Chapter 1

The first sentence of the book is, “In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my head ever since.”Nick Carraway, the narrator and self cast author of the book, establishes himself straight away as a man who respects his elders, and takes their advice, a characteristic that would not usually be expected from a young man living in New York to work in the bond business. He considers himself highly moral and highly tolerant, and reserves judgment about other people, yet has contradictions in his point of view. For example, he describes himself as tolerant and nonjudgmental person, but also views himself as morally privileged. Nick lives in a small house next to a great mansion owned by Jay Gatsby in the West Egg, home to the “new rich.” West Egg is characterized by lavish displays of wealth and poor taste. Unlike his neighbors, Nick has social connections and aristocratic pedigrees.

The other main characters, Daisy, Nick’s cousin, Tom Buchanan, Daisy’s husband, and Jordan Baker, a competitive golfer, who we meet when Nick goes to the East Egg to have dinner with them, and Jay Gatsby are characters that are far away from in personality. Daisy is shallow, and prefers to see the world through a “single window,” the way she wants to see it. Tom is arrogant and dishonest, carries out public affairs and racist arguments. This actually shows that Tom is not completely unaware of what is going on in the world outside of them, but this is also the only mention of the black community throughout the book, when several important events are going on like the immigrations and the growing cities within cities, so the fact that he is aware does not make him care. Jordan Baker is a bored, dishonest and cynical person. We only briefly meet Gatsby, when Nick sees him standing on the lawn, reaching out to the distant green light. At this point, neither Nick, nor the reader knows the significance of the light.

 In the East Egg appearances conceal unattractive realities, as with the Buchanans’ marriage. In addition to this, Jordan is a character that tries to cover up her inner emptiness with her beauty and wealth.

The East Egg and West Egg correspond to a particular character type in The Great Gatsby. Each home to remarkable wealth, and similar in many ways, are separated only by a small area of water and the values they approve of. The East Egg is home to breeding, taste, aristocracy, while West Egg represents the flamboyant manners of the new rich. The difference in the two settings may lead to conflicts further on in the book.