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"I lived at East Egg, the -- well, the less fashionable of the two, though this is a most superficial tag to express the bizarre and not a little sinister contrast between them." Page 9 |
| This idea that East Egg is more fashionable than West Egg
shows a distinct difference between the two.
East Egg is full of old classy people who know how to spend their
money on quality luxuries money. These
families have been rich for generations.
Therefore, they are old money.
On the other, West Egg is made up of brand new businessmen or movie
stars who have either gotten lucky or earned all of their money in their
lifetimes. They are not as sophisticated in their tastes as those of East
Egg, and do not know the proper things to spend their money on.
Thus, they are new money. The
people of East Egg have had their money all their lives.
They do not know what it is like to be without it, as the people of
West Egg do. Because their
money has always been there for them, they believe that their money will
continue to always be there for them. Consequently, the people of East Egg are careless, and believe that
money will cure the sorrows of life. Daisy,
for example, has grown up with money in her easy "white
childhood" as she called it, and is now careless because of it.
- Clare |