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The Great Spaces and Places of Gatsby

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Jonathan Lamkin
Jonathan Lamkin

The document summarizes the key locations in F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby. It discusses four main spaces: West Egg, East Egg, the Valley of Ashes, and Manhattan. West Egg is described as less fashionable and includes Nick's empty cottage and Gatsby's large but sparsely furnished mansion. East Egg contains Buchanan's lavishly decorated home. The Valley of Ashes is a lowly, empty area containing Wilson's bare garage. Manhattan is depicted as bright and lively, exemplified by the crowded opulence of Tom's apartment. The spaces reflect and influence the personalities of the characters that inhabit them.

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THE GREAT SPACES AND PLACES OF GATSBY Jonathan Lamkin Patrick Partain Konkol ENGL 1102
Geographical Location of the Great Gatsby
THESIS The Great Gatsby takes place in 1920s New York and the area on the north side of Long Island. Throughout the novel, the characters move to different spaces and places within this area. The four main spaces that are seen in the novel are East and West Egg, the Valley of Ashes, and in the urban city itself. These spaces can be seen as different locations where the story takes place; essentially, they are sub-settings in the book. These spaces are kept consistent in their descriptions as Nick recalls his memories of moving East.
West Egg
Nicks Cottage Gatsbys Home
GATSBYS MANSION East and West Egg are the two major suburban spaces where the majority of the novel takes place. West Egg is described as the less fashionable of the two, although this is more of a generic opinion as the two sides are somewhat clashing social rivals (5). The spaces in West Egg are Nicks cottage and Gatsbys mansion; the two are very contrasting in appearance, size, and decoration. Gatsby lives on this side of the eggs because he does not yet see himself as successful enough to live on East Egg although he has a colossal affair by any standard (5). His house is a factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool, and more than forty acres of lawn and garden (5).
NICKS COTTAGE Nicks cottage on the other hand is more revealing of the opinion of West Egg, and is described having Finnish tread that shook the kitchen floor and having a deserted living room with a defunct clock on the mantelpiece (84). The spaces here on West Egg are much emptier and less furnished which reflects the personalities of the characters that live there.
East Egg
Buchanans Home
BUCHANANS MANISON The only space involved in the novel on East Egg is at Tom Buchanans house. Toms house is much like Gatsbys on the outside, but seems to be much more decorated with nice furniture on the inside. The main difference between the two eggs can be seen as the space involved on the interior of the homes. As seen before, Nicks and Gatsbys homes are very empty on the inside, even at Gatsbys parties the house is empty with all the visitors being outside. Toms house on the other hand is described as being even more elaborate than expected, with a cheerful red-and-white Georgian Colonial mansion, overlooking the bay (6).
CONTINUED When Nick first enters the Buchanans he walks through a high hallway into a bright rosy-colored space, fragilely bound into the house by French windows at either end (8). This description is contrasting with that of West Egg and is made to be more vivacious and bright.
Valley of Ashes
Wilsons Garage
WILSONS GARAGE The valley of ashes is one of the major spaces where actions take place in the novel. The valley of ashes is certainly the lowliest in the social class of the four spaces. The valley is seen as very empty with very few things going on in it. A fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air (23). The only building there was divided up into three parcels with only two being currently occupied. This is where Wilsons garage is located and its interior space is described as unprosperous and bare (25).
Manhattan
Toms Penthouse
TOMS APARTMENT The urban city in this novel is somewhat paralleled to East Egg such that it is always nice weather and very bright in addition to having many similar qualities in their interior spaces. Nicks first experience of the city is very positive and he describes the city as being so warm and soft, almost pastoral (28). Toms apartment greatly reflects his lifestyle of the suburbs and is brought into the city, described as being like a smaller version of his home. The living room was crowded to the doors with a set of tapestried furniture entirely too large for it, so that to move about was to stumble continually over scenes of ladies swinging in the gardens of Versailles (29). The space here is clearly more claustrophobic than the suburbs which is typical of urban settings, but is also greatly furnished like the space in his home on East Egg.
West Egg Manhattan East Egg Valley of Ashes
CONCLUSION In The Great Gatsby the four places can be seen as a two sets of contrasting spaces such that the city and valley of ashes are one pair and the other being East and West Egg. Between the city and the valley, the city is the bright, exuberant space and the valley is the dark, empty space. This contrast is similar to the pair of East and West Egg where East Egg is the lively, extravagantly filled up space and West Egg is the empty, less lavish space all of which reflects the different personalities of the characters in each space.
WORKS CITED Fitzgerald, F. Scott, and Matthew J. Bruccoli. The Great Gatsby. New York, NY: Scribner, 1996. Print.

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The Great Spaces and Places of Gatsby

  • 1. THE GREAT SPACES AND PLACES OF GATSBY Jonathan Lamkin Patrick Partain Konkol ENGL 1102
  • 3. THESIS The Great Gatsby takes place in 1920s New York and the area on the north side of Long Island. Throughout the novel, the characters move to different spaces and places within this area. The four main spaces that are seen in the novel are East and West Egg, the Valley of Ashes, and in the urban city itself. These spaces can be seen as different locations where the story takes place; essentially, they are sub-settings in the book. These spaces are kept consistent in their descriptions as Nick recalls his memories of moving East.
  • 6. GATSBYS MANSION East and West Egg are the two major suburban spaces where the majority of the novel takes place. West Egg is described as the less fashionable of the two, although this is more of a generic opinion as the two sides are somewhat clashing social rivals (5). The spaces in West Egg are Nicks cottage and Gatsbys mansion; the two are very contrasting in appearance, size, and decoration. Gatsby lives on this side of the eggs because he does not yet see himself as successful enough to live on East Egg although he has a colossal affair by any standard (5). His house is a factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool, and more than forty acres of lawn and garden (5).
  • 7. NICKS COTTAGE Nicks cottage on the other hand is more revealing of the opinion of West Egg, and is described having Finnish tread that shook the kitchen floor and having a deserted living room with a defunct clock on the mantelpiece (84). The spaces here on West Egg are much emptier and less furnished which reflects the personalities of the characters that live there.
  • 10. BUCHANANS MANISON The only space involved in the novel on East Egg is at Tom Buchanans house. Toms house is much like Gatsbys on the outside, but seems to be much more decorated with nice furniture on the inside. The main difference between the two eggs can be seen as the space involved on the interior of the homes. As seen before, Nicks and Gatsbys homes are very empty on the inside, even at Gatsbys parties the house is empty with all the visitors being outside. Toms house on the other hand is described as being even more elaborate than expected, with a cheerful red-and-white Georgian Colonial mansion, overlooking the bay (6).
  • 11. CONTINUED When Nick first enters the Buchanans he walks through a high hallway into a bright rosy-colored space, fragilely bound into the house by French windows at either end (8). This description is contrasting with that of West Egg and is made to be more vivacious and bright.
  • 14. WILSONS GARAGE The valley of ashes is one of the major spaces where actions take place in the novel. The valley of ashes is certainly the lowliest in the social class of the four spaces. The valley is seen as very empty with very few things going on in it. A fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air (23). The only building there was divided up into three parcels with only two being currently occupied. This is where Wilsons garage is located and its interior space is described as unprosperous and bare (25).
  • 17. TOMS APARTMENT The urban city in this novel is somewhat paralleled to East Egg such that it is always nice weather and very bright in addition to having many similar qualities in their interior spaces. Nicks first experience of the city is very positive and he describes the city as being so warm and soft, almost pastoral (28). Toms apartment greatly reflects his lifestyle of the suburbs and is brought into the city, described as being like a smaller version of his home. The living room was crowded to the doors with a set of tapestried furniture entirely too large for it, so that to move about was to stumble continually over scenes of ladies swinging in the gardens of Versailles (29). The space here is clearly more claustrophobic than the suburbs which is typical of urban settings, but is also greatly furnished like the space in his home on East Egg.
  • 19. CONCLUSION In The Great Gatsby the four places can be seen as a two sets of contrasting spaces such that the city and valley of ashes are one pair and the other being East and West Egg. Between the city and the valley, the city is the bright, exuberant space and the valley is the dark, empty space. This contrast is similar to the pair of East and West Egg where East Egg is the lively, extravagantly filled up space and West Egg is the empty, less lavish space all of which reflects the different personalities of the characters in each space.
  • 20. WORKS CITED Fitzgerald, F. Scott, and Matthew J. Bruccoli. The Great Gatsby. New York, NY: Scribner, 1996. Print.