I can't speak to 1924 geographic appellations, but it might be useful to point out that, in the early 19th century at least, the Ohio/Kentucky region and points west and north of it (and sometimes even south and southwest) were called the West, tout court. Henry Clay, for instance, who hailed from Lexington KY, was considered a Westerner. I presume "Midwest" (the usual term nowadays) gradually grew up later on as areas further to the west came to be called the West.
I haven't actually read The Great Gatsby, but from your description I'd guess that Gatsby is being sarcastic, misapplying the term deliberately. After all, San Francisco is in the West, and it's in the Middle of the West, being neither too far north nor too far south. For that matter, having noted that the Great Lakes region is actually east of the median, I sometimes jokingly refer to it as the Middle East. (Which in turn reminds me that there's a long-unsettled question of whether the real Middle East should be called that or the Near East.)
(no subject)
Date: 2010-11-25 06:06 pm (UTC)I haven't actually read The Great Gatsby, but from your description I'd guess that Gatsby is being sarcastic, misapplying the term deliberately. After all, San Francisco is in the West, and it's in the Middle of the West, being neither too far north nor too far south. For that matter, having noted that the Great Lakes region is actually east of the median, I sometimes jokingly refer to it as the Middle East. (Which in turn reminds me that there's a long-unsettled question of whether the real Middle East should be called that or the Near East.)