EAST EGG AND WEST EGG

After the birth of their baby, the Fitzgerald's moved to Great Neck, New York (October 1922)

The Fitzgerald's home in Great Neck

This area became the scenery for The Great Gatsby.
The Fitzgerald's were neighbors to many famous people who acquired "new money" in contrast to area that had "old money."

These peninsulas became the model for "East Egg" and "West Egg" in The Great Gatsby.

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EAST EGG

• based off of Port Washington (Sands Point)
• Peninsula for "old money"
• Money that had been in a family for a long time.
• People with old money were thought of as more sophisticated
• Don't like to associate themselves with "new money"

Model for the Buchanan house on the East Egg.

WEST EGG

• Based on Great Neck (King's point)
• West Egg was for "new money"
• Money that they didn't start off with in the beginning
• The Fitzgeral's lived here
• Where Jay Gatsby lives in The Great Gatsby

Beacon Towers was an inspiration for Gatsby's house.

In the story The Great Gatsby, the East and West Eggs help show the distinction between "new money" vs. "old money." It also helps to make Gatsby more mysterious.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT
In the 1920s, these neighborhoods/peninsulas showed the wealth and prosperity that was present during the era.