Explain what ideals and attitudes each of the three main settings reflect and how the settings enhance characters.Setting is often an important...

The main setting of F. Scott Fitzgerald's great novel is
that of the Jazz Age.  This provides the tableau for the development of character and
plot and theme.  Within this tableau there is a cultural and lifestyle revolution, a
revolution that is created with the class conflicts, the cultural rift between East and
West, and the contrast between innocence and experience in the main character's
life.

An examination of each setting:  East Egg, West Egg,
and the Valley of Ashes leads to the development of characters.  For instance, while
Gatsby is on his lawn of West Egg, he looks longingly at the green light (money, wealth)
at the end of Daisy's pier.  His parties in the West Egg are attended by people who do
not know him and only take advantage of his new wealth, lending a falsity to his
environment.  Yet while there is this falsity, Owl Eyes discovers that Gatsby's leather
bound books in his library are genuine.  Traditionally, too, West is symbolic of the
horizon, the end.  Gatsby's sacrificial death occurs as he lies on his mattress in a
crossed position in his pool in the West Egg.

The East Egg
is symbolic of the establish wealth and position and its decadence.  While Daisy appears
innocent in her white garments, like her name, there is a golden, moneyed center to
her.  In fact, Nick's description of her includes, "her voice was like money."  She
feigns foolishness and is extremely materialistic.  After her murder of Myrtle Wilson,
she returns to the shelter of the East Egg where her money and Tom's influence protect
her from her crime. 

The Valley of Ashes, which suggests
death and corruption and waste is, indeed, the setting for death.  The poster of Dr.
Eckleberg sees nothing as this is the hiding ground for the industrial and moral waste
of New York City.  Interestingly, Nick and the others pass through this valley of death
as they engage in their dissolute activities. Poor Mr. Wilson is blinded by his life in
this wasteland, believing that Gatsby has killed his
wife.

With so much imagery and symbolism in his narrative,
the settings of Fitzgerald's novels reflect the conditions for the actions and
development of the characters.