East Egg is the fashionable group of social elite, also known as "old money" or people who have always had money. Tom and Daisy represent the 'old establishment', having lived in the wealthy upper class for most of their lives. Daisy is consumed by the materialistic values associated with her 'social class'. These people are shallow and lack values. They are careless and completely consumed with themselves, which is shown through Jordan Baker. She is a professional golfer who makes the comment that people should be careful of her when she drives. Also Daisy hits Myrtle, and does not even turn around to see if she is okay, all she is concerned with is the dealing with the consequences. "They were careless people, Tom and Daisy- they smashed up things and creatures then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together." The social elite of East Egg are inhuman; they are spoiled to such an extent that their morality has been twisted. Although these are clearly "bad" people they are envied and copied constantly by the West eggers. Throughout the novel it seems to be the West are trying to fit in the East, but East eggers, like Tom and Daisy, feel that they are too sophisticated to take part in that.
West Eggers are the newly rich; the people who have worked hard and earned their money in a short period of time. Their wealth is based on material possessions. Gatsby, like the West Eggers, lacks the traditions of the East Eggers. He is considered 'new money', in the sense that his wealth came to him more recently through his business dealings (which we are led to believe are corrupt). Although Gatsby is now a part of this class, his faith and belief in the success of his dreams has allowed him to preserve some morality. Despite the fact Gatsby made his fortune in a corrupt fashion one must recognize that he is someone to admire because of his hopes. Nick Carraway, the narrator of the novel, lives in West Egg and exhibits honesty in this place of superficiality. Clearly the West represents the more moral of the two. Although West Egg is the more moral, it is still a place of superficiality, excessive spending, and gaudy living.
