Symbolism of Houses and Cars in The Great GatsbyFrancis Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby is full of symbolism, which is represented by the houses and cars in a range of ways. One of the most important qualities of the symbolism in The Great Gatsby is how completely it is integrated into the plot and structure. Symbols, such as Gatsby's house and car, symbolize material wealth. Gatsby's house "[is] a factual imitation of some Town Hall in Normandy" which contains "a tower on one side, brand new under a thin beard of raw ivy" is a symbol of Gatsby's large illegal income (Fitzgerald 9)(9). Gatsby's large income is not enough to make him happy. He needs “the house he feels he needs to gain happiness” and it is also the perfect symbol of the carefreeness with money that is an important part of his personality (Bewley 24). Gatsby's house, like his car, symbolizes his vulgar and excessive attention-grabbing trait. Gatz's house is a mixture of different styles and eras that symbolizes an owner who does not know his true identity. The Buchanan house is the symbol of their ideals. East Egg is home to the most prominent wealthy families. Tom and Daisy's house is on East Egg. Their house, a “red and white Georgian colonial mansion overlooking the bay” with its “wine-colored carpets” is just as impressive as Gatsby's house but much more discreet (Fitzgerald 11)(13). East Egg and Tom's house represent wealth and established traditions. Their stable wealth, although devoid of the vulgarity of new wealth, is the symbol of their empty future and henceforth uselessness coexists. The House also has a cold meaning according to Nick. This sense symbolizes Tom's brutality, and as Perkins says in his manuscript to Fitzgerald "I would know...Buchanan if I met him and avoided him", because Tom is so cold and brutal (Perkins 199). Nick lives in West Egg in a rented house that "[is] a little sore in the eye" and "had been neglected" (Fitzgerald 10). Nick lives in a newly wealthy West Egg because he is not rich enough to afford a house in the more prominent East Egg. His house symbolizes his shy and neglected self. Nick is the narrator and also the "trustworthy reporter and,... judge" who has ties to both the East Egg and West Egg mobs (Bruccoli xii).