Myrtle Wilson The Great Gatsby

In “The Great Gatsby” by Scott Fitzgerald, Myrtle Wilson plays a role in not only her own death, but also the tragic demise of J. Gatsby. In chapter 2 she is described as “in her middle thirties and faintly stout” (29). Myrtle Wilson is the wife of degenerate garage owner George Wilson. She expresses her feelings for her decision on marrying George as “The only crazy I was was when I married him. I knew right away I made a mistake” (34-35). She regretted being married to her husband. She “thought he knew something about breeding, but he wasn’t fit to lick my shoe” (34), feeling as if her husband George wasn’t good enough for her. By her words, she displays her true feelings for her husband. This showed the character is selfish and has

Tom being rich, Myrtle felt as if because she is with him that he upgrades her to high class. She felt better with Tom because he was important, therefore, with George she felt miserable. Myrtle’s american dream was to become a wealthy man’s trophy wife. She has a strong desire for a powerful man to take care of her. Having to allow her money hungry mind take over, she allows Tom to beat her. Able to play a wealthy woman’s rule being involved with Tom, she began to act like a snob. Later in the novel, George finds out that she is in an affair, but not with who. He gets angry and locks her in their apartment over the garage he owns. Working sickly, George tries to make enough money to move out west to get her away from the city. Not respecting her husband’s decision, she tells him “Beat me! Throw me down and beat me you dirty little coward!” (144). She wants him to be aggressive and powerful like Tom, but he refuses. After having a heated discussion with George, she breaks out the apartment and rushes outside. Having to seen Tom driving Gatsby’s yellow car earlier, she sees it coming and dashes out in the road towards it. Not being her lover, Gatsby turns the wheel in Daisy’s hands, and tries to swerve out of the way. Tragically being foolish, Myrtle runs in front of the car and gets hit. The blow from the car to her body ended her life. Not only did her death upset both George and Tom, but it also ended