In The Great Gatsby, which character lives across the bay from Gatsby?

In The Great Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan lives across the bay from Gatsby.

Gatsby’s mansion is in West Egg, while Daisy and her husband, Tom Buchanan, live in East Egg on the opposite side of the bay. Their homes are close enough for Gatsby to see the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock, a symbol of his longing for the past and his dream of winning her back.

Daisy and Gatsby had fallen in love before she married Tom. Gatsby later builds his lavish lifestyle and hosts extravagant parties partly in the hope that Daisy will notice him. Nick Carraway, Daisy’s cousin and Gatsby’s neighbor, helps arrange their reunion.

The wording can cause a small geographical mix-up: Daisy is not Gatsby’s next-door neighbor, and she does not live alone. Tom shares the East Egg mansion with her. Still, Daisy is the story’s canonical answer because Gatsby’s view across the water is specifically associated with her dock and the green light. The contrast between West Egg and East Egg also reflects the novel’s divisions between newly acquired wealth and inherited social status.