Examples Of Myrtle Wilson In The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby a is a fictional telling of the lives of the rich and the poor in the 1920s. The novel illustrates the dreams of the characters and their limited grasp on reality. Fitzgerald uses character portrayal and important objects to shape the faults of dreams. The novel manages to use literary devices to substantiate the shallow personality of the characters. Through characterization and symbolism, the novel emphasizes that people live in their own imagination and refuse to fully accept reality when in pursuit of a goal, leading to a life lacking substance or meaning. The novel uses characterization to properly depict the fantasy world people create when in reach of a dream. Myrtle Wilson is the poor wife

Myrtle refuses to believe anything else, so when her friend compliments her dress she snobbishly states "‘It's just a crazy old thing,' she said ‘I just slip it on sometimes when I don't care what I look like"' (Fitzgerald 31). Myrtle rejects the compliment to emphasize her wealth or at least the wealth she believes she is destined for. Myrtle's character pushes her to accept only the reality she wants, not the one life has cruelly given her. This rejection of truth leads Myrtle to essentially live a lie. Every action she takes is to create her fantasy, allowing her to miss the enjoyments of the world that are real. Her husband that loves her is deemed only as a hurdle in Myrtle's mind making her avoid the opportunities of happiness that already await her. Myrtle's sad affliction with her dreams of riches reaps the joys out of her life. Myrtles empty soul is torn between two worlds, one real and unappreciated and the other a smoke of imagination. Fitzgerald uses symbolism to emphasize her double life in physical terms. Myrtle's home is inside the valley of ashes, a region where the

Thirst, however, translates into stalker-like obsession in the case of James Gatz, who eventually becomes Jay Gatsby, a millionaire, who hosts exuberant parties with the hope that the girl he loves may someday walk in. Gatsby renounces the life he was given to be with Daisy, a shallow and empty socialite married to Tom Buchanan. He puts his dirt poor parents behind and journeys to become a rich and affluent man, one that Daisy would approve of. He calls himself an "Oxford man" and becomes a prosperous bootlegger and hides his past behind his money to earn Daisy's approval. Gatsby's refusal of reality in pursuit of a dream is represented by a green light. The beginning of the novel Gatsby is caught staring at a green light at the end of the dock, signaling the early development of the expedition for Daisy (Fitzgerald 21). The green light is the dream Gatsby imagines, the dream of he and Daisy living in his mansion happily in love. Gatsby gave his whole life in pursuit of Daisy without considering she could have moved on. Gatsby's obsessive dream allows him to reach for Daisy all while ignoring any and all possibilities of failure. Gatsby creates a vision of Daisy as a goddess, believing she remained the same as when he first met her years ago. The green light represents Gatsby's fictitious world, where he imagines his dreams are destined to come true. Gatsby refuses to accept reality.