In The Great Gatsby, Gatsby’s mansion is in the Long Island village of West Egg.
West Egg and East Egg are fictionalized communities on Long Island’s North Shore. West Egg represents newly acquired wealth, while East Egg symbolizes established “old money.” Nick Carraway rents a modest house in West Egg, next door to Gatsby’s enormous estate; Daisy and Tom Buchanan live across the bay in East Egg.
Fitzgerald drew on real places around Great Neck and Port Washington, where he and Zelda Fitzgerald lived after moving to Long Island in 1922. Great Neck, associated with newer wealth, helped inspire West Egg, while the more established communities around Manhasset Neck informed East Egg. The geography is therefore fictional, but it reflects real social divisions and landscapes.
A common mix-up is reversing the Eggs: Gatsby is associated with West Egg, whereas Daisy and Tom belong to East Egg. Gatsby’s mansion also faces the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock across the water.