Money and wealth are key themes in the novel and function as identifiers of a character’s social status. Tom, for instance, descends from “old money” and carries himself like somebody who is accustomed to privilege and prestige. In contrast, the residents of West Egg, including Gatsby, are members of the nouveau riche, a class of people who have only recently earned their money, without having to rely on their family’s old money. East Egg and West Egg themselves embody the divide between the old money and the new and represent the social stratification apparent in New York City (and the nation as a whole) in that time period.