The Great Gatsby

Contrast Nick's residence in West Egg with that of Tom and Daisy Buchanan.

chapter 1

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Nick's rental was overlooked, an eyesore. It was located in the less fashionable area, had a view of the water, and best of all, it was cheap. Daisy and Tom loved on the East Egg in an oppulent, well established home.

Nick's residence:

I lived at West Egg, the — 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. My house was at the very tip of the egg, only fifty yards from the Sound, and squeezed between two huge places that rented for twelve or fifteen thousand a season.

My own house was an eyesore, but it was a small eyesore, and it had been overlooked, so I had a view of the water, a partial view of my neighbor’s lawn, and the consoling proximity of millionaires — all for eighty dollars a month.

Daisy and Tom's residence:

Their house was even more elaborate than I expected, a cheerful red-and-white Georgian Colonial mansion, overlooking the bay. The lawn started at the beach and ran toward the front door for a quarter of a mile, jumping over sun-dials and brick walks and burning gardens — finally when it reached the house drifting up the side in bright vines as though from the momentum of its run. The front was broken by a line of French windows, glowing now with reflected gold and wide open to the warm windy afternoon..."

Source(s)

The Great Gatsby