The Role Of Myrtle Wilson In The Great Gatsby

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

There are a lot of things that have been said about the American Dream; numerous amount of people have gone all out against themselves to prove that it does not only exist but can also be achieved. So many people concentrated and dedicated their lives to this dream. In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby and Myrtle Wilson both try to reach their ambition, to achieve the “American dream”; on the other hand, their fate mirrors an important statement on the true nature of such a dream. Characters such as Tom and Daisy did not strive for this dream because they already have achieved the American Dream, and therefore they present a tremendous difference to author’s ideals of Gatsby and Myrtle 's dream. In the last

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.

Daisy and Myrtle are greedy people who do what they want, not caring who they hurt. Daisy and Myrtle are both inconsiderate, selfish, and careless. In the novel, Myrtle does not care that she is cheating on Wilson with Tom. She does not take into account that Wilson and Daisy will end up hurt from her actions. Daisy is inconsiderate because she is just using Gatsby. She may truly love Gatsby, however, she is using him because she wants love, which she does not have with Tom. She will end up hurting Gatsby because she is giving him hope that she will leave Tom for Gatsby. Realistically, Daisy knows she will never leave Tom. Daisy Buchanan, like Myrtle Wilson, will also hurt her husband, Tom, when he finds out she is cheating on him, even though he is having an affair with Myrtle. Daisy ends up admitting she loves Gatsby in front of Tom, she says, “You always look so cool” (Fitzgerald 119). Tom is shocked and hurt by this because he thought he had his wife “under control.” Daisy and

The Great Gatsby has many different characters who all have very different traits and personalities. Myrtle’s character is very snobby, not too bright, and seems to get into abusive relationships, likely because of the attraction she has to dominant men. Myrtle is married to a man named George Wilson and is also Tom Buchanan’s mistress. She lives in a place called “Valley of Ashes” and belongs to the lower class, even though she acts as if she is better than them and is not one of them herself. Myrtle is also known as being a fool because of all the things she falls for and believes.

. . . And one fine morning- So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past” (Fitzgerald 180). Furthermore, Fitzgerald illustrates that no matter how much effort a person gives, the world will ultimately oppose them. As in Gatsby’s case, he died an unknown figure and nobody dared to attend his funeral to commiserate him. Another instance of Fitzgerald’s opinion regarding the American dream was prevalent through the actions of Myrtle Wilson. Throughout the novel, Myrtle was engrossed in the lavish lifestyle she attained through a surreptitious affair with Tom Buchanan. Myrtle’s personality transformed as she took advantage of Tom’s money by using it to live out her fantasy. Although Myrtle’s American dream occured sparsely, she displayed how materialistic she was by stating, “I married him (George) because I thought he was a gentleman. . . . 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 .

On Thursday last week, two murders have taken place. Myrtle Wilson, wife to a small garage owner, was hit and killed instantly by a speeding car two evenings ago. She had run out into the middle of the street for unknown reasons when the ‘death car’ hit her. The car was allegedly a yellow or green color and was guessed to be traveling around 40 miles per hour when it hit Myrtle. This car was coming from New York; it swerved a little but did not stop when passing

Myrtle, interestingly, is the name of a different flower. The contrast serves to show the two love interests of Tom Buchanan and weigh them against each other. Myrtle is a flower that often dies before it blooms, which fits with the plot of Myrtle’s untimely death.

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

Fitzgerald uses Characters in The Great Gatsby for multiple reasons: as catalysts for significant events, as physical representations of 20s society, and in order to illustrate important themes in his novel. Fitzgerald uses Daisy and Myrtle particularly as inherent contrasts of people in the 1920’s. One represents love, the other sex; One wealth, the has a lack thereof; and they both represent different pitfalls in 20s society.

In The Great Gatsby, the American Dream, is, in fact, unattainable. For Gatsby, his dream is to erase the past five years of his life and to love Daisy again and to have her love him. But, this is impossible for one cannot simply go back in time and change what might have been. Gatsby finds himself working to reach his goal by indulging in ludicrous material goods and contriving a way to make Daisy fall for him. In Tom Buchanan’s case, his dream is to control. He wants for both Daisy and his mistress, Myrtle, to love him and to be fine with an affair. This dream is also unattainable because everyone loses in this situation. In the end, Myrtle is killed, and so is Tom’s destination. For Nick Carraway, he wants to start over. He wants to find himself, run away from rumors and from his family and commence a new life. He gets caught up in the childish antics of Gatsby and Daisy and Tom and loses who he is instead of discovering his true meaning. When all is said and done, Nick packs up and moves back West. It’s clear that F. Scott Fitzgerald is cynical towards the idea of the American Dream and uses The Great Gatsby as his way of expressing his views.

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.

            While Daisy did not know Myrtle personally, there is a very good possibility that she knew Tom was having an affair with her.  She was well aware of Tom's past behavior, and she made no attempts to deny it.  She simply accepted it because she had no other choice.  After spending the day in New York with the others, she was obviously upset and tense.  The day had taxed her to the limit.  Gatsby had demanded too much of her, and she just was not strong enough to endure any further argument.  She chose to drive him back to East Egg in an attempt to calm her nerves.  When they passed Wilson's garage, Myrtle ran into the street toward Gatsby's car, thinking it belonged to Tom.  According to Gatsby, Daisy turned the wheel toward the oncoming car in the other lane, but she lost her nerve and hit

Myrtle like Gatsby had an American dream which was obtaining wealth, she had planned to achieve her goal through Tom. Unlike Daisy Tom doesn’t embody the American dream he represents a mean to get to that dream. Tom gives Myrtle many gifts but he has no intention of marrying her, but she doesn’t know that. When Catherine tells Nick that “it's really his wife that's keeping them apart. She's a Catholic, and they don't believe in divorce” (33), we can deduce that Tom is lying Myrtle. Just as Gatsby Myrtle dies before she can reach her American dream, this pattern shows that Fitzgerald believes that the

During the Jazz Era, almost every women was depended on men for their money. Wealth should not considered as important as respect and respect is something everyone deserves, not only men. The Great Gatsby is a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald about rich people that lived in New York during the Jazz Era. The Great Gatsby is about a rich man named Jay Gatsby who tries to win his love back from someone through his power and wealth. The role of women in The Great Gatsby is important because it talks about the amount of freedom and power they have compared to men. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, women are given no respect, controlled by men, and are treated like trophies to win over.