Cars In The Great Gatsby

Another drastic situation created by Daisy arises. However, she does not have to deal with the consequences of it. Myrtle’s husband sees Gatsby in the car, and makes the assumption that he was the one having an affair with Myrtle, which is why she would run into the street to leave her husband and be with the man in the car. Instead of owning up to her mistake, Daisy allows Gatsby to willingly take the blame for Myrtle’s death. When Nick asks if Daisy was driving the car, he replies “‘Yes, but of course I’ll say I was’” (Fitzgerald 137). This causes George Wilson to kill Gatsby, an innocent man, because of the assumption that he was the one who killed Myrtle and had an affair with her. Through all this, Daisy never confessed to being the person behind the wheel of the car and Tom never confessed to being the man who Myrtle was a mistress to. After this incident, Daisy and Tom packed their bags and moved to the Midwest, avoiding the problems they created yet

Myrtle Wilson, the wife of George, and the lover of Tom Buchanan, is brutally murdered toward the end of the novel. After an uncivilized afternoon in New York, Daisy and Gatsby head swiftly back to East Egg. Gatsby explains to Nick, “It all happened in a minute, but it seemed to me that she wanted to speak to us, thought we were somebody she knew” (Fitzgerald 109). Myrtle ran out toward the car looking for Tom but sadly for her it is not him. Many know about Tom’s affair, but not with whom he is having it, especially Daisy. Daisy never slows the car down, and she never realizes who she hits. This shows that Daisy is oblivious to Myrtles existence. Myrtle is sleeping with her husband, she ruins their marriage, and Daisy kills her. The irony exists in this because Daisy actually saves her marriage by killing

Jordan Baker states “Tom’s got some women in New York...She might have the decency to telephone him at dinner-time” (Fitzgerald 19-20). Based from what the quote states, it shows that Tom is a not a deceitful person. His actions in cheating with Daisy to have a relationship with Myrtle causes a situation to escalate. If Tom never cheated with Daisy and pursue a relationship Myrtle, then George would have not consider that Myrtle was cheating which would end most of the events that lead to Gatsby’s death. When reading the novel Tom states “What if I did tell him?... He ran over Myrtle like you’d run over a dog and never even stop his car” (Fitzgerald 187). Tom was the one who told George Wilson that it was Gatsby’s car that ran over his wife. As a result, this lead to him going after Gatsby and killing him. If Tom were to say that Daisy was the one who drove Myrtle’s car, then the outcome would’ve been different. To conclude, based on what Tom did throughout the story it can fact that he contributed to Gatsby’s

He was a poor man who worked in a repair shop for cars. Mr.wilson represents the lower class of the 1920s especially after the market crash. Although he was not part of the upper class, money took a toll on Mr. Wilson. Wilson eventually found out about Myrtle having an affair, although he's not sure who the mister is. After the realization of his wife's affair, he plans to move west, and in doing so, he keeps Myrtle locked up until they move out. Myrtle manages to escape, but gets hit by a car, more specifically, Gatsby's car. Daisy was the one on driving Gatsby's car and only Gatsby knew that she had killed Myrtle. Her death is a symbol of everyone's corruption even Mr. Wilson because he became envious of her affair with a rich man, since he himself was not

of the road and breaks off his wheel. This partygoer is so out of it,

Before getting in the car, Tom argues with Daisy and Gatsby about the entire love triangle. Tom insists on driving Gatsby’s bright car with Daisy. Daisy chooses to go with Gatsby in Toms car. Out of rage, Tom drives fast and recklessly. The recklessness in Gatsby’s car foreshadows the later recklessness is the same car, but with Daisy at the wheel. Upon running low on gas, Tom reluctantly stops at the Wilson’s mechanic shop. Myrtle, from the window, sees Tom and miss sees Jordan as Tom’s wife, Daisy. Myrtle also takes note on the brightly coloured car which foreshadows her misunderstanding of who the car actually belongs to.

Because of his family’s money, Tom has always had the ability to control his life, which caused him to become a control freak. We see this when he talks of “profound” books that claim the white race is superior to all other races and if they do not watch out, the “other races will have control of things,” (Fitzgerald 13). The way he speaks of the other races is as if they are mentally and physically unable to contribute to society. Additionally, Tom Buchanan is such a hypocrite when it comes to Daisy having a relationship with Gatsby. He says shortly after meeting Gatsby, “I wonder where in the devil he met Daisy. By God, I may be old fashioned in my ideas, but women run around too much these days to suit me,” (Fitzgerald 103). Despite being the one who runs around meeting sketchy girls all the time, having a full on affair with Myrtle, Tom does not like the idea of Daisy being with anyone else because it means that he has lost control of her. Thus, in his desire for control which came about because of his privileged upbringing, Tom is extremely hypocritical, which shows the corrupt nature of wealth. Both Tom and Daisy exist in the Great Gatsby as examples of the corrupting nature of money, which is exemplified through the whole

Tom and Daisy Buchanan disguise themselves as wealthy, upper-class people from the East, but, when their immorality threatens their reputation, they find they are no better than their heritage, which stems from the Midwest. When Tom and Daisy constantly try to position themselves as having a better reputation, it establishes that they do not have the status necessary to be part of eastern upper-class. Tom and Daisy both initiate affairs in which neither truly care for the person they are having the affair with. Nick witnesses “Tom Buchanan [break Myrtle's] nose with his open hand” (Fitzgerald 37). Tom uses Myrtle, his mistress, for sexual pleasure, but does not care for her well-being. Tom uses her because his marriage with Daisy was not made for love, but rather to increase their social standing. Daisy also has an affair with her former lover, Gatsby, and after observing his wealth, she develops a relationship with him. Both Tom and Daisy are unsatisfied with their relationship, but rather than tarnish their social status with divorce they choose infidelity. Tom and Daisy’s desperation to maintain their status causes their immorality. Furthermore, in many instances Tom insults Gatsby, especially to degrade his wealth and achievements. For example, Tom says, “I suppose the latest thing is to sit back and let Mr. Nobody from Nowhere make love to your wife” (130). Tom knows that he can only cause true damage by insulting Gatsby’s accomplishments. Tom desires to damage Daisy’s

Tom Buchanan is a strong, powerful, and forceful picture of a man who cares only about himself. He first meets Gatsby in the second half of the book because Gatsby is trying to steal daisy from him. Although Tom is a powerful rich man he is also a coward. He told George “The yellow car that I was driving this afternoon wasn't mine”(Fitzgerald, 140). There were many more ways for tom to give out the information, from turning it to the police or for waiting for george to ask him. Even though Tom offers George false information, eventually leading him to Gatsby's home, he is still less culpable than others. Tom's actions were unwarranted and could have been avoided. This is because his wife was the person who tempted Gatsby first.

The automobile is a major motif that makes a regular appearance in the story. The automobile has always been a kind of status symbol in the United States. Expensive cars are associated with the possession of great wealth. Gatsby's car is described as the epitome of wealth. His reason for buying the car is to convey his material success and newfound prosperity. The fact that his car is yellow instead of the uniform black of the period stresses the idea that he is absorbed with the preoccupation of displaying his material wealth.

Although Tom acted as if he truly cared about Myrtle, he really did not. This is displayed when he claims that his wife is a Catholic, and that is why they could not get a divorce. The issue with that, would be that she is not Catholic, Tom was just making up an excuse. This shows that Tom has no real intention of actually being with Myrtle. Instead of being truthful, and telling her that he will never want to marry her, he is dragging her along, and lying to her, making her believe that he cares. By doing this to Myrtle, he is preventing her from actually trying to make something of herself, and further proving that the “upper class” is constantly affecting the lower classes. Gatsby and Daisy would be another perfect example of this idea. “I did love him once, but I loved you too,” Daisy said, proving to Gatsby he was never the only one she wanted. By saying that she loved them both, she is showing that Gatsby was never the only man on her mind. She proved that she did not have the purest intentions of being with him, because she was never fully committed to him. This was also shown when Gatsby was the one to tell Tom she loved him, not Daisy. Finally, upper class people tend to drag lower class people down, by abusing their money, power, and

Myrtle Wilson is the second major character in The Great Gatsby. She is about 30 years old and is “faintly stout but she carried her surplus flesh sensuously as some woman can” (The Great Gatsby: Character). Myrtle is married to George Wilson, also a mistress to Tom Buchanan. She is not happy with her marriage nor her lifestyle. Myrtle is part of the lower class of society making her poor. With them being poor they end up living in their car garage. George seemed like a gentleman and that is why Myrtle married him, but turns out that he wasn’t. Tom is part the upper class of society which attracts Myrtle to him. They spend a lot of time in the city together. She has an excuse to tell George that she is visiting her sister. George is getting a suspicion that Myrtle is up to no good, and locks her up in a closet. Myrtle being upset, notices a yellow car thinking it was Tom because she noticed him driving it earlier, she runs to the car to get away from George

Through the use of traditional symbolism of the American Dream, spatial imagery, and cacophonous auditory imagery, Fitzgerald establishes the control that elicits exert over the system. When the passage first opens, Nick and Jordan “got into a coupe with him”. the car is a traditional symbol of the American Dream, representing freedom and control. However, Fitzgerald never explicitly states that Tom is the one driving, which not only shows that Nick is going up and does not fight for control over this dream, but also that elitists, such as Tom, are the ones who control of the direction of the American dream, as he is the one driving the car. Tom continues to talk while in the car, and his voice is described as “incessant” and “exulting”, which

In the Buchanan household, which has been relocated several times to escape the bad publicity wrought by affairs, this kind of behavior is to be expected, showing how even the educated upper class is unable to escape the corruption of America, and what it stands for. The general lack of concern for affairs continues when Gatsby believes that he can turn back the clock and rekindle what he and Daisy once had. Gatsby not only hopes that Daisy will wait for him, but expects it, scoffing at Nick’s assertion that things have changed over time, and that Daisy is now married and a with a child and therefore uninterested in him: “Can’t repeat the past?...Why of course you can!” (116). Gatsby believes that Daisy will be willing to give up what she has for him, building his whole life on the assumption that she will be willing to forget all she has for him. This attitude of indifference for marriage is mimicked in the actions of Tom as well as Myrtle Wilson, showing that it may be widely held. Tom takes advantage of Wilson, replying to Nick’s concerns by simply saying that Mr. Wilson “thinks [Myrtle] goes to see her sister in New York. He’s so dumb he doesn’t know he’s alive” (30). Myrtle’s ability to easily lie to her husband shows that the marital corruption of the upper class is prevalent in the lower classes as well. Fitzgerald uses the diverse characters, from the removed yet decidedly elite character of

Daisy Buchanan is a old money wealthy wife of Tom Buchanan, living a rich and successful life, but unhappy with her marriage. She was fully aware of Tom’s affair, and decided to have her own with her old lover, Mr. Gatsby. She’s known to be all about money, careless, indecisive, daunting, and beautiful. At the time where she met her true love, Gatsby, 5 years ago, she had ended her journey of many of guys coming into her life. She just wanted money and fame like the rest of the snobs. “Her voice is full of money.” he said suddenly”(pg.120) Even Daisy’s lover is aware that she only cares about money. Even as she tries to get away from Tom, she is forced back with him as she accidently kills Myrtle, with Gatsby, in Gatsby’s car. Daisy will never be happy with her marriage, and probably never happy with the life she lives, especially after murdering someone in involuntary manslaughter.