Man, let me tell you, I remember rolling into New York back in the day, spring of '22, and I was like a kid at Christmas. Seriously, I came from the Midwest, that wholesome place where folks actually said hello to their neighbors and your last name meant something. The city, though? The Big Apple? I saw it as this blazing beacon of opportunity. My dad had this wise advice about reserving judgment, but let's be real, walking into that whole 'bond business' scene, I was ready to believe New York was the cat's pajamas. It was going to be my fresh start, my ticket to the American Dream—a chance to prove I wasn't just some green kid from the sticks. I was all set to grab the brass ring.
The whole vibe, especially out on Long Island where I landed in West Egg, was just electric. Those first few weeks? Pure magic. The city at night had this whole "racy, adventurous feel"—you know, that enchanting metropolitan twilight where anything felt possible. I’d be in the city for work, see the crowds, the energy, the new money flashing, and think, "This is the spot. This is where it all goes down." I had a short, casual thing with a girl from Jersey City, ate dinner at the Yale Club, and honestly, I was diggin' the pace. New York was a grand illusion, a shining promise.
But lemme tell you, that shiny veneer? It chipped. It flaked. And then the whole dang thing kinda crumbled. And it all started, like most messy things, with the people.
Step 1: The Initial Sparkle Fades: Meetin' the 'Old Money' and the Crazy Rich
My first real dose of what New York wasn't came when I crashed a dinner party with my cousin, Daisy, and her behemoth of a husband, Tom Buchanan, over in East Egg. They were the old money—the folks who were rich because their great-great-grandpappy was rich.
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| How Does Nick's Impression Of New York Started To Change |
1.1. The Unsettling Decadence of East Egg
Walking into their mansion was like stepping into a movie, but the movie was kinda dark. Everything was expensive, sure, but there was this ugliness under the surface. Tom, with his "aggressive" manner and his wealth that felt like a club, was the first red flag. He wasn't just rich; he was careless. And Daisy? My sweet cousin was putting on a performance. Her voice was this charming, exciting thing, but she kept saying things that were just empty, just for show. I saw her vulnerability, but also how she chose to hide behind this wall of cash.
1.2. The Valley of Ashes and the Dirty Secret
Then came the real gut punch: the trip through the Valley of Ashes. Man, that place was a dump—literally and figuratively. This gray, dusty wasteland separating the glitz of the Eggs from the city. Seeing Tom drag me to meet his mistress, Myrtle, there? That was the first time New York felt dirty. It wasn't the exciting, adventurous city anymore. It was a place where people like Tom could smash things up and leave the mess for others. His affair wasn't some romantic secret; it was a loud, crude spectacle, and it felt like the whole city was in on the joke, but not laughing. My initial optimistic view of the East Coast as a land of gentlemen and ladies took a serious hit.
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Step 2: The Gatsby Effect: Confusion and Moral Fog
My neighbor, Jay Gatsby, was the next big deal, and meeting him was like throwing a wrench into my moral compass. His parties were the stuff of legend. Folks just showed up, like moths to a ridiculously bright, champagne-fueled flame.
2.1. The Sheer, Wasteful Excess of West Egg
I finally got invited to one of his shindigs, and holy smokes, it was insane. Orchestras, a thousand people who didn't know the host, and enough liquor to sink a ship. West Egg was the new money crowd—people who made their dough quick, maybe shady, and sure as heck didn't know how to act in polite society. The sheer waste was staggering. It was all glitter and no substance. I realized that New York wasn't just a city of opportunity; it was a city of reckless opportunity, where money was celebrated whether it was earned honestly or not. My 'Midwestern decency' was definitely feeling out of place.
2.2. Seeing Past the Suit to the Dreamer
Here's the kicker, though: Gatsby himself. When I finally met him, he was this incredibly sincere guy, always calling everyone "old sport." Yeah, his stories were kinda fishy—Oxford, war hero, the whole nine yards—but the dude had this "extraordinary gift for hope". He wasn't just throwing parties to be rich; he was throwing them for one person. That's when my impression of New York started to split. I saw the ugliness of the environment, but the beauty of Gatsby's single-minded, pure, even if kinda delusional, dream. He was pursuing something beautiful and lost.
Step 3: The Big Reveal and the Incurable Dishonesty
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Things got real when I figured out what Gatsby was up to—he wanted Daisy. He wanted to "fix everything just the way it was before." This is where New York's excitement completely curdled into disgust for me.
3.1. The Lie Behind the Lavishness
The truth came out: Gatsby's money was from bootlegging and shady side deals. It was corrupt. The whole spectacle, the mansion, the yellow car—it was all a big, fat lie. It hit me that New York, this place I thought was about honest ambition, was really just a stage for phony people putting on a show. The city’s "distortion" was making me lose my grip on what was real and what wasn't.
3.2. The Reckless and the Retreat
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The climax, man, it was brutal. Myrtle's death. The whole scene at the Plaza Hotel where all the lies exploded. What really sealed the deal, though, was Tom and Daisy. They were "careless people." They made a colossal mess, smashed up a life (or two), and then they just retreated back into their enormous wealth, like nothing happened. They didn't even go to Gatsby's funeral! This whole East Coast high society? They were all like that: incurably dishonest and protected by their cash.
Step 4: The Final Verdict: Haunted and Hitting the Road
After Gatsby's funeral, which was a pathetic, lonely affair, my view of New York had completely transformed. It went from a "warm center of the world" to a place that felt "haunted".
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4.1. The Loss of the Dream
Gatsby's pure dream was the only thing that made the East interesting, and when he died, that dream died, too. I finally saw the East Coast, Long Island, and New York for what they really were: "a nightmare" of shattered illusions and moral decay. I realized that the people there—Tom, Daisy, Jordan—they were fundamentally different from me. They had a deficiency that made them unadaptable to a life with real consequences.
4.2. Heading Back to the Decent People
So, I packed my bags. I was done. I turned thirty that summer, and it felt like I was "five years too old to lie to myself and call it honor." I was sick of the "riotous excursions" into the privileged hearts of people who just didn't care. I needed to go back to the Midwest, where people were more about traditional values and less about flash and deceit. My impression of New York changed from "land of endless possibility" to a "valley of ashes"—a place of ruin and moral wreckage. I left behind the great, shimmering, awful city. It was the only honest thing left to do.
FAQ Questions and Answers
How did Nick feel about New York when he first arrived?
Nick was totally stoked about New York, seeing it as the "ragged edge of the universe" compared to the boring Midwest. He thought it was a place of excitement and huge opportunity, full of a "racy, adventurous feel" at night.
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How did Tom and Daisy Buchanan start to change Nick's mind?
They were the first ones to really gross him out. Tom's brute arrogance and Daisy's cynical, hollow charm showed Nick the shallowness and carelessness of the wealthy East Egg crowd, proving their money didn't buy decency.
What did the Valley of Ashes show Nick about the city?
The Valley of Ashes, where Tom took Nick to see his mistress, Myrtle, revealed the city’s dirty underside. It showed him the poverty and moral decay that was hidden beneath the mansions, making the city feel corrupt and not just exciting.
How did Gatsby's life and death influence Nick's final view of the East?
Gatsby’s pure, beautiful dream (even if it was built on shady money) was the only thing Nick admired in the East. After Gatsby was murdered and everyone—especially Tom and Daisy—acted with such callous indifference, Nick felt that the city was "haunted" and lost its last shred of moral hope.
What was Nick's conclusion about the wealthy people he met in New York?
He concluded they were "careless people". They were rich enough to make huge messes, hurt others, and then simply hide behind their money without facing any consequences. This final judgment is why Nick decided to bounce and head back to the Midwest.
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