Examples Of Mobility In The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby Essay

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is a novel chronicling the tales of Jay Gatsby, a mysteriously wealthy gentleman, and his romantic endeavor to win over Daisy, the girl of his dreams. Much of the plot involves cars, whether it is the long discussions taking place in them, their use in traveling around Long Island Sound, or even their role in the climax of the story. Fitzgerald uses automobiles in The Great Gatsby as a metaphor for the illusion of mobility provided by these machines, harking back to the idea that Gatsby is desperately trying to climb the social ladder with his newfound wealth. This belief that the items one owns can elevate a person to a higher social standing is also used to appeal to the average

Nick notes that when Gatsby’s car hit and killed Myrtle, it “didn’t stop; it came out of the gathering darkness, wavered tragically for a moment, and then disappeared around the next bend. Michaelis wasn’t even sure of its color,” (p. 137). In Nick’s earlier description of Gatsby’s “rich cream color” car, Nick’s extraordinary details illustrates the extreme magnificence of Gatsby’s car which is a statement of Gatsby’s wealth and impressiveness. However, during the accident, Nick fails to describe any particularly defining characteristics of Gatsby’s car and notes that people were not “even sure of its color.” The sudden degradation of the quality of Gatsby’s car’s description parallels the deterioration of Gatsby’s facade as an elite. In addition to Gatsby, Fitzgerald also uses this scene to add another victim of the pursuit of elitism: Myrtle. George, her husband, notes that before her fatal accident she ran out to meet “the man in that car. She ran out to speak to him and he wouldn’t stop,” (p. 159). Earlier in the novel, it has been established that Myrtle is having an affair with Tom, and uses him to escape her working-class reality into the fantasy of the American upper-class. She runs out to the road believing that Tom is “the man in that car,” and she could use him and his car to literally escape George and her humble roots. However, the car “wouldn’t stop” and as a result Myrtle was hit and killed, symbolizing how the dream to become elite is dangerous not only for people with money, but also for those