Why Is Myrtle Important In The Great Gatsby

An abrupt death of Myrtle caused by the traumatizing car accident, and the sudden crash of the Wall Street are both endings of glorious and magnificent times. Is this a simply coincidence? Or is it Fitzgerald’s intention to link The Great Gatsby with the time period? The devastating incident of the car crash was the ending of The Great Gatsby and the crash of Wall Street brought the shimmering and wondrous Roaring Twenties to the end. There are strong connections between the novel ‘The Great Gatsby’ and the Roaring Twenties. America in the 1920s experienced various sudden and extreme changes in people’s lives in both economic and culture wise. The end of WWI introduced America to the urban society, causing a boost in economy, resulting affluence

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

First of all Fitzgerald embodies Gatsby as a failed American dream during the time period by presenting Gatsby as a person who achieves happiness and materialism with money. Gatsby wants to

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.

“She was in her middle thirties and faintly stout but she carried her surplus flesh sensuously as some women can...She smiled slowly and walked through her husband as if he were a ghost.” (Fitzgerald ) Myrtle Wilson, married to George Wilson, plays Tom Buchanan’s mistress in the novel The Great Gatsby. Myrtle is apart of the lower social class in this novel. Her goal is the achive the East Egg status through Tom Buchanan as well as her personality and social behavior. The song I have chosen, in which I believe best represents Myrtle Wilson is Gold Digger by Kanye West.

Daisy has the name of a flower, recognizable and with admissible charm. Flowers symbolize innocence, just as the color white does. A daisy, actually, categorizes itself as a wildflower and not of high value. This corresponds with the idea that Daisy, in the end, was not worth very much, or nearly as much as Gatsby made her out to be.

Gatsby is practically famous from the parties he throws but none of that matters to him. Gatsby tries to use his wealth to attract Daisy, and it seemed to work, but that's not how love and fellowship is supposed to be earned. A connection between two people shouldn’t be reliant on wealth, especially when carelessness is also a factor. This inevitably resulted in the car accident. Too many characters were wrapped up in what they believed was important. Fitzgerald weaved satire into the actions of nearly every

Myrtles characterization is more engineered towards her physical appearance and demeanor. She can be quickly identified as fake, unsightly and corrupt by a majority of characters. Her death represents the end of all the female aspects of her and this can be seen in the description of her corpse “Her left breast was swinging loose like a flap,and there was no need to listen for the heart beneath. The mouth was ripped at the corners, as though she she had choked a little giving up tremendous vitality he had stored up for so long.” (Fitzgerald 137). Her death signifies that the dignity of women suffers at the hands of men. Moreover, Fitzgerald uses this description of Myrtle’s death to bring to light what he believes how a woman should behave which is the complete opposite of the behavior of all the prominent female characters throughout the novel. likewise Fitzgerald also may be referring to his own wife, Zelda, when describing the actions of both Daisy, Myrtle, and

Gatsby’s character is portrayed by Fitzgerald as a tragic hero, as he exhibits many of the same traits. Gatsby, within the realm of the novel is an extremely wealthy man and his wealth translates into high prestige and social status in a society that is separated by wealth and money. Gatsby’s parties are wild and extravagant events where “on the buffet tables, garnished with glistening hors d’oeuvre, spiced baked hams, crowded against salads of harlequin designs and pastry pigs and turkeys bewitched to a dark gold.”(26 Fitzgerald). His parties exemplify his wealth and prestige in the community making him seem like royalty. This noble stature is his first tragic

The death of Myrtle and the concept of mortality is represented through Nick's use of expressive language, he states "where Myrtle Wilson, her life violently extinguished, knelt in the road and mingled her thick dark blood with the dust", this expression of life's tragic end here is complemented by Nicks use of imagery, we are left with the raw image of Myrtle lying on the floor in displaced agony - stark message to readers that life is not perpetual and everlasting. Hope is depicted through Gatsby's chase of the American Dream, he does not rest until this is finally fulfilled, it never becomes truly realized and he ends up paying the ultimate price of his life for it. Gatsby is blinded by the illusions that stand between him and happiness. Gatsby perceives Daisy to be his happiness, but Daisy is not. Fitzgerald examines the American Dream by autopsy, through the reflective narrator. Though the principles of the idealistic dream still exist, highlighted by Gatsby's ambition and drive to improve himself, the morality behind the dream has been substituted by money, resulting in decadence, corruption and distinct class divisions between people. Fitzgerald represents the corruption and the demise of the original, idealistic American Dream with the death of both Gatsby and Wilson- two men who make a living, and strive to better themselves with new money.

Gatsby was killed because Tom had told George that Gatsby murdered Myrtle with his car. Myrtle is George’s wife. The person that was behind the wheel was Daisy when she hit Myrtle. Therefore, George thinks that Gatsby was the one that kills Myrtle. George may have shot Gatsby but the other

Wilson had no friends, and his only true relationship was with Myrtle. However, she did not love him, and was cheating on him with Tom. Wilson also thought that Gatsby was the one who was in a relationship with Myrtle, and that he is the one who killed Myrtle. I find it interesting and disturbing the lengths the characters went to either protect the ones they love, or to keep themselves from being alone. Gatsby was in love with Daisy, and did not cease to protect her even after she chose to be with Tom. He did not want Daisy to get in trouble for killing Myrtle, and would rather take the blame than have Daisy face the consequences of her actions. However, I am not sure if Gatsby did this because he loved her, or because he was still clinging onto the hope that Daisy would choose to be with him. Gatsby loved Daisy, but I also believe he did not want to be

Many of the occurrences in The Great Gatsby produced far-reaching effects for several of the characters.  Of these occurrences, one of the most influential and important incidents was the death of Myrtle Wilson.  While her life and death greatly affected the lives of all of the main and supporting characters, her death had a very significant effect on the lives of Tom, Daisy, and Gatsby.

”(The Great Gatsby Chp.9) they both died trying to do the same thing and that was chasing their individual American Dream. In conclusion Gatsby and Myrtle have many similarities and one that really standed out was that they were

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is a story that has many different themes. Fitzgerald shows the themes that he uses through his character’s desires and actions. This novel has themes in it that we deal with in our everyday life. It has themes that deal with our personal lives and themes that deal with what’s right and what’s wrong. There are also themes that have to do with materialistic items that we deal desire on a daily basis. Fitzgerald focuses on the themes of corrupted love, immorality, and the American Dream in order to tell a story that is entertaining to his readers.