Do you have dreams and aspiration? Do you find it hard to achieve your dreams? People are born dreamers but people must learn to overcome struggles to achieve their dreams. In his novel, The Great Gatsby (1925), Fitzgerald F. Scott explores how his character’s desires are influenced by materialism and wealth which results in a conflict between reality and illusion. The author concentrates on the character’s flaws and optimism. In addition to the themes of restoring the past, social class, and the irresistible lure of the American Dream to show the unavoidable conflicts when turning dreams into reality. Fitzgerald portrays the theme of illusion versus reality through the personality and motives of the characters, and their relationships with …show more content…
Gatsby is in the final part of restoring his past and taking back Daisy Buchannan. His reason for wanting Daisy is revealed when he tells Nick Carraway, “her voice is full of money” (133). By marrying Daisy, he can complete his transformation from “Mr. Nobody from Nowhere” (140) to “Mr. Somebody from Somewhere” because of her inherited wealth and status. The reader learns that Gatsby is a very optimistic and controlling person when he tells Nick, “Can’t repeat the past? Why of course you can!” (127). He lives in his own scripted world where there no consideration for the conflicts that may arise. Barbara Will states that “Gatsby, too, is both ‘really’ there and absent” when he is associated with the uncut books found in his library. He only begins to return to reality when he meets Pammy, the daughter of Daisy and Tom Buchannan. Nick describes Gatsby reaction to seeing their daughter as “I don’t think he had ever believed in its existence before” (131). Additionally, Gatsby has created his own illusion that Daisy still loves him the same way. Therefore, he has not considered the fact that she is not the same Daisy anymore. She has grown into a woman, and has become a wife and mother. Despite this fact, Gatsby continues to love only her. When Daisy does confess her love for him, it was not enough because she once loved Tom too. Gatsby …show more content…
Myrtle is enchanted by the American Dream and the prosperity that is said to come with it when a person attains this dream. She discovers that her husband, George Wilson had to borrow a suit for their wedding to hide his low social status. She is disappointed that she is unable to leave the Valley of Ashes after all these years of marriage to him. Myrtle has an affair with Tom Buchanan to increase her social status. She quickly attempts to adapt to her new lifestyle provided by Tom. As shown when Nick describes her apartment at the top floor as “a small living- room, a small dining-room, a small bedroom, and a bath […] with a set of tapestried furniture entirely too large for it” (68). Myrtle desperately wants her public image to be viewed as sophisticated and wealthy, however her ego is too large and uncontrollable. She puts down her husband, George by saying “he wasn’t fit to lick [her] shoe” (). She also misinterprets her relationship with Tom. He can flaunt about her in public because he knows no one can touch his wealth and social position. Myrtle is just another mistress, that is disposable as shown when she yells out “Daisy! Daisy! Daisy” challenging her role and Tom responds by breaking her nose with his hand. Myrtle stays in this toxic relationship to live out the American Dream she desires momentously. She even comes to accept her role with Tom knowingly or
Myrtle is Tom's mistress, which allows her play the role of a well educated wealthy woman. Myrtle is deceptive and untrustworthy because she is married, and is having a secret affair with Tom buchanan. The very first time we meet her in the book “she smiled slowly and, walking through her husband as if he were a ghost, shook hands with Tom, looking him flush in the eye”(26). By having an affair with Tom she is betraying her husband, and she seems to have no remorse about it. Myrtle is described as being “ faintly stout, but she carries her surplus flesh sensuously as some woman can. Her face, [...] contained no facet or glean of beauty”(25). From her physical description the reader can infer that she is not very nice and standoffish. She treats
Gatsby: Kind, wealthy, and lonely, Gatsby throws, but doesn’t attend, extravagant parties in hope his young love, Daisy, will attend. He doesn’t have any real friends until Nick moves in next door to him. Obsessed with Daisy, he befriends Nick to help rekindle their past relationship. Gatsby comes from humble beginnings and wasn’t born into a wealthy family. Tom looks down on Gatsby for this reason and becomes specious of how he made his wealth and encountered Daisy. Because of his wealthy status, Gatsby believes Daisy will leave Tom for him. When Gatsby says, “Just tell him the truth— that you never loved him— and it’s all wiped out forever” (132), she initially gives in and tells Tom this. This is Daisy’s response not because it’s true, but
Myrtle is described as a “faintly stout” woman who “carrie[s] her surplus flesh sensuously”, a woman who in defiance of her class is “continually smoldering”, projecting herself as one leading a superior life, (25). She’s married to a struggling mechanic named George, who despite his unabating love for her, is seen as a “ghost” and someone she can order around as her own personal servant, due to his inability to truly provide for her the way she wants—materialistically. She even goes as far to say George “wasn’t fit to lick my shoe,” further championing a notion of arrogance stemming from her fantasy with Tom
Myrtle is married to a man named George Wilson who is a car mechanist. She lives in the Valley of Ashes which is described to be, “a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke…” It is basically a poor part of the town. When Nick Carraway first sees her, he describes her as, “…in a moment the thickish figure of a woman...” Nick Carraway also says that she was in her mid-thirties and is, “…faintly stout, but she carried her surplus flesh sensuously...” She is also described not to have a gleam of beauty in her face. Myrtle Wilson is having an affair with Tom Buchanan and met him while riding a train. She doesn’t feel bad about cheating on her husband and idolizes Tom but it seems like Tom treats her like a sexual object rather than a
Wilson gives to Myrtle his complete trust in the same way he provides Myrtle with what she asks for, but she abuses it. She takes her husband for granted while at the same time, she gazes at Tom sitting on a pedestal she has made for him. Tom is the man that can make Myrtle's every fantasy come true, but also the man that will lead to her early death. Myrtle is seen to be a fun and floozy mistress, but not as a real wife. She, as superficial as it may be, is not someone that Tom could take to parties and introduce to his parents. Myrtle controls Wilson, while Tom manipulates her simply for enjoyment. For example, Tom tells Myrtle that the reason they could never wed is because his wife, Daisy, is Catholic and she would never stand for a divorce. In this scene, Catherine, Myrtle's sister, tells Nick Carraway, the narrator, about the reasons why Tom and Myrtle may never come
“In his blue gardens men and women came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars” (Fitzgerald 39). In his character, his relationships, and his gatherings, Jay Gatsby epitomized the illusion of a perfect romance. When Gatsby and Daisy met in 1917, he was searching for money, but ended up profoundly falling in love with her. “[H]e set out for gold and stumbled upon a dream” (Ornstein 37). Only a few weeks after meeting one another, Gatsby had to leave for war, which led to a separation between the two for nearly five years. As “war-torn lovers” Gatsby and Daisy reach the quintessential ideal of archetypical romance. When Gatsby returned from the war, his goal was to rekindle the relationship he once had with Daisy. In order to do this, he believed he would have to work hard to gain new wealth and a new persona. “Jay Gatsby loses his life even though he makes his millions because they are not the kind of safe, respectable money that echoes in Daisy’s lovely voice” (Ornstein 36). Gatsby then meets Daisy’s cousin, Nick Carraway, who helps to reunite the pair. Finally being brought together after years of separation, Gatsby stops throwing the extravagant parties at his home, and “to preserve [Daisy’s] reputation, [he] empties his mansion of lights and servants” (Ornstein 37). Subsequent to their reconciliation, Tom Buchanan, Daisy’s husband, begins to reveal sordid information about Gatsby’s career which causes Daisy to
She realizes that about herself, but continues to think of herself very highly. She knows what she is but she hides her insecurities with a mask that has to do with her self-image. This mask hides her insecurities from the desires she wants her life. Myrtle is a married woman to a man named George. Myrtle initially got with George in hopes of him having money. When Myrtle finds out he does not she wants to back out but it is too late. Myrtle only wants people to think she has money, we see her doing unimaginable things to get this image. One of the levels of wrong is treating her husband poorly, but her lowest action is cheating. She commits adultery with Tom Buchanan, who is also a married man. Tom is an extremely wanted and high rank man with extensive amounts of money. Myrtle thinks she would be good enough for Tom by giving him what she wants. Myrtle sees an opportunity to have the life she has dreamed of with Tom. You see Myrtles jealousy and desire for Daisy’s life when she chants “Daisy! Daisy! Daisy!" to Tom. (Fitzgerald 41). In reality Tom is just bored and has to real desire to be with Myrtle. Some people think Myrtle could be recognized as a “gold-digger”, but in actuality she has trained herself to think that her mask is actually her true self. Myrtle truly believes that her happiness comes from
Oftentimes society gets so caught up in achieving greatness that it is blinded to the obstacles of reality. The American Dream can sometimes be so unachievable yet so alluring that people cannot help but strive after it as if it were their destiny. Fitzgerald highlights this phenomenon in his novel The Great Gatsby through many characters and their pursuit of their own American Dreams. Fitzgerald uses figurative language and contrasting diction to show his cynical attitude about the pursuit of the American Dream and the blindness of those who believe in it.
Myrtle is truly driven by money and materialism because she is unhappy with her marriage. She sees money which in this case is symbolized by Tom as her way out of her unhappy life. Myrtle is so strongly affected by money and materialism that she puts on a different persona when she is around Tom and the more elevated class. “The intense vitality that had been so remarkable in the garage was converted into impressive hauteur”, This quote states that her personality in the garage was very full of energy and was now replaced with a disdainful pride. This continues throughout the novel to the point where Myrtles materistalic values cause her to stomach Tom’s abuse. “Making a short deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand”. In this quote Myrtle is drunk and yelling Daisy’s name, which Tom (also drunk) takes such offence to that he results to violence.
Myrtle tries to satisfy her desires by seeking wealth and status in attempts of achieving her American Dream. Myrtle’s husband, George, owns a car dealership and repair shop in the industrial wasteland of the Valley of Ashes, which depict his lower class. In describing George's shop, Fitzgerald notes “The interior was unprosperous and bare; the only car visible was the dust-covered wreck of a Ford which crouched in a dim corner” (Fitzgerald 27). Although George is loyal and hardworking, Myrtle is unsatisfied with her relationship; she envies the East Eggers for living her version of the American Dream while she is stuck in the Valley of Ashes, married to a low class man. Myrtle directly disrespects her husband as she goes after Tom, a high class, wealthy, and married man, living in the East Egg.
Dreams are a compelling force in people’s lives. They are what propel them forward each and every day in an effort to reach something better. The American Dream has been sought after by millions all over the world for hundreds of years. This country was founded on the belief that anyone could achieve their dreams. However, in the 1920s these hopes and aspirations began to splinter until they ultimately shattered. In the novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses symbolism, setting, and theme to depict the unattainability of the American Dream.
Myrtle desires wealth and luxuries, and as a result she has an affair with Tom, who gives her anything she yearns for. Myrtle despises her lifestyle with her husband, George Wilson, due to the lower-class living and dirty, physical labor. She explains how, “I married him because I thought he was a gentleman … I thought he knew something about breeding, but he wasn’t fit to lick my shoe” (Fitzgerald, 34). Myrtle planned to marry a rich man, so in the future he could support her children and herself, and they would be members of
Myrtle is not accustomed to luxurious materialistic objects like Daisy. The apartment is not lavish, but in her eyes, it is a higher standard of living compared to where she lives with her husband. Myrtle carries on an affair with Daisy’s husband, Tom Buchanan. If the affair is discovered, Myrtle’s husband George would be the only one affected on her behalf. The affair would not be a huge scandal in the Valley of Ashes.
As Myrtle’s relationship with George Wilson deteriorates and she is disenchanted with his limited lifestyle, she desires more and thus when she meets Tom he offers her this. In some distorted way, Myrtle thinks that Tom will leave his beautiful wife Daisy and marry her, Tom doesn’t truly see the relationship between Myrtle and himself being a true relationship, he just believes she is someone he can call upon unannounced and use her for a sexual relationship. But Myrtle has other plans for the two of them. This is made clear when he breaks Myrtle’s nose we she mentioned his wife’s name: “‘Daisy! Daisy! Daisy!’ shouted Mrs. Wilson. ‘I’ll say it whenever I want to! Daisy Dai-‘Making a short deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand” (Fitzgerald, 1926)This harsh action implied by Tom, really puts Mrs. Wilson in her place, making her come to her sense of what she can and cannot say. This reaction from Tom signifies that it is not a pure love existing between them. Further, Myrtle’s desire for the material goods Tom can provide shapes her conception of their alleged love, which is evidently greatly distorted as shown through Tom’s treatment of her.
Myrtle Wilson, a relatively minor character, belongs to the lower classes, expresses a desire to upward social mobility, but is largely prevented from doing so due to her gender. She uses love to acquire wealth and has an extramarital affair with Tom. She is not happy with her lower social status and her husband George Wilson, a representative of the lower classes and a simple man with no grand ambitions, states in the novel: “The only crazy I was was when I married him. I knew right away I made a mistake. He borrowed somebody’s best suit to get married in and never even told me about it,” (Fitzgerald 28). Myrtle allows us to look at her accumulation of things, such as the down-town apartment which was “… crowded to the doors with a set of tapestried furniture entirely too large for it, so that to move about was to stumble continuously over scenes of ladies swinging in the gardens of Versailles” (Lindberg 16; Fitzgerald 35).