Social Class

It is easy to tell that the East Egg is filled with residents of a high social class, while the West Egg, with the exception of Jay Gatsby, is filled with working class people. Then there are the people that live in the Valley of Ashes. Most of the people there seem to be poor, but they have enough money to survive. The higher you are on the social class ladder, the more you look down on the people below you. The people in East Egg look down at the people from West Egg and would probably not be caught dead even looking at someone from the Valley of Ashes. People look down at others because they pity those below them. They have everything that could ever want and believe that everyone should be as wealthy as they are. If they aren't , they shouldn't even be in the same general area. They are undeserving of the presence of the wealthy, yet the lower you are on the social class ladder, the more you look forward to meeting people of a higher rung on the ladder. Mr. Wilson, from the Valley of Ashes, looks up to Nick, who is from the West Egg, but he absolutely admires Tom because he is from the East Egg. This is because anyone that could use an extra boost in their pay could probably get it from those that have more money than themselves. Tom offered Mr. Wilson his car. Mr. Wilson really wanted one so that he could leave and Tom could go buy a new one if he wanted to, whenever he wanted to. Wealth always seems to be something that earns respect. Maybe that is just because everyone wants a piece of it.