The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is full of widely differentiated settings that are characteristic of the era in which the novel is set. The settings of this novel are essential to reveal the characters and their behavior. Fitzgerald divides the world of the novel's characters into three main settings: East Egg/West Egg, Valley of Ashes, and New York City. Each of these contexts reflects and determines the value of the people who live and/or work there. Just like the settings, the people in this novel are widely differentiated along with their attitudes and characteristics. East Egg is the home of wealthy, prestigious and long-established families. The people who live in East Egg don't feel the need to show off their money because the prestigious names they carry do it for them. Daisy and Tom Buchanan are the only people in this novel who live here and are certainly proud to do so. Their home, which is well beyond the stature of a middle-class home, is quite classy but not as flashy as their neighbors across Manhassett Bay. Next is West Egg, the home of people who are richer than the members of East Egg but don't maintain anywhere near the prestige, where Nick Carraway and Jat Gatsby live. Nick lives here because he is too poor to afford a house in East Egg; Gatsby lives there because his money is "new" and he doesn't have the credentials to be accepted into East Egg. To try to be on par with the East Egg families, the West Egg families show off their money every chance they get. Jay Gatsby is a great example of this as he drives an extravagant yellow Rolls Royce and throws lavish parties at his house in an attempt to get noticed by just the right people. The terrible Valley of Ashes is... medium paper... laws and lifestyles. Even though the characters tried to live seemingly perfect lives, not everything was just champagne and yellow Rolls-Royces. Myrtle and Tom's affair resulted in her death, which leads a distraught George to hunt down his wife's killer. After hearing from Tom that Gatsby killed her, George kills him in his own pool and then turns the gun on himself. After going through many ups and downs, Daisy and Tom's relationship goes from being futile and destructive to being tolerable. Nick decides to leave town and get away from all the drama surrounding New York City. The characters in this novel are selfish, foolish, naive, controlling, and sometimes contradictory. You never know what you'll see and experience in this city, and you may never want to know. Works Cited Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York, NY: Scribner, 1927. Print.