According to Nick, the people of the Midwest are much more down to earth. And given all the lying and deceitful behavior he experienced in the Northeast, Nick would characterize the Midwest as a more honest place. So, these are the benefits of living in the Midwest. By contrast, the Northeast (the city in particular) is more complicated but also more exciting. Nick calls the area of the two eggs "one of the strangest areas in North America." Clearly, there is a fascination for Nick. However, he does eventually long for the honesty of his native Midwest. If it was a choice between honesty (Midwest) and excitement (Northeast), I would most often take honesty. So would Nick.
Nick lives in West Egg, the "least fashionable" of the two. Daisy and Tom live in East Egg. The glamour of East Egg is tempting but the social world seems to be quite elitist and superficial. If we just use Tom and Daisy as representatives of the area, we have to philandering people who are obsessed with money. And if we take Nick and Gatsby to represent West Egg, we have an honest man and a dishonest, yet romantically idealistic man. Again, based upon the character of the people Nick gets to know, West Egg (like the Midwest) emerges as a more genuine place. In the end, suppose the question is: Would you rather live next door to a man like Gatsby or Tom Buchanan? For all of his flaws, I think most people would pick the dreamer (Gatsby) over the racist adulterer (Tom) any day.
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