How Does Myrtle Symbolize In The Great Gatsby

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The american dream is what brought everyone to this country, the dream that if they worked hard enough that they to could be rich and have everything that they ever desired. This idea brought thousands of people but how much evil is done to achieve what is desired. The novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is about the chase for the American Dream and reveals the corruption that comes along with that chase and is demonstrated through the characterization of Gatsby and Myrtle, the symbolism of the yellow objects, and the setting of the Valley of Ashes.

Jay Gatsby has one goal in life, one dream that he has based his whole life on accomplishing, and that is winning Daisy back. He realises that daisy is attracted to the wealth and luxuriant lifestyle. she was raised in it and that's what gatsby felt like he needed to be for her, so Gatsby begins participating in illegal actions such as buying and selling “grain alcohol over the counter” (Fitzgerald 134) and being apart of the mafia.

Myrtle is a woman who desires a rich and famous lifestyle. because of this need she is drawn into an affair …show more content…

and for these reasons this is the most frequent color used by Gatsby to further more decisive people of who he actually is and gain the love of daisy. and while yellow symbolises power it also symbolises the decay, death, and destruction that takes place in the novel. right before Gatsby's death he declines the chauffeur3s help “and in a moment disappeared among the yellowing trees”(Fitzgerald 172) symbolizing his imminent death. also his yellow car, causing the death of myrtle, enrages george, and finally leading to Gatsby's death in the end. Then we come to daisy, named after a flower that has a beautiful yellow outside distracting you from the unpleasant white center. she is the true downfall of gatsby, with the killing myrtle and letting Gatsby take the entire blame for her