Late PROMPT REVISION

1991. Many plays and novels use contrasting places (for example, two countries, two cities or towns, two houses, or the land and the sea) to represent opposed forces or ideas that are central to the meaning of the work. Choose a novel or play that contrasts two such places. Write an essay explaining how the places differ, what each place represents, and how their contrast contributes to the meaning of the work.

    

     A contrast between two places is significantly evident in F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, The Great Gatsby. The characters in this novel are settled either in East or West egg which represent two distinct forces. East Egg is established with individuals who are wealthy from the roots, while the West Egg is known as "new money", a place that attracts un-original wealthy people, people who desire to be like the East Egg. Fitzgerald uses two distinct towns to represent opposing wealth, attitude, and status which contribute to the flow of Jay Gatsby's ambition to become wealthy and win his first love, Daisy Buchanan, back.

Fitzgerald represents the East Egg and West Egg as two different classes of social status and wealth. This is shown when despite Gatsby's lie to Daisy about his prosperous family, she gives up waiting for him  and chooses to marry Tom, a wealthy man from East Egg because East Egg has been home to the elites and upper class. As mentioned before, the East Egg is referred as the old money. When Gatsby throws lavishing consistent parties at his mansion in hopes to attract Daisy; people in the East Egg don't make their way to his party. It takes Nick and Jordan to persuade Daisy and Tom to visit the West. It becomes clear that not only does Fitzgerald incorporate status into locations but also the time period. This is also supported when Tom and Daisy are absorbed to the past traditions and aristocratic values of East and refuse to change unlike Gatsby and Nick.

On the other hand, West Egg is consisted with lower/middle class people who made their own fortune and money without being born with it. The people from the West are new to this wealth and they look up to the stable social standings of the East. This sparks Gatsby to work and reinvent himself to get Daisy back; he settles in the West across the bay from Daisy's home. While these two cities symbolize the difference in society, Fitzgerald uses the West to represent the new present, opposing the old money.  In comparison to Daisy and Tom who are fixed in the past, Nick and Gatsby who live in the West are ready to change and reform. They live in present time and work for the future.

Throughout The Great Gatsby, readers are able to see the difference in wealth, status, and attitude between the East and the West Egg. Fitzgerald creates Tension between the two contrasting places  to represent opposing ideas to the plot. In doing so, the story not only gets interesting, but it connects to past American history and literature. The way Fitzgerald portrayed the West in comparison to the East showed the opportunities provided in both places. It's obvious to see that Gatsby followed the American Dream towards the West to seek fortune. The divided setting of the novel contributes to the symbolic meaning and theme of Fitzgerald's story as a whole.

I took into account of Chris, Julia, and Alison's suggestions. Although I dislike the new structure of the essay, I tried to separate the East and West into two separate paragraphs for less confusion as asked by Alison and Julia. I agreed that missing a thesis creates an unclear point throughout the writing as a whole. I inserted a old-fashioned three point thesis for clarity. I still like my first draft better; maybe it's easier to comprehend for me because I wrote it myself ...