How does The Great Gatsby portray the difference between “new money” and “old money”?

Written and fact-checked by

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby (1925) contrasts the fictional East Coast village of West Egg, which represents “new money” with its brashness and materialism, and East Egg, which represents “old money” with its refinement and inherited wealth. The “old money” society ultimately triumphs as self-made millionaire Jay Gatsby’s pursuit of the American Dream ends in disaster.