). There are four settings
in this novel which are West Egg (water), East Egg (air), New York City (fire), and the valley of
ashes (earth). These physical settings symbolise the different social status of the characters.
The first setting in The Great Gatsby is West Egg. The author uses water imagery to
describe West Egg, Jay Gatsby’s characterization and Gatsby’s mansions and gardens. In this
novel, West Egg represents new money people like Gatsby. It is a place for those who are not
born rich and people who worked for their own fortune to have a wealthy life. Jay Gatsby lives
in West Egg and he did not really make his money in an honest way, indeed. He made it by
bootlegging alcohol which during the time in this book, it was illegal due to the prohibition of
alcohol. He also received a lot of money from fake goods. Gatsby always held parties so that
he could get a glance of Daisy, a former lover who married Tom Buchanan, a wealthy man in
East Egg. His illegal alcohol filled these parties, and therefore his parties were such a great hit.
His party guests were a “sea-change of faces” with a round of cocktails to “float”. (p. 26). The
“sea-change of faces” refers to the swift change of people and the new arrival of guests, as
Gatsby's party proceeds and the cocktails are served to everyone.
Gatsby himself is portrayed through the imagery of water. From the beginning to the
end of his life, everything is correlated with water. When he was 17, Gatsby or his real name
“James Gatz” worked on Lake Superior as a clam digger and salmon fisher. A wealthy copper
mogul known as Dan Cody, thanked Gatz for saving his life and took him as his personal
assistant. Cody’s yacht represents all the beauty and glamor in the world (p. 64). This moment
on the water is when Gatz was reborn into Gatsby, making the water as a symbol of rebirth.
From that moment, his whole life changed, he was no longer a farmer’s son and able to create
his own life. Gatsby thought that wealth can buy all his dreams specially to win over Daisy, his
lost love about five years ago. Gatsby told Tom that his wife, Daisy, does not love him. “She’s
only married you because I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me” (p. 86). In his
hopeless effort to regain his lost love, Gatsby is portrayed as a boat sailing toward a green
light against the current of time. The green light on Daisy’s dock is a symbol of his dream that
was separated by a Long Island. Nick relates that “he didn’t live in a house at all, but in a boat
that looked like a house and was moved secretly up and down the Long Island shore” (p. 63).
Gatsby finally died on his air mattress in his swimming pool while waiting for a call from Daisy.
He died in a horrible end to the dream that he built in his whole life. He was reborn on water
and also died on water.
The second physical setting is East Egg, which is the region opposite from West Egg.
The imagery of air plays an important part, as it is used to describe East Egg at the opening of
the chapter. As Nick arrives at the Buchanan’s mansion, his observation described the living
room as “two young women were buoyed up as though upon an anchored balloon” “both in
white and their dresses were rippling and fluttering” “blown back in after a short flight around
the house” (p.6). Words like ‘buoyed’ and ‘fluttering’ give a sense that Daisy is floating, free
from making any decisions and commitments in her life. The reason for this is because people
from East Egg have more freedom and power to do things without any physical restraint,
making their lives much more enjoyable based on social and economic privileges.
The social aspects between West Egg and East Egg have a huge difference, as money
plays a major role in the novel. It is also emphasized that the source of someone’s wealth
separates them. The people from East Egg are the rich upper-class elites, representing old
money in America. Fitzgerald made it clear that Tom and Daisy’s wealth is superior compared
to Gatsby. Gatsby was involved in a bootlegging business and amassed his wealth, hosting
extravagant parties with “gins and liquors” (p. 25) while Tom and Daisy were highly educated.
Tom did not have to work as he inherited his fortune, categorizing them into the leisure class.
Those from East Egg contrast from West Egg, as they have a better sense of style, a more
relaxing and freer lifestyle compared to residents from West Egg.
The East Egg symbolizes corruption and carelessness of the old money, accompanied
with their arrogance towards those who are deemed as lesser from them. During the time of
roaring twenties, the U.S. government banned the sale and production of alcohol, thus
creating a black market that allowed Gatsby and his partner to do their bootlegging business.
As their wealth accumulated, this triggered anxiety among the upper-class elites which are
represented by Tom Buchanan’s quote as he accused Gatsby as a bootlegger and wants to
investigate about the source of money, "He and this Wolfshiem bought up a lot of side-street
drug stores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter.” “I picked him for a
bootlegger the first time I saw him and I wasn't far wrong." (p. 87). As a result, people from
East Egg demonstrate their superiority by looking down on those from West Egg, which is
seen as Tom said that Gatsby is unworthy to join them for the dinner party hosted by the
Sloanes, "My God, I believe the man's coming," said Tom. "Doesn't he know she doesn't want
him?" (p. 65). This setting shows that the old money, who are the residents of East Egg choose
to preserve their wealth and prestige accumulated only for their families, which are
represented by Tom and Daisy Buchanan.
In contrast with West Egg which has water imagery, New York has its own heat or fire
imagery. This element usually correlated with hatred, anger, and confusion. New York is also
a symbol of immorality and carelessness involving drinking, sex scandals and criminal
activities by Gatsby. In the novel, Gatsby and Nick have lunch with Tom, Daisy and Jordan at
Tom’s mansion. The actual plan is Gatsby wants to tell Tom about his relationship with Daisy
and for Daisy to leave Tom. He was contemplating about Daisy's request “would I come to
lunch at her house tomorrow?” (p. 73). During the lunch, all of them have some
conversations, and suddenly, Daisy insists that all of them should go to the town. After she
makes the suggestions, she and Gatsby have a little conversation and from that Tom realizes
that both of them are having an affair. "Come on!" His temper cracks a little. "What's the
matter, anyhow? If we're going to town let's start." (p. 77). That makes Tom angry, but he
hides it by agreeing that all of them should go to New York.
In the oppressive New York City heat, they decide to go to Plaza Hotel. The situation
becomes “hotter” when Tom begins to make Gatsby angry. Tom accuses Gatsby of lying about
attending Oxford. Then, he asks Gatsby about his intentions for Daisy, and Gatsby replies
"your wife doesn't love you," said Gatsby. "She's never loved you. She loves me." (p. 86).
Gatsby begins to tell everything about him and Daisy in the past. Unfortunately, Tom accuses
Gatsby of running a bootlegging, an illegal alcohol business. Those accusations in front of
Daisy embarrassed Gatsby because Tom unveils his weaknesses. Based on the social setting
of this place, the heat of New York acts as a catalyst in the middle of the confusion between
three characters, Tom, Gatsby and Daisy in revealing their true personalities. "Oh, you want
too much!" she cried to Gatsby. "I love you now--isn't that enough? I can't help what's past."
She began to sob helplessly. (p. 87). The heat also makes Daisy realize that her flirtation with
Gatsby is really just a fancy, and her true personality is materialistic. She needs to forsake her
love towards Gatsby because she knows that only Tom is able to give her the wealth and
security.
The final setting is the valley of ashes, which is a depressing industrial neighbourhood
area in Queens, midway between West Egg and Manhattan. This valley resonates with the
earth element, as its surroundings is full of dust, ground, and land. Moreover, this ashen
desert is described by Nick as a "waste land," "a solemn dumping ground," the grey land and
the spasms of bleak dust" (p. 15) due to the grey, dull background accompanied with smokechoked environment caused by the factories nearby. This place is next to the train tracks and
roads that connect West Egg with Manhattan, and George Wilson who owns his garage there
(p.15). George’s wife is Myrtle Wilson, Tom Buchanan’s lover.
Based on the social social setting of this place, the valley of ashes is for the lowermiddle working class, created as a place to dump industrial waste from East and West Egg.
This symbolises poverty, a place for people who failed to survive from the ruthless world of
capitalism in the East Coast, which forced them to live in the bleak, heavily polluted area. This
situation has divided the poor from the rich society at that time. These people are
represented by George Wilson, who suffered from his unfortunate situation and struggled to
make a better living. On the other hand, this place became a strategic meeting point for the
rich upper-class people from West and East Egg. Nick and Tom took a train to the valley of
ashes as Tom wanted Nick to meet his mistress there, Myrtle Wilson (p.15). While the East
and West Egg are the place for extravagance of the old and new money people, the valley of
ashes reveals the darker side that surrounds glamour, where grime situations and
manipulations happen all the time.
In conclusion, the four physical settings which are West Egg, East Egg, New York, and the
valley of ashes are important and can be related to the four theory of elements; East Egg is
related with air, West Egg is related with water, New York city is related with fire, while the
valley of ashes is related with earth. The physical settings play a major role in describing the
characters in different social aspects. The imagery of these four elements are incorporated by
Fitzgerald to distinguish the settings in the novel, and each element is essential as it helps
readers to understand the novel better.
REFERENCES
Edwards, H. (2020, January 13). Best Character Analysis: Tom Buchanan - The Great Gatsby.
PrepScholar. https://blog.prepscholar.com/tom-buchanan-great-gatsby-character-analysisquotes
Fitzgerald, F. S. 1. (1986). The great Gatsby. 1stScribner classic/Collier ed. New York: Collier
Books.
Hawkins, John Philip, "Fitzgerald's Use of the Four Elements in The Great Gatsby" (1979).
Masters Theses. 3151. Retrieved from https://thekeep.eiu.edu/theses/3151
LiteraryDevices Editors. (2019, November 26). The Great Gatsby Symbolism with Analysis.
Literary Devices. https://literarydevices.net/the-great-gatsby-symbolism/
Millena, A. (2016, February 25). The twenties as a gilded age in Gatsby. A Novel View of US
History. https://muse.union.edu/hst226-wi16/the-twenties-as-a-gilded-age-in-gatsby/
Pruitt, S. (2018, November 16). 8 Ways “The Great Gatsby” Captured the Roaring Twenties—
and Its Dark Side. HISTORY. https://www.history.com/news/great-gatsby-roaring-twentiesfitzgerald-dark-side
The Great Gatsby Setting. (n.d.). Shmoop. https://www.shmoop.com/studyguides/literature/great-gatsby/analysis/setting
The Great Gatsby: Setting | SparkNotes. (n.d.). SparkNotes.
https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/gatsby/setting/
The Great Gatsby: Symbols | SparkNotes. (n.d.). SparkNotes.
https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/gatsby/symbols/
Wulick, A. (2018, November 4). Everything You Need to Know About The Great Gatsby
Setting. PrepScholar. https://blog.prepscholar.com/the-great-gatsby-setting
Wulick, A. (2020, January 13). Best Analysis: Valley of Ashes in The Great Gatsby.
PrepScholar. https://blog.prepscholar.com/the-great-gatsby-valley-of-ashes-symbol