Two-Sided Coin in F. Scott Fitzgerald´s The Great Gatsby

Additionally, Daisy and Jordan use their opposing beauties to their advantages, Daisy takes her exceptional looks to live a life of wealth, choosing riches over love, expressed the night before her wedding “‘Here dearest’ . ‘She groped around in the waste-basket she had with her on the bed and pulled out the string of pearls. “Take’em downstairs and give’em back to whoever they belong to . Tel’s all Daisy’s change’ her mine’ …She wouldn’t let go of the letter…Next day she married Tom Buchanan without so much as a shiver…”(P.80-81). Jordan, Jordan uses her fair looks to be anything but fair, such as “At her first big golf tournament there was a row that nearly reached the newspapers — a suggestion that she had moved her ball from a bad lie in the semi-final round. The thing approached the proportions of a scandal — then died away. A caddy retracted his statement, and the only other witness admitted that he might have been mistaken.”(P.61-62). Similarly, Myrtle Wilson used her looks as a gate way into getting what she pleases. Although, she is on the opposite side of the spectrum; where Daisy and Jordan are upper class, elegant beauties, Myrtle falls between the lines of lower and middle classes. Class status does nothing to deter Myrtle’s gift in the looks department.Upon introduction to Myrtle, we are instantly aware of the many differences between her and the two girls, such as “

To Myrtle Wilson, the American Dream is to become wealthy and high class. For her, this is impossible. She is married to a working class man who owns an auto shop in a rundown part of New York. Myrtle is so corrupted by money that she cheats on her hardworking, loving husband, in order to be with Tom Buchanon’s money. When describing her marriage, Myrtle said, “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 . . . then I lay down and cried to beat the band all afternoon” (35). She was, of course, talking about money issues. She thought her husband was wealthy, but when he had to borrow a suit, she became depressed and she believed her life was ruined. Myrtles unhealthy fixation on money ruined her marriage, and led to her becoming Tom’s mistress. Tom can supply her with the wealth she needs to feel happy. When given the chance, Tom will take Myrtle to parties just so she can wear the fancy clothing that he gave her. This

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

Both Myrtle and Daisy are portrayed as inferior through their continued isolation throughout the novel. Firstly, Myrtle is emotionally isolated in her relationship with George Wilson. This can be evidenced when she expresses that “he wasn’t fit to lick my shoe”(37). This quotation is said by Myrtle, to her sister Catherine, while at Tom’s apartment. Myrtle is explaining her disappointment in herself for marrying Wilson, due to his extreme poverty, and her subsequent unhappiness in her marriage. Myrtle’s disdain for her husband clearly demonstrates her feelings of isolation in her relationship, and her lack of emotional intimacy. Due to the fact that emotional isolation can often cause feelings of desperation or lead to unhealthy relationships,

Myrtle has been affected by both socioeconomic and gender inequity. She is unhappy being trapped in the lower middle class in the valley of ashes, but she can not work hard to raise her status because she is a woman. When Myrtle first married George Wilson, she thought she was marrying a rich man, but she later realizes that this was a trick and Wilson is very poor: “‘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, and the man came after it one day when he was out.’ She looked around to see who was listening. ‘Oh, is that your suit?' I said. 'This is the first I ever heard about it.' But I gave it to him and then I lay down and cried to beat the band all

Myrtle yearns to be with Tom and live in his wealth but is prevented from doing so by Tom and Daisy. For instance, when Daisy tries to leave Tom for Gatsby, Tom does not exactly dismiss Myrtle, “…but there is no question that she would eventually be discarded” (Donaldson). Myrtle is so infatuated with Tom, she forgot that he can just as well choose Daisy over her. He has the upper hand, as a rich man with control over women especially when it comes to his relationships. While to Tom, Myrtle’s gender has made her just one of his possessions, to Myrtle, Tom’s rich and high status as a man has made him her only path to a higher class. Due to her infatuation with Tom, she often becomes jealous and possessive when she finds a threat to their relationship. Myrtle is so overcome with desire for Tom that she cannot stand the thought of him with another women. Even when she sees Tom in the car with Jordan Baker, Myrtle’s, “… eyes, wide with jealous terror, were fixed not on Tom, but on Jordan Baker, whom she too to be his wife” (Fitzgerald 125). Myrtle is so convinced that Tom is hers, when in reality, she is really Tom’s. Myrtle has almost forgotten the fact that as an inferior women, she has little control over the situation. The reality is that Tom was in control of the relationship and used Myrtle for his lustrous desires. Tom’s rejection of Myrtle causes her to become overrun with jealousy. In

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)

At first glance, they appear to have everything they could possibly wish for: a luxurious home, each other and more money than they need. However, beneath the façade of happiness lies dissatisfaction with life. Tom in particular is not content with his marriage as he has “got some woman in New York” that he is having an affair with. Tom and Daisy epitomise the couple who have everything that can be achieved by the American Dream, but they are such despicable people that they give the American Dream no value or merit at all. They are “careless people”, without morals, and show how you do not have to work hard to have everything the American Dream promises, as they do nothing at all meaningful with their time, to the extent that Daisy has to ask “What do people plan?”. Another character that clearly displays the corruption of the American Dream is Myrtle. She is a dreamer - like Gatsby she wants status and power, and she thinks that she will get this through her affair with Tom Buccanan. The meaning of the noun “myrtle” is very telling of Myrtle's character as it is a climbing plant, just as Myrtle wants to climb the social ladder. However, she is deluding herself as Tom Buchanan clearly shows no real affection for her and even behaves in a violent way towards her and he “broke her nose with his open hand”. The way in which Gatsby's and Myrtle's, the two dreamers in 'The Great Gatsby', lives end

Daisy sees this as does almost the exact same thing, only with Gatsby. By expressing this carelessness for each other, one can only begin to imagine the carelessness they have for other human beings. Tom treats Myrtle even worse than he treats Daisy, but Myrtle doesn’t seem to care, because she is mainly interested in his money. Tom doesn’t seem to worry about anyone but himself. In his own spite he ruins his life, as well as Daisy’s, Gatsby’s, and Myrtle’s. Daisy shows her carelessness during the time where Jordan, Tom, Daisy, Nick and Gatsby go to town. Her and Gatsby act like they are in love and make Tom incredibly jealous even though he is having his own affair. Tom accuses Gatsby of trying to start trouble in the Buchanan house, and they begin to fight. Daisy yells at Tom and tells him that she no longer loves him and is in love with Gatsby. Tom proceeds to tell everyone how Gatsby came across his money, and once Daisy finds out it was by illegal gambling and crime, she seems much less interested in him. Daisy appears to be more interested on what is on the outside of people, rather than the inside.

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.

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

Tom and Daisy Buchanan are rich and established which is evident in their living in the East Egg, which is a symbol of inherited wealth, while George and Myrtle Wilson are just getting by which is revealed in them living in the Valley of Ashes, which represents the middle class. Namely, these social statuses result in differing ways of acting as a married couple. Despite Tom’s multiple affairs he and Daisy remain together for one main reason: money. Tom and Daisy both know that by staying together they can ensure that their wealth and status won’t falter. Also, it is stated that they are “careless people” who “retreated back into their money,” as long as they had each other, they had luxury and money to find solace in (Fitzgerald 179). Conversely,

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

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.

Daisy's superficiality extends to her personality. She is fragile, unstable and a confused character. While talking to Nick she said: “...I woke up with an abandoned felling and asked the nurse right away if it was a boy or a girl. She told me it was a girl, and so I turned my head away and wept. 'Alright,' I said, 'I'm glad it's a girl. And I hope she'll be a fool-that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful fool” (Fitzgerald 21). They also married their husbands for different reasons. Myrtle says she married George because she thought he was a gentleman. She also thought he knew about good “breeding.” On the other hand, Daisy married Tom because rich girls had to marry into money and good social status.