Importance of Setting in The Great Gats

Importance of Setting in The Great Gatsby This essay will argue that the setting of The Great Gatsby holds significant symbolism by reflecting the characters and the general mood of occurring events. The characters’ houses and other geographical locations in the novel reflect the characters that reside in them. Gatsby’s house, just like many others in the West Egg, is an “imitation of some Hotel de Ville… [,] spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy [with a] marble swimming pool and more than forty acres of lawn and garden” (Fitzgerald 5). This huge, ostentatious mansion is the perfect symbol of his extravagance and carelessness with his money. The house has mixed architectural styles from various time periods, accurately mirroring its owner’s lack of taste and identity. The Buchanan’s house is “even more elaborate than [Nick] expect[s], a cheerful re-and-white Georgian Colonial Mansion, overlooking the bay” with “wine-colored rug[s]” (6). Their impressive, but low-key house shows how the Buchanans have stable wealth and pre-established traditions. Their stable wealth however, is symbolic of Daisy and Tom’s empty and purposeless future together. Wilson and his garage can be found in the “valley of ashes—a fantastic farm where ashes grow … [in the] powdery air” (23). This valley of ashes represents Wilson, desolate and desperate, and also symbolizes the decay of the middle-class under the glittering surface of upper-class extravagance. Nick’s “house [is] an eyesore, but it [is] a small eyesore, and it [is] overlooked” (5). It shows how Nick is humble and shy; he doesn’t want to stand out by purchasing a larger residence. Although he comes from a rich family, he is trying to make his own money and his house being in the West Egg represents this. The weather is parallel to the atmosphere of events that occur all thoughout the story.