Semester #2 Blog #8

Chapter #1

"To the wingless a more arresting phenomenon is their dissimilarity in every particular except shape and size. I lived at West Egg--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...Across the courtesy bay the white palaces of fashionable East Egg glittered along the water..."

This relates to the Class Struggle in the 1920's that happened not only between East Egg and West Egg but among rich and poor too.

During the 1920's and in the book the East Egg and West Egg were separated by "old money" and "new money." The East Egg was "old money" meaning that they were born into wealth from their ancestors, so like their parents, grandparents, great great grandparents. While the West Egg was "new money" meaning that they were rich too but it was because of their hard work and sometimes by doing illegal things like selling alcohol during Prohibition, organized crime. Usually East Egg thought they were better and in a upper class level. In the book, the West Egg, is not upper class socially but upper class in money. It has mansions too, like Gatsby's mansion. The East Egg was also rich, it was beautiful. It was full of all big white mansions, like the Buchanan's mansion, they were also proper and sophisticated. Nick said in the quote that West Egg was "less fashionable." During the 1920's the two eggs were separated and usually the East Egg looked down on West Egg.

Chapter #2

"Meanwhile Tom brought out a bottle of whiskey from a locked bureau door. I have been drunk just twice in my life, and the second time was that afternoon; so everything that happened has a a dim, hazy cast over it, although until after eight o'clock the apartment was full of cheerful sun." Nick, Pg.29

I think this connects to Prohibition. Prohibition was in the 18th amendment and prohibited people from the consumption, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol.
During the 1920's alcohol was prohibited but there were many underground businesses and people who would sell alcohol and make a business out of it. In this case Tom and everyone in the party at the apartment in New York City in chapter 2 was drunk and drinking even though alcohol was prohibited. Tom had so much money that he probably was able to buy all the alcohol he wanted even though it was illegal. But we also see Tom having wine at his mansion in chapter 1 meaning that in a lot of places alcohol was around and the law wasn't really working and most of the rich people weren't affected by it. Alcohol was still consumed, sold, manufactured and transported but now it was in a secret way. That is why during the 1920's there was a lot of organized crime from the people selling alcohol. This was making these people rich.

Chapter #3
"On week-ends his Rolls-Royce became an omnibus, bearing parties to and from the city between nine in the morning and long past midnight, while his station wagon scampered like a brisk yellow bug to meet all trains. And on Mondays eight servants, including an extra gardener, toiled all day with mops and scrubbing-brushes and hammers and garden-shears, repairing the ravages of the night before." Nick, Pg.39
The quote above talks about how Gatsby had so much money to do all of these things. I think this connects to the idea of the Roaring 2o's, because of how the economy in America appeared to be really strong because of the rise in the upper class.

The Roaring 20's was full of "lavish parties on Long Island at a time when...'gin was the national drink and sex the national obsession.'" The economy was really good that a lot of people like Gatsby were very, very wealthy. They would throw fancy parties at their mansions and socialize with the people around them. Gatsby had so much money that he had special cars that would go in the morning to pick up the people that wanted to go to his parties. He had many servants to do all of his work. There was people who just went to his parties and weren't even invited they just kind of went there to have a good time even though they didn't even know Gatsby. At this time there was either people who were really, really rich or really, really poor. So it was basically you were greatly wealthy or very poor. In the East Egg and West Egg there were a lot of people that were very wealthy and who were very powerful because of all the money they had.