Group 2—East Egg
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4 comments:
The East Egg:
People who live in the East Egg:
• Tom
• Daisy
The East Egg is the supposed ideal. It’s based upon the Manhasset Neck Peninsula that is located on Long Island, it’s surrounded by The Sound and is adjacent to the West Egg peninsula. The East Eggers need this division Based upon the Manhasset Neck Peninsula located on Long Island. The East Eggers need this division from the grittier parts of the city and to live peacefully on the isolated world of money and power. It’s said, “Across the courtesy bay the white palaces of the fashionable East Egg glittered along the water,” (page 5) in order to illustrate their wealth and separation. Even when they are not separated by the geography the people from the East Egg can still separate. They “always gathered in a corner and flipped up their noses like goats at whosever came near” (page 62). The wealth gives the people a sense of entitlement and superiority. Though the West Eggers also have wealthy, they don’t have the old money and the status that comes with being an East Egger. This money and privilege allows people such as Tom to be able to use it to compensate for his poor relationship with Daisy. Even before he used money to control his affair with Myrtle, he tried to buy Daisy’s affections before their wedding with a pearl necklace (as opposed to Gatsby who appealed to her as a person by writing a personal letter). While this action exhibits a positive and outward appearance, it only serves to mask an inner turmoil.
I forgot to add the Important Quotes:
“Supercilious” p. 24
East egg is desirable ‘the dream’
“They moved with the fast crowd….” P. 77
“Fashionable… superficial… sinister”(p.5)
“People played polo and were rich together” p. 6
““Their house was even more elaborate than I expected” p.6
Hello--
First, let me say thank you for your response. In your post you include some essential facts about East Egg that everyone should know: Tom and Daisy live there and they isolate themselves because of their in-born status and thus 'flip up their noses like goats at whosever came near.'
With that being said, I think that while this response is a solid blueprint that it is far from complete. More than anything else, I think that you need to extend some of the 'loaded' terms you reference but do not explain. To be specific--I think you must define what 'old money' is and how the residents of East Egg are defined by this term. On that some note-keep working with how this old money not just excuses Tom's poor actions but rather allow him to believe that they are acceptable. Thus, consider the question: how are the residents of East Egg poor even though they are wealthy inhabitants of the novel? Also, what are the things that East Egg residents mask and how do the shielding of these traits lead to their 'inner turmoil?'
As for your quotes--I would encourage you to use the entire book and not just provide examples from the first few pages of the text.
I know that this was a hard assignment; however, I also know that you have have the abilities to remedy this response. Thus, please let me know how I might be of assistance to you.
Best,
AK
Grade: 78
The people who live on East Egg (namely, Tom and Daisy) are each in some way removed from the harsh realities of the world. Living in a “cheerful red-and-white Georgian colonial mansion” (6), their lives have a perfect exterior. Everything is very poised; when Nick approaches the house, “Tom Buchanan in riding clothes was standing with his legs apart on the front porch” (6). When Nick enters the house, he says “the only stationary object in the room was an enormous couch on which two young women were buoyed up as though upon an anchored balloon. They were both in white, and their dresses were rippling and fluttering as if they had just been blown back in after a short flight around the house” (8). Both of these descriptions suggest that Tom, Daisy, and Jordan were all posing, for it is rare to have people so perfectly situated in their house.
Although the perfect exterior is partially shielding to the harsh reality of the world, it also masks the issues within the lives of the people on East Egg. Confidentially, Daisy herself admits to Nick that she has become “pretty cynical about everything” (16). When her daughter was born, she said, “’I’m glad it’s a girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool – that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool’” (17). Daisy realizes that in her world of money and attempts at escaping reality, the best character for a person to have is one of ignorance. If her daughter is ignorant and beautiful, she can continue to live a fictitious life without having to face the difficulties in life that money tries to cover up.
Tom and Daisy’s marriage is also secretly corrupt. When Tom supposedly is speaking to Myrtle on the phone inside and Daisy goes to speak with him, their conversation is described as “a subdued impassioned murmur… audible in the room beyond” (14). Within their beautiful house is unhappiness which both Tom and Daisy try to conceal. This negative side of their marriage is both literally and figuratively held within walls. After returning from a trip to New York, Nick peers into the window of Tom and Daisy’s mansion and sees them inside. He says that “there was an unmistakable air of natural intimacy about the picture, and anybody would have said that they were conspiring together” (145). This occurs after they acknowledge each other’s affairs and Daisy announces that she is leaving Tom. Therefore, although Nick sees an image of togetherness within the house, their relationship is far from ideal.
When listing the people who attended Gatsby’s parties, Nick listed both East and West Egg residents. The residents of East Egg are generally mentioned in families and by family name, whereas the residents of West Egg are generally mentioned by individual name and occupation. This clearly defines the differences between the two eggs; the people of East egg need no description beyond their family name and possibly an incident associated with them since they come from “old money”, but the people of West Egg would not be recognized by their family names. The ignorance and dream-like lives associated with the people of East Egg are also seen by the location of East Egg; East Egg is separated from the valley of ashes by West Egg, and is therefore as far away as possible from the undesirable lives in ash valley. The East Egg residents also consider themselves above everyone else, including the West Egg residents; “this party had preserved a dignified homogeneity, and assumed to itself the function of representing the staid nobility of the countryside – East Egg condescending to West Egg, and carefully on guard against its spectroscopic gayety” (44). The East Egg considers itself to be more dignified and less interested in large parties than the West Egg. Tom’s “supercilious” (24) nature and idea that he is a member of “the dominant race” (13) also contributes to this idea. His money and supposed superiority allow him to act in an immoral manner, which includes his rough physical treatment of Daisy and Myrtle.
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