The Ladder Within the Ladder

Old money, new money. West Egg, East Egg. Not only in The Great Gatsby, but in society today, we have the habit of classifying the wealthy as newly rich or not. People belonging to the “old money” category have been wealthy since the second they were alive. Their families got their big break generations ago and have therefore earned a spot in society. These people lived in the East Egg of New York City in the 1920s in the setting of The Great Gatsby. On the other hand, new money lived in the West Egg. They were people who
recently became wealthy, whether it was through a new business or a random inheritance. They were often looked down upon by the people of the East Egg, inhabited by the families that took up the highest class on the social and economic pyramid. The folks of the East Egg were sometimes suspicious of the people of the West Egg. For instance, Tom Buchanan, the football player married to the “golden girl” of society, suspected Gatsby of being a bootlegger, which is someone who sells alcohol illegally. Part of this theory may have been motivated by the dislike Tom felt for Gatsby, but it’s also undeniable that Tom didn’t feel the same respect for Gatsby because of his fairly new inheritance of money. Maybe it’s because they feel that the West Egg people don’t have the same experience with money. Maybe it’s because they feel less special now that more people are joining them at the top of the ladder. Either way, it’s obvious that even on top of the pyramid, there is one group that’s superior to the other.