East Egg vs. West Egg

Two major settings of this book are East Egg and West Egg. They are both completely different from eachother, but also have some similarities. "East Egg and West Egg are the peninsulas of Long Island and where the main characters live." The West Egg is where Nick and Gatsby both live, it's considered the "less fashionable" side of Long Island. (p.5) They are the ones who have worked hard and earned their money in a short period of time. The East Egg consideres them to be lazy and not as hard-working as them. The East Egg is the more rich part of this city. It's for the people who have always had money, "old money." Although these eggs are both very different. They are both filled with people who envy, love money, and try and find not the best ways to shape their lives.

-http://www.fcps.edu/westspringfieldhs/academic/english/1project/99gg/99gg6/setting.htm

Jealousy

One of the themes in The Great Gatsby is jealousy. Ever since the world started, money has caused problems increasing people envy towards each other. Money causes people to be jealous, envious, and greedy. People will try so hard to achieve a goal that they've seen someone else achieve, and then in the end be left in misery. Daisy and Tom don't have a good marriage; leaving Daisy in misery. She is jealous of Myrtle, who Tom is seeing as his mistress. Jealousy is never something to be proud of, and causes many self problems and just problems in general.

Selfish People

The Great Gatsby is filled with selfish remarks and characters who are only concerned with themselves. It is set among educated, wealthy people who have no concern for people they don't surround themselves with. These are just the rich people. Now the lower class people are selfish as well. They envy and seek the glamour and lifestyles of characters like Gatsby. The people who appear to be sincere and beautiful, are truly filled with carelessness, selfishness, and immorality. No matter the time of day, people are always self centered and selfish. The characters of The Great Gatsby as well as the people of today just continue to be careless of anyone but themselves.

prohibition

Prohibition was a big deal in the 1920's. It was a law that forbidded the sale of alcoholic beverages. Many people of this time got very angry and began rebelling against this law. Although it was a law, no one followed it. It was the 18th amendment to the constitution that enforced prohibition in the United States. It was only in the U.S. where alcohol was banned. People broke this law because and the death toll grew higher as well as domestic violence counts, and crimes as well. Prohibition definantly wasn't as helpfull to the United States as they intended it to be in the beginning. This law was... a failure!