East Egg vs. West Egg

In the novel, The Great Gatsby, the division between West Egg and East Egg, is a division between the "newly" rich and "old" rich.

East Egg is a fasionable group of social elite, also know as "old money" or people who have always had money. Having lived in wealthy upper class for most of thier lives, Tom and Daisy represent East Egg. People from East Egg are shallow and lack values. They dont care about anyone but themselves and are very selfish. Jordan Baker is a good example of this, she is a proffesional golfer, and says that people should be careful when she is driving because she is a careless driver. The East Egg people are spoiled to the max and dont have good morals. People from the West Egg are constantly trying to copy and be like people from the East Egg.

West Eggers and the "newly" rich, they are people who worked hard for thier money and have become rich quite fast. Thier wealth is based on what they wear and the stuff they have. Gatsby is considered a west egger, because he became rich pretty quickly from his buisness dealings. Nick Carraway, the narrator of the novel, also lives in West Egg. Although both East and West are very rich and materialistic, West Egg has better morals and they arn't so selfish.

Selfish People

“I believe all suffering is caused by ignorance. People inflict pain on others in the selfish pursuit of their happiness or satisfaction. Yet true happiness comes from a sense of peace and contentment, which in turn must be achieved through the cultiv” -Dalai Lama

The Great Gatsby is set among wealthy, educated people, who have lots of leisure time, and they don't care about anybody else that don't meet their social standards. In this novel, nobody is concerned about politics or spiritual matters, everyone just cares about their social lives and what everybody thinks of them. Those in the middle class and below, envy those who are rich and have everything that they wish and don't have.

Jay Gatsby, the wealthy man in the novel, cannot fake education or social behaviors that only come with "old money." The novel's two main locales, West Egg and East Egg, are distinguished also by class. East Egg represents "old money" while West Egg represents the wealthy and very rich people. East Eggers consistently look down on West Eggers for precisely this fact. Class and wealth play a big part , but if a person lacks education, then he is clearly not part of the upper class people.

THE GREEN LIGHT

Throughout the novel, The Great Gatsby, "The green light" was mentioned many different times. The green light is a symbol for Gatsby's hopes and dreams for the future. It also represents his life and what he plans to do with it later on in life. In chapter one he compares the green light to daisy and in Chapter 1 he reaches toward it in the darkness as a guiding light to lead him to his goal. Nick compares the green light to how America, rising out of the ocean, must have looked to early settlers of the new nation, in chapter 9.

Jealousy!!!

Jealousy is simply and clearly the fear that you do not have value. Jealousy scans for evidence to prove the point - that others will be preferred and rewarded more than you. There is only one alternative - self-value. If you cannot love yourself, you will not believe that you are loved. You will always think it's a mistake or luck. Take your eyes off others and turn the scanner within. Find the seeds of your jealousy, clear the old voices and experiences. Put all the energy into building your personal and emotional security. Then you will be the one others envy, and you can remember the pain and reach out to them. ~Jennifer James

In The Great Gatsby there are many times that jealousy gets the best of someone. A good example of jealousy in this novel is between Tom and Daisy. The love each other, but sometimes they let jealousy come between them. For example, when Daisy repeatedly says the name of a woman whom she believes Tom loves out loud, Tom punches her in the nose. This happened to daisy because she was jealous and believed Tom loved someone else.

The Great Gatsby film versions

This third film version of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic 1925 novel was one of the most hyped movies of the summer of 1974. Robert Redford stars as self-made millionaire Jay Gatsby, who uses his vast fortune to buy his way into Long Island society. (AMG productions)

Most of all, Gatsby wants to win back the love of socialite Daisy Buchanan (Mia Farrow), now married to "old money" Tom Buchanan (Bruce Dern). Calmly observing the passing parade is Nick Carraway (Sam Waterston), Gatsby's best friend, who narrates the film. Francis Ford Coppola's screenplay is meticulously faithful to the original novel, but Theoni V. Aldredge costume design and Nelson Riddle's nostalgic musical score won the film its only Oscars. The huge supporting cast includes Howard Da Silva, who played Wilson in the 1949 Great Gatsby, and a very young Patsy Kensit as Daisy's daughter. (AMG productions)

The difference between the film and the book is vast! When watching the film you can distinguish the different emotions greater than reading it. But, when reading the novel one can pin point figurative language and understand the deaper meaning of the story itself.

The in's and out's of the 1920's

The 1920's were known as the "roaring twenties!! Bills being passed, rights being given to those who did'nt have them, and history being made in sports.

For example "World News" such as, women sufferage and the passing of the 19th Amendment, which granted sufferage to women. Females also advanced in the work force as more women began to get hired for office jobs. They also gained several rights and a free lifestyle.

In the 20's the world experienced several revolutions in areas such as music and new scientific discoveries. Things like hair being cut shorter, fashion changing drastically (dresses becoming alot more shorter or covering)

Now the Sports became much more popular in this time as well. School teams had been created and allowed at public schools. Sports were also becoming much more accessible to the middle and lower class such as golf.

The Main Man "F. Scott Fitzgerald"

The structure of The Great Gatsby is extraordinary because of Fitzgerald’s brilliant manipulation of what is called the partially, or partly involved, narrator, Nick. Usually the narrator of the novel, if there’s a narrator, it’s the hero. . . But as in the work of Joseph Conrad, which I think Fitzgerald learned a great deal from, the narrator of The Great Gatsby is a minor character, but he’s there to document what happens. There is no scene at which Nick is not present. When Nick has to tell us something about Gatsby’s past, he tells us when Gatsby told it to him, the occasion, the circumstances under which Gatsby told it to him. The structure, the organization of The Great Gatsby is virtually perfect. There are some chronological glitches—sometimes he’s off a couple of days or a week. If you take the whole novel apart and you put a chart on the wall, which I’ve done, there are too many things in the space of one summer.
(The Big Read Blog)

Prohibition of the 1920's

During Prohibition, the manufacture, transportation, import, export, and sale of alcohilic drinks were illegal.
The goals of the 18th Amendment enabling Prohibition were:

• lower crime and corruption
• reduce social problems
• lower taxes needed to support prisons and poorhouses
• improve health and hygiene in America

Prohibition officially started on January 16, 1920 and only lasted until 1933 when it got over ruled by the Federal Constitution.

Though this did pass many people still had to have that erge to drink, so alcoholic drinks were still available at "speakeasies" which were underground establishments. Many people also had private bars to serve their guests.

Prohibition was also a big influence for organized crime in order to take over "bootlegging" which was manufacturing, and distributing of alcoholic drinks.

Al Capone, a Mafia/ Gangster was one of the most famous bootleggers of them all!!! He made so much money off of bootlegging he practically built his entire criminal empire with the money.

In 1933 the 21st Amendment overruled the 18th Amendment and made it legal for some states to sell, manufacture, and transport alcohol. Finally in 1966 all states had fully repealed their Prohibition Laws.

Mafia/Gangsters

The Mafia is a society of people known for the evil things that they do. It is believed that the Mafia emerged in the late 19th century. The Mafia is basically a loose association of criminal groups that share a common code of conduct. Each group see each other as family, and usually have to do something dreadful to be officially part of the group.

In November 2007 Sicilian police reported to have found a list of "Ten Commandments" in the hideout of mafia boss Salvatore Lo Piccolo. They are thought to be guidelines on how to be a good, respectful and honourable mafioso.

1. No one can present himself directly to another of our friends. There must be a third person to do it.
2. Never look at the wives of friends.
3. Never be seen with cops.
4. Don't go to pubs and clubs.
5. Always being available for Cosa Nostra is a duty - even if your wife is about to give birth.
6. Appointments must absolutely be respected.
7. Wives must be treated with respect.
8. When asked for any information, the answer must be the truth.
9. Money cannot be appropriated if it belongs to others or to other families.
10. People who can't be part of Cosa Nostra: anyone who has a close relative in the police, anyone with a two-timing relative in the family, anyone who behaves badly and doesn't hold to moral values.

Flappers

The term Flapper originated in Great Britain. The name stuck, and throughout the United States and Europe flapper was the name given to liberated young women. Flappers were bold, confident, and sexy.They were young women who wore short skirts, bobbed their hair, listened to jazz. They were known for being impulsive for wearing way too much makeup, drinking, smoking, and treating sex like it was no big deal. Flappers would attend jazz night clubs where they would dance provocatively, sniff cocaine, and drank alcohol openly. After World War II, the stock market crash of 1929 brought the Flapper era to a sudden end.