The Great Gatsby Comparison Essay

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In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 historical fiction novel, The Great Gatsby, he draws many parallels between the East and the West and people and places. In the foreboding novel, Fitzgerald warns for a need to separate the values of the East and the West in order to reveal how society needs to preserve the morals of the West and eliminate the morals of the East. Gatsby and Nick both come from the West, a place where people express compassion, ambition, strength, love, and order. Nick immediately connects with Gatsby through similar backgrounds and the way Gatsby seems more welcoming than the other party-goers. When they first meet, Nick explains how Gatsby smiles at him. He uses words like "compassion,” "understanding," and "reassurance"…show more content…
He contrasts the people through Tom and Gatsby who act oppositely. Gatsby believes he loves Daisy and wants to pursue a life with her even if Tom has already done so, while Tom wants to keep Daisy for selfish reasons such as money, status and public image. Nick describes Tom as a strong, brute-like figure when he first meets him, capable of unspeakable evil while in contrast Gatsby "picks his words carefully" and acts like an "elegant young rough-neck." Similarly Fitzgerald depicts the two eggs as separate and individual worlds. The West Egg belongs to the less extravagant homes and area. Gatsby and Nick both live here to represent they come from the less extravagant backgrounds while people like Daisy and Tom live in the East. This particular location glitters across the bay with the white marble mansions that rest upon the shore. Although it may seem fairly similar because of the physical descriptions, Nick tucks in the description of his little house and little yard which brings some perspective into his environment. He describes his own home as tiny and an "eyesore" compared to the world around him, showing how Nick sees himself as an outsider to this world and does not quite

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