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How Does Myrtle Wilson Relate To The Great Gatsby

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“There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy, and the tired.” The Great Gatsby was written by Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald and published in 1925, it is a novel about the dangers of excess and the disintegration of the American Dream. The American Dream is, that with enough work and determination, anyone, from any background, can achieve anything they want. This is shown in the story through the lives of three characters, Jay Gatsby, Nick Carraway, and Myrtle Wilson, as they deal with love and the ramifications of the past among the wealthy of Long Island. The American Dream is connected to The Great Gatsby through the characters of Jay Gatsby, Nick Carraway, and Myrtle Wilson, as they all pursue their similar, yet differing versions of the American Dream. Jay Gatsby is the archetypical, yet corrupted …show more content…

Gatsby has worked hard, struggled, and ultimately triumphed, journeying from humble origins to the peaks of wealth. “I picked him for a bootlegger the first time I saw him, and I wasn’t far wrong.” Though Gatsby has fulfilled his American dream, it is corrupted by crime and desire. Gatsby represents a polluted American Dream, one that was initially pure, but has been compromised by crime and eventually crumbles like a house of cards. Nick Carraway follows The American Dream in a different and more virtuous way than Gatsby. “My family have been prominent, well to do people in this Middle Western city of three generations.” Nick contrasts with Gatsby in his upbringing, with Gatsby being born a poor farm boy, and Nick being a child of the middle class. “I decided to go east and learn the bond business.” Nick takes on a traditionalist pursuit of the American Dream, utilizing hard work in his pursuit of it rather than criminal methods. Nick and Gatsby are opposites in how they follow the American Dream, with Nick taking on an idealized climb towards it, while Gatsby takes a darker route towards his

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How Does Myrtle Wilson Criticize In The Great Gatsby

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The American Trio F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Novel “The Great Gatsby” criticizes the American Dream because people who come from nothing wind up run over or with a bullet to the back of the head. Myrtle Wilson, Jay Gatsby, and George Wilson all represent American Dreamers, they came from nothing and tried to pull themselves up and in the end they all die at the hands of the wealthy. Myrtle attempts to pull herself up from nothing by marrying into a higher social class. However, she marries Wilson and then he turns out to be very poor. She comments on the fact that she cried all afternoon when she found out Wilson was poor and that she felt like an idiot for marrying him.

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How Is Myrtle Wilson Portrayed In The Great Gatsby

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Different Women in the Unjustified Situations The Gilded Age was described, by those that bestowed the name upon it, as a time in history that showed incredible feats and fame on the outside, with grim appearances lying beneath. Similar to The Gilded Age in the late 1800s, The Roaring Twenties was filled with a booming economy and a radical change in thoughts and ideas in Americans. Unfortunately, as The Great Gatsby shows, maybe it all was not as good as it seemed. With the rising economy came the possibility of injustices, including males and females.

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Similarities Between Myrtle Wilson And The Great Gatsby

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A wise woman once said, “Your identity is your most valuable possession. Protect it.” Actually, that’s a line from the movie, The Incredibles, but the quote still holds true in the real world without the superpowers depicted in the film. Identity is the culmination of values, beliefs, and passions. As we grow up, we begin to form our identity, and different upbringing can result in alternate identities.

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Who Is Myrtle Wilson Victimized In The Great Gatsby

1744 Words | 7 Pages

Caroline Goveas Mrs. C. Custodio ENG 3U1 8 May 2023 Patriarchal Perpetuation and Victimization in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald Human rights lawyer and Nobel Peace Prize Winner Shirin Ebadi once said “Women are the victims of this patriarchal culture, but they are also its carriers” (Ebadi). In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic American novel, The Great Gatsby, women portray the changing ideologies of femininity in 1920s society, yet continue to perpetuate the patriarchal structure, by which they are victimized. Women of the 1920s are perpetually criticized by male characters, specifically by Nick Carraway, the narrator. In particular, Myrtle Wilson is manipulated to serve the desires of men, both willingly and unwillingly. Furthermore,

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Fitzgerald's Use Of The Distinctive Voice In The Great Gatsby

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Despite what the title suggests, within “The Great Gatsby”, Jay Gatsby is neither truly great, nor even named Gatsby. His elaborate transition from James Gatz to Jay Gatsby, both literally and figuratively changing his identity, completing an ingenious façade to replicate the essence of greatness Gatsby sees in the aristocracy. Although Gatsby attempts to build his own greatness through material wealth, his only means is through the criminal activities of Wolfstein, with this unsavoury connection to the insidious underbelly of New York City undermining Gatsby’s quest for greatness. It is only from the distinctive perspective of Nick Carraway that the idea of Gatsby as “great” emerges. As explained by Carraway, “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us” (pg. 140), this glamourous hopefulness being what attracts Carraway towards Gatsby, with Gatsby representing the idea of the American Dream for Nick Carraway.

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What Does Myrtle Wilson Represent In The Great Gatsby

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“In the beginning, some people try to appear that everything about them is "in black and white," until later their true colors come out.” As humans, we do this in order to keep life as simple as possible, but it is an undeniable fact that there is more to us than meets the eye. That quote was written by a man of the name Anthony Liccione. He is an American writer who produces books, but people know him for his sophisticated yet simple quotes. Though this quote has no correlation to F.Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the meaning of it relates to several significant characters.

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The Role Of Myrtle Wilson In The Great Gatsby

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The American dream is defined as the land of possibilities, where mankind can achieve their dreams of wealth and recognition of being capable with no barriers; however, in a world where social order is essential, the ability to fit in with the upper class becomes more challenging. In Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, the characters, Jay Gatsby and Myrtle Wilson share the same ambition of achieving the American Dream where Gatsby strives to fit into the upper class with the use of wealth to win the heart of Daisy Buchanan, whereas Myrtle is determined to obtain wealth and status through her love interest, Tom Buchanan, but ultimately, due to their social position in society, they are permitted from accomplishing the American dream.

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How Is Myrtle Wilson Portrayed In The Great Gatsby

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As a class, we have spent a lot of time discussing the American dream. We have examined its origins, meanings, and how it is represented in the media. But throughout this unit I’ve always circled back to one question: is the American dream worth it? With its representation in The Great Gatsby and the way I’ve seen it affect my loved ones, is this ideal really worth all the pain?

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Compare And Contrast Nick Carraway And Jay Gatsby

366 Words | 2 Pages

Jay Gatsby and Nick Carraway are two of the most important characters in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. Throughout the novel many comparisons and contrasts can be made, however, this may be arguably the most important due to the magnitude of importance of these two characters and the roles they play in progressing the story. Jay Gatsby, a fabulously wealthy young man living in a Gothic Mansion in West Egg and the protagonist, throws constant parties every Saturday night, but nobody has much insight about him. Nick Carraway, a young man from Minnesota who lives in New York City to learn the bond business, is typically an honest and tolerant man. Although they do share some similarities, they also share a plethora of differences in their

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What Is Myrtle Wilson's Role In The Great Gatsby

1590 Words | 7 Pages

The depiction of women various throughout time and places. Until the twentieth century, women were vaguely thought of, dependent on the man to create history, and represent humanity. And then the roaring twenties hit, a time where women’s suffrage started and the creation of a new idea, a new breed of women is beginning. Swenson tells us that The Great Gatsby is nothing but a poor misconception of women, demeaning them to mere objects, stating that the novel’s “interpretation of a 1920 woman’s role in society and lacks appreciation for the increasing economic and social liberation of women at the time” (Swenson). All of these changes are creating new people, a new era; something of freedom, liberation, and the idea women could be independent,

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The Great Gatsby Foil Essay

810 Words | 4 Pages

He provides a critical perspective on the illusions of the American Dream. As an outsider who does not hold the same ideals for grandiose as all his peers, Nick can see through the facades of glamour and see the hollowness within. Nick reflects on Fitzgerald’s own skepticism towards the American Dream and all its empty promises. We can see Fitzgerald’s rich symbolism throughout the novel in his attempts to pull back the curtain on the American Dream. The green light at the end of Daisy’s dock symbolised Gatsby’s hopes and aspirations being forever out of reach, yet tantalisingly close.

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Corruption Of The American Dream In The Great Gatsby Analysis

1756 Words | 8 Pages

Gatsby was a man who came up from essentially nothing by gaining his money through bootlegging and other illegal acts in order to gain a reputation in society. Gatsby’s constant desire to accomplish more in his life demonstrates the corruption of the American Dream. It is evident that Gatsby has had a thirst for the American dream since a young age, this is shown when Gatsby’s father says: “Jimmy was bound to get ahead. He always had some resolves like this or something. Do you notice what he’s got about improving his mind?

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The Theme Of Death And Resurrection In The Great Gatsby

597 Words | 3 Pages

It stopped being about working hard and keeping your morals, and Gatsby shows this by obtaining his fortune through lucrative, illegal means. Nick Carraway is also incredibly important in illustrating the allegory of the American Dream and how it is vapid and dying in the current age. Nick reveals how lonely and empty Gatsby is, and how he tries to fill that hole with money and love, and tries to gain love through money. The Great Gatsby shows how the American Dream isn’t really a goal of success and happiness and fulfillment, it’s a goal of power and vanity and luxury.

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The American Dream In The Great Gatsby Essay

1133 Words | 5 Pages

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby is a reflection of the American Dream. Written in 1925, the book tells the story of a man named Jay Gatsby, whose main driving force in life is the pursuit of a woman called Daisy Buchanan. The narrator is Gatsby’s observant next-door neighbor, Nick Carraway, who offers a fresh, outsider’s perspective on the events; the action takes place in New York during the so-called Roaring Twenties. By 1922, when The Great Gatsby takes place, the American Dream had little to do with Providence divine and a great deal to do with feelings organized around style and personal changed – and above all, with the unexamined self .

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Perversion Of The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

1021 Words | 5 Pages

Gatsby’s hard work is evident in the efforts he puts into working for Dan Cody, his service in World War I, his work in remedial jobs such as clamming and almost as a janitor, and his brief time spent at Oxford University. Nick’s encounter with Gatsby’s father after Gatsby’s death further demonstrates the effort Gatsby puts into planning his journey of self-improvement by setting a daily schedule of studying, working, exercising and “[practicing] the art of elocution, poise and how to attain it”. Per the American Dream, this would result in his success, however Gatsby does not receive Dan Cody’s inheritance, drops out of Oxford, and only achieves wealth after resorting to illegal business and bootlegging. Gatsby’s character displays how the American Dream is corrupted through lack of morals leading to wealth, while honest hard work does not. This is better portrayed in the novel, which describes Gatsby’s journal of self-establishment in detail – such as Gatsby’s “schedule” – that is not evident in the film.

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