The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald, follows Jay Gatsby, a man who revolves his life around one wish: to be reunited with Daisy Buchanan, the love he lost five years ago. Gatsby's mission leads him from poverty to prosperity, into the arms of his cherished woman, and eventually to death. This story shows what happened to the American dream, which is considered being wealthy, happy and famous in the 1920s-1930s, this was a time period in which when the dreams of being wealthy became tainted anyways by people going psychotic. The American dream not only caused corruption but it also caused a lot of destruction. Myrtle, Daisy, Gatsby and other Americans were all ruined and corrupted because of the American Dream. Wanting an astonishing …show more content…
She looked at Tom in a different way, because he is rich and he can buy his own suit for his own wedding. She is attracted to not only Tom’s appearance, but also his money. She believes that Tom is the ideal image of the American Dream, Myrtle is considered poor and lower class, so she doesn’t have much money. If that doesn’t tell the reader something than nothing will. She sleeps with Tom to inch her way into an upper class status. There is new and old money in this story, new money is when you do something to become wealthy, which is what Gatsby did, and old money is when you were born rich, like Tom. [Note: People who are upper class are ones who have lots of money. They have fancy cars, fancy houses and much more] Myrtle is not upper class but she does desire to be. This later on causes her death, said above, everybody later finds out that Daisy was the one who hit Myrtle with her car which resulted in Myrtle’s death. Daisy killed Myrtle because she was having an affair with Tom, Daisy’s husband. This shows how the desire for a rich and luxurious life like the American Dream, only caused destruction in this
She has chosen to throw away her whole marriage for a glamorous wealthy life in East Egg. This can be seen when she first talks about the time she ever laid eyes on Tom. She remembers vividly what he was wearing. “It was on the two little seats facing each other that are always the last ones left on the train. I was going up to New York to see my sister and spend the night. He had on a dress suit and patent leather shoes and I couldn’t keep my eyes off him…” (Fitzgerald ) This quote in the book represents the phrase, “Met her at a beauty salon, With a baby Louis Vuitton, Under her underarm, She said I can tell you rock, I can tell by your charm..” I chose this stanza of the song for a multitude of reasons. One being that it’s implying that this woman knows nothing about this man, but just by looking at him and what he is wearing she can supposedly tell that he is a good charming man. This is what Myrtle did to Tom. She saw the fancy suit and decided to commit adultery with a man because he was well dressed. Myrtle then and there decided to throw her marriage away for
Myrtle values the wealthy lifestyle greatly. She would even go so far as to create a facade of what she believes those of high societal class would act like in order to achieve that, and ironically, mocks the poor in the process. In Chapter 2 she exclaims toward Nick, “ I told that boy about the ice...you have to keep after them all the time”(32). here it is proven that Myrtle believes in order to give everyone the impression that she is high class, she must act in a snobbish manner. Whereas Daisy who was born into wealth, values convenience majorly over the latter. Some may disagree and say that she values love, and it is true that she does search for love; However, this is contradicted when at the end of the day she stays with Tom Buchanan rather than Gatsby, as is shown in the last scene with them together, “ Daisy and Tom were sitting opposite of each other at the kitchen table with a plate of cold fried chicken between them, and two bottles of ale” (145). She stays with Tom only for her own societal convenience, and she is willing to follow through with it even though he is a generally abusive
Daisy is greedy for the life of luxury. She wants more money and her priorities in life are skewed. Unaware of her selfish mentality, Daisy later kills Tom’s mistress. Tom informs everyone, including Wilson, that Gatsby’s car was the one that hit and killed Myrtle. Due to his endless love for Daisy, Gatsby takes the blame for Myrtle’s death in order to protect Daisy and
Myrtle Wilson is obsessed with leaving her poor life behind her by being with Tom but unlike Gatsby, her attempts are fruitless. She attempts to make herself seem an upper class person like when she changed her dress before the party in chapter two. She believes her husband is beneath her and talks of all low statuses as if she isn’t one of them. "I told that boy about the ice." Myrtle raised her eyebrows in despair at the shiftlessness of the lower orders. "These people! You have to keep after them all the time." (42)
Tyler Peters Ms. Kemp 11th H lit 10 Apr 2024 The Illusion of the American Dream in The Great Gatsby In the luminous wake of the Roaring Twenties, F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby masterfully dissects the intricate facade of the American Dream. Through the opulent parties and tragic characters that populate its pages, the novel lays bare the hollow core of the dream that promised prosperity and happiness to all. This essay contends that The Great Gatsby portrays the American Dream as an elusive illusion, showcasing the futile pursuit of wealth and status that ultimately leads to dissatisfaction and disillusionment. By examining the aspirations and eventual downfalls of Gatsby, Daisy, and Myrtle, this analysis will unravel how Fitzgerald
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.
Furthermore, Myrtle details all the expensive items she needs to get soon, of course, all of these things will be bought with Tom’s money (Fitzgerald 36). We can see that on the outside Myrtle can make the impression that she is wealthy, but she that way because of a wealthy person, Tom. Without him, she would be confined to the poor environment she was born into. In the end, we can see that even when a penniless person is granted a lot of money in a relationship, they are still trapped in the situation they are born into because without that source of income, they are thrown back into
This decision harm her marriage with George, which leads to the loss of their happiness and her death. Myrtle has the hope and desire for a perfect life. She enjoys reading gossip magazines which shows her hope for the life of the “rich and famous” (89). This shows the reason she wants to be with Tom. She thought that she was crazy about him and thought that they were happy and being together.
The novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is about the American Dream, an idealistic and illusionary goal to achieve wealth and status. The ruthless pursuit of wealth leads to the corruption of human nature and moral values. Fitzgerald uses characters in the novel to show the corruptions and the illusionary nature of the American Dream. The superficial achievement of the American Dreams give no fulfillment, no real joy and peace; but instead, creates lots of problems for the characters in the novel. What happens to Jay Gatsby, Nick Carraway, and Daisy Buchanan represent the failure of the American Dream. Each character has a different dream. For Jay Gatsby, his dream is to attain happiness, represented by Daisy's love, through
Myrtle is unhappy with her standard of living and George. A quote to support this is, “I married him because I thought he was a gentleman” she said finally. “I thought he knew something about breeding, but he wasn’t fit to lick my shoe” (2.34). It is shown in this quote that Myrtle overestimated George’s money because he’s a mechanic and is unhappy she is living over a garage. In addition, that’s where Tom comes in and she has an affair with him. A quote to assist this would be, “Wilson? He thinks she goes to see her sister in New York. He’s so dumb he doesn’t know she’s alive” (2.26). In analysis of this quote, Myrtle uses Tom to get away from George and because Tom is wealthy and buys things for her. There was more than one reason to Myrtle’s affair with
The Great Gatsby, a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a story of misguided love between a man and a woman. Fitzgerald takes his reader through the turbulence and trials of Jay Gatsby’s life and of his pining for the girl he met five years prior. The main theme of the novel, however, is not solely about the love shared between Daisy Buchanan and Jay Gatsby. The main purpose is to show the decline and decay of the American Dream in the 1920’s. The American Dream is the goal or idea which suggests that all people can succeed through hard work, and that all have the potential to live happy, successful lives. While on the surface, Gatsby
Myrtle wanted more than George could give her, so she started an affair with a richer man. She stays with Tom not because of what he can offer her. The whole time Nick is with Myrtle she only discusses things she wants to buy. the first thing she says when they get to New York is “I want to get one of those dogs,” she said earnestly. “I want to get one for the apartment. They’re nice to have—a dog”. The first thing she says is she wants Tom to buy her something. all she cares about is material goods, shows of wealth. She sold her reputation and marriage for some spending money. She got so accustomed to a life of luxury she lost her life trying to keep it. When she thought Tom was driving Gatsby's car, “she rushed out into the dusk, waving her hands and shouting […] She ran out to speak to him, and he wouldn’t stop”. She jumped in front of a moving car to save an illusion of the life she desired. In the great Gatsby, greed is a one-way trip, those who fall into it can’t bring themselves to let it go. Myrtle runs out to the car because she would rather die than not have the life she craves. If it were a matter of love, she would have left George already, but she wants security. Myrtle longs for a life she can't have; that’s why she cheats on her George with Tom. like Gatsby, Myrtle is in love with the status Tom gives her, not Tom
Myrtle and Gatsby both share the same goal of acquiring money and being accepted into the Old Money crowd. Myrtle Wilson thinks that she is meant to belong in the rich crowd and that she is above the poor crowd. “‘I told that boy about the ice.’ Myrtle raised her eyebrows in despair at the shiftlessness of the lower orders” (32). Myrtle looks down on the lower class, even though she if part of the lower class herself, because she thinks that she is above them. She thinks that she should be part of the upper class so she uses Tom Buchanan to achieve that goal. Furthermore, Gatsby tries to be accepted into the Old Money crowd so that Daisy will accept him into her life. “‘Why don’t you- why don’t you stay for supper? I wouldn’t be
Myrtle Wilson is the other partner in Tom Buchannan’s affair. She is of a simpler lifestyle living on the “edge of the wasteland…contiguous to absolutely nothing.”(Gatsby 24). Nick describes her “a thick woman” “in [her] middle thirties” (Gatsby 25), the average woman in that time. Once she and Tom get off the train, she immediately buys a dog, and then makes a point to buy a rather expensive dog as well. When she arrives to her sister’s house, where a party is taking place, Nick says that she “changed her costume” (Gatsby 30). Because a costume is also the attire performers wear, Nick is giving us the impression that all of this is a play, a facade to act wealthy when in fact she is not. Nick also says “with the influence of the dress her personality had also undergone a change. The intense vitality that had been so remarkable in the garage was converted into impressive hauteur” (Gatsby 30), again another indicator of her “performance” of a wealthy woman. Soon, she and Tom “discuss in impassioned voices” whether she had any “right to mention Daisy’s name” (Gatsby 37). Tom punches her after this, but still left the party with her. Myrtle is now a woman with no self-respect, due to her allowing a man, though he may be rich, to physically assault her, instead of having a man who truly cares for her not being well off.
The novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is about the American Dream, an idealistic and illusionary goal to achieve wealth and status. The ruthless pursuit of wealth leads to the corruption of human nature and moral values. Fitzgerald uses characters in the novel to show the corruptions and the illusionary nature of the American Dream. The superficial achievement of the American Dreams give no fulfillment, no real joy and peace; but instead, creates lots of problems for the characters in the novel. What happens to Jay Gatsby, Nick Carraway, and Daisy Buchanan represent the failure of the American Dream. Each character has a different dream. For Jay Gatsby, his dream is to attain happiness, represented by Daisy's love, through