Minor Characters In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

F. Scott Fitzgerald's famous novel, The Great Gatsby, transports the reader into the Jazz Age of New York. The story portrays the narrator's, Nick Carraway, interactions with the peculiar millionaire Jay Gatsby. Throughout Fitzgerald's book, he uses minor and major fictional characters that have a purpose and represent a deeper meaning that plays a vital role in the telling his story. Even the minor characters are included for a reason, conveying a hidden message that the reader can dissect to understand the book's meaning. Although the roles may be small parts, all play a crucial part in moving the plot forward while adding a new underlying meaning to the story.
Conventionally, most novels introduce characters by their first names, but Fitzgerald

After she gets hit by Daisy Buchanan, the events leading up to Gatsby's death begin to occur. George Wilson, Myrtle's husband, believes she is having an affair with Gatsby after he finds the leash for a dog she had previously bought for herself. George believes her alleged affair is with Gatsby, but it is Tom Buchanan who she is cheating with. Myrtle longs for more in her life and finds security and a sense of fulfillment in her relationship with Tom, that she can not find in George. Mrs. Wilson strives desperately to carry a "facade of wealth and respectability" (Lehan 1), doing whatever it takes to achieve it. Tom takes her out of the Valley of Ashes, where she lives, giving her a sense of belonging in the higher class. Therefore she stays with him no matter how inconsiderate he may be. Fitzgerald uses her to show the pressure put on individuals in this time to fit in with the higher class. She stays with Tom because he relieves the tension and helps her attain her dream. Myrtle is very fond of him because, to her, he is a knight in shining armor who saves her from living in the filth of the Valley of Ashes. The feelings Myrtle has for Tom are mutual because Myrtle has "qualities that [are] foreign to his wife" (Kersh 1). She is portrayed as a captivating symbol of the nurturing qualities of the Earth. Myrtle offers him "an entry into a world" (Kersh 1) he can not enter with

Wilson works to fulfill his working-class dream by performing arduous labor. Mr. Wilson is described as an “anemic and spiritless man” (Lehan 2) who has worked so long and hard for the majority of his life that he has lost touch with himself. Though George Wilson is lower class and has to work hard for his living, Mr. Wilson and Gatsby have some similarities throughout the book. Both of their goals in life are to attain their different dream realities. Gatsby's is to win back Daisy, while Mr. Wilson's is to live a happy, comfortable life. These two men experience torment from Tom Buchanan all through the novel. Tom “robs [George Wilson] of Myrtle” (Lehan 2), who is his last source of his energy as well as his happiness. Gatsby’s experience is similar to George's because Tom married Daisy before he could. Tom takes Daisy from him, causing Gatsby to be unable to live a satisfied life. Both men are affected dramatically by not being able to have the women they love. After Myrtle dies, George blames Gatsby for her death. He is so overcome with rage that he decides to kill Gatsby, but he does not know that he is killing his “ideological brother” (Lehan 3). Fitzgerald uses them to show the resemblance in the problems of the lower and upper class; how they may seem or feel so different but are closer in