Thus, both kinds of wealth result in similar human deficiencies, though manifested differently. The East Eggers, represented by the Buchanans, have the inherited traditions and lack the vulgarity, but they have been corrupted by the purposelessness and ease their money has provided. West Egg is the home of the nouveaux riches, of Gatsby and those like him who have made huge fortunes but who lack the traditions associated with inherited wealth and are, therefore, vulgar. Nick’s move to West Egg and the subsequent comparison of this location with the fashionable East Egg bring up the favourite Fitzgerald theme of the effects of wealth. They represent what has become of American idealism in a corrupt age.
July Fourth is, of course, the great American holiday, and so these are the people who appeared the day after the declaration of American independence. The names are written in the margins of an old, disintegrating railroad timetable, an ideal symbol of ephemerality, and it is important that the timetable is in effect from July 5, 1922. (“Rot-Gut”) Ferret, combined with the briefly noted activities of those named, gives a portrait of the Jazz Age society. Belcher, the Smirks, Miss Hagg and James B. The faded timetable on which the names of Gatsby’s guests appear serves to characterize the whole social class rather than a single person, and the names themselves are symbolic in their connotations.
Later, it is also the fatal car that kills Myrtle Wilson and leads indirectly to Gatsby’s own death. Other symbols, such as Gatsby’s swollen and monstrous yellow car, have a function in the plot as well as a more abstract significance it is an overblown absurdity created by wealth to fulfill the American dream of personal material success. Some symbols are used primarily as devices for characterization, such as Wolfsheim’s cufflinks (“Finest specimens of human molars”), Gatsby’s spectacular library of uncut “absolutely real” books and Tom’s repeated gesture of physically shoving other people around. One of the most important qualities of Fitzgerald’s symbolism is the way it is fully integrated into the plot and structure, so that the symbols seem naturally to grow out of the action rather than existing as mere abstractions. The Great Gatsby is rich in symbolism which functions on several levels and in a variety of ways.
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