How Is Myrtle Presented In The Great Gatsby

According to F. Scott Fitzgerald, there are those who are the “pursuing” and those who are the “pursued”. In The Great Gatsby, Daisy and Tom are the ones being pursued by people like Gatsby and Myrtle. They are representations of Gatsby and Myrtle's desires, and as these two characters desperately chase after what they want, they lose sight of what they have in the moment. Their pursuit for their desires becomes obsessive as the story progresses and eventually leads to their demise. The difference in how these two characters death’s are portrayed by Nick conveys Fitzgeralds belief that regardless of how one pursues his or her desires, falling for temptations and forgetting what is important will lead to misfortune.
Myrtle’s demise demonstrates

From Gatsby’s childhood schedule, Fitzgerald establishes that Gatsby was going to make it far in life. It is when he comes across Daisy (who Fitzgerald characterizes as a siren by her “voice that men who had cared for her found difficult to forget” (9).) that his life begins to follow a path of obsession. Even though Gatsby and Myrtle both chased after people who represented their temptations (Daisy as an unobtainable first love and Tom as status and wealth), only Gatsby is regarded as good when Nick mentions that “Gatsby turned out all right at the end…” (2). The reason for this could be found near the end of the book when Gatsby tells the gardener to delay draining the pool, stating that “‘I’ve never used that pool all summer’” (153). The pool along with the mansion, the parties, and the fancy clothes were all part of Gatsby’s plan to seduce Daisy, never actually being enjoyed by Gatsby himself. Fitzgerald used this moment as a turning point for Gatsby, who begins to focus on himself rather than committing his life to Daisy. However, even though he tries to return to his ship, it is already too late as he has already passed the point of no return in order to chase the siren’s