Myrtle's Emptiness In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

The novel, The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald is set during the jazz era, a time of celebration after the first world war ended. The story follows a number characters through their mysterious lives in West Egg, New York. The story primarily concerns a mysterious young man, Jay Gatsby and his passionate quest to win back his former love, Daisy Buchanan. However, while he yearns for Daisy’s love there happens to be a hidden emptiness or sadness during joyous occasions, showcasing Gatsby’s dreams of winning back Daisy will not come true. There are three parties spotlighted in which the gloomy undertone is revealed, showing that even the most joyous seeming occasions never stray from their elemental, morose tone. The first party that Fitzgerald highlighted, had shown Myrtle’ emptiness and her desperation for society life. Nick Carraway, the main character had been at the ‘party’ with Myrtle Wilson and Tom Buchanan and noticed that Myrtle, Tom’s mistress under the false elegance seemed desperate to replicate Tom’s wife Daisy, and live her high society lifestyle within that little party. “‘These people! You

This party had seemed to stand out from Gatsby’s other parties. while there had been an underlying emptiness there had also been tension. There had been spiteful tension between Gatsby and Tom, and romantic tension between Gatsby and Daisy. The entire evening Gatsby had mocked Tom in jealousy of the fact that he had Daisy and she wouldn’t leave Tom for him. “...but I felt an unpleasantness in the air, a pervading harshness that hadn’t been there before.”(Fitzgerald Page 104). The party itself seemed to have a bitter tone brought on by Tom and Daisy being there. while not as much underlying as the other parties the tone had shifted tremendously from the arrival of the married