Long Island

Long Island provides the geographic and economic stage for the events of Jaws. The novel's action is concentrated on the south shore of the island, approximately midway between Bridgehampton and East Hampton, in the fictional summer community of Amity. The island's character is defined by a profound seasonal economic dependency: its winter population of about 1,000 swells to nearly 10,000 in the summer, and those 9,000 summer visitors sustain the 1,000 permanent residents for the entire year. This precarious economic structure, where merchants, tradespeople, and service workers depend on a successful twelve-week season to survive the lean winter, forms the bedrock of the town's political and social conflicts.

Economic Dependency and Seasonal Divide

The island's economy is portrayed as a parasitic relationship between the host summer population and the permanent residents. Merchants from the hardware store and sporting goods store to the local pharmacist need a boom summer to support themselves through the winter, during which they never break even. The wives of carpenters, electricians, and plumbers work during the summer as waitresses or real estate agents to help keep their families going over the winter. Even after the best of summers, Amity winters are rough, with three of every ten families going on relief and dozens of men forced to move to the north shore of Long Island to scratch for work shucking scallops. One bad summer would nearly double the relief rolls, and two or three bad summers in a row could create a cycle that could wreck the town. This economic reality is the engine behind the suppression of the first shark attack and the pressure to keep beaches open.

Social Geography and Class

The island's social geography is sharply divided between the "summer people" and the year-round residents. The summer people are depicted as a privileged class, often from New York, who own or rent the large waterfront homes. Their presence is a source of both economic opportunity and social tension. Characters like Ellen Brody, who was born into the summer community but married a local policeman, experience this divide personally, feeling estranged from both worlds. The novel also notes the presence of a black community on Long Island, whose members work as gardeners, butlers, bartenders, and maids, and are among the most economically vulnerable when the summer season fails. The island's geography includes specific locations that reinforce class distinctions, such as the exclusive Field Club and the expensive restaurants in Sag Harbor.

Political and Criminal Underworld

Long Island is also the setting for a web of political corruption and organized crime. The town of Amity is governed by a Board of Selectmen, and its mayor, Larry Vaughan, is deeply entangled with the Mafia through a real estate holding company called Caskata Estates. Vaughan's partner, Tino Russo, is identified as a second-echelon figure in one of the five Mafia families in New York. The novel notes that the mob is increasingly involved in Long Island's construction business, restaurants, and other legitimate enterprises. This criminal element exerts pressure on Vaughan to force the beaches open, demonstrating how the island's economic vulnerabilities can be exploited by outside criminal interests.

Narrative Significance

Long Island functions as more than a mere backdrop; its specific economic and social structure is the primary source of the novel's central conflict. The shark is a natural threat, but the human tragedy is amplified and shaped by the island's dependence on tourism. The decision to cover up the first attack, the pressure to reopen beaches, and the eventual economic collapse of the town are all direct consequences of this geographic and economic reality. The island's geography also provides the setting for the climactic hunt, with the characters traveling from Amity past Montauk Point into the open ocean, and for the final, desperate swim of Martin Brody back toward the Long Island shore.