The Great Gatsby-- Reflection of home on character
The setting and location of one's house can convey a great deal about a person. In The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald uses characters' houses as a way to describe characters themselves. In this novel Fitzgerald relates, through the characters' houses, their temperament, values, and place in society. The fact that Nick Carraway lives in West Egg says a considerable amount about his character and personality. Nick compares East Egg and West Egg as such: "I lived at West Egg, the- well, less fashionable of the two, a most superficial tag to express the bizarre and not a little sinister contrast between them." Those who live in East Egg, represented by Tom and Daisy, are the cheaters, liars and manipulators, using others for their own personal entertainment or advancement. We see this displayed throughout the novel and summed up perfectly in one sentence, "They were careless people, Tom and Daisy- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made." Nick, living in West Egg, bears the opposite traits of those living in East Egg. He is non-judgemental and does not use others for h
His wife, Myrtle, is obviously the controlling force in the marriage. " Throughout the novel, Nick's feelings as the go-between in both situations have been over-looked, no one stopping to ask how he feels, everyone proceeding with reckless abandonment to the unfortunate end. He is squeezed in the middle of both Gatsby and Daisy's affair and Tom and Myrtle's affair. " Thus could be said for Nick himself. " This statement is truer than he knows. " It could be said that the garage is Wilson, dank and dreary, and the apartments overhead are Myrtle. As Nick's house is much like Nick himself, so could be said for George Wilson and his house/garage. " This description adds to the depressing state of the house/garage. Wilson's house/garage and the location of it perfectly reflect his life and person. Scott Fitzgerald can communicate a character's temperament, values and place in society through the description of their house. When Nick enters the garage he realizes that the garage "must be a blind" and that "sumptuous and romantic apartments were concealed overhead. It is appropriate that when the reader is first introduced to him he is "wiping his hands on a piece of waste. "The only car visible was the dust-covered wreck of a Ford which crouched in a dim corner," is a mirror of his personality. The reader sees this when Tom insists upon Nick meeting his mistress making the "supercilious assumption" that Nick has nothing better to do. is own benefit as is displayed by his refusal of Gatsby's business proposals.
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Acceptance Essays
