Old money, New money, and Everyone else

In the book The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald, the author, introduces characters from different classes and reveals the lifestyle of each. The two main classes in the book are the people from East Egg and the ones from West Egg. Both these sides could be considered rich and thought to be alike. However, the methods in which they become rich is the separating line. The people from East Egg are considered "old money" because they acquired their wealth through inheritance, while "new money," the people from West Egg, have just become rich. Fitzgerald  portrays the lifestyles of these new and old people in a way that seems to contradict each other. East Egg is characterized by tradition, like going to a certain school, while West Egg shows extravagant and new lifestyles. As for those who fall in between, not much is revealed about them.

There are plenty characters in the book I could expand on, and all have interesting personalities, motives, and goals. The one character that is most interesting to me is Nick Caraway. Originally from old money, Nick doesn't follow his fellow old moneys (not sure that's proper English), but wants to live life his own way without overwhelming influence from old money. Why he chose to do this? No one knows, but that's what is interesting about him. It might seem rebellious that he is not going along and following in the footsteps of his old moneys, but I believe he is doing what he loves and one shouldn't copy others to achieve that goal (bonds seller in Nick's case). If you follow other people, even if it's tradition, you won't really be living for yourself, but it will feel like you are just living for someone else. I'm glad Fitzgerald produced Nick as a character with this motive and style. It makes the story more interesting and relatable.