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Myrtle's Position In The Great Gatsby

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In the novel, “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the female characters, Jordan Baker, Daisy Buchanan, and Myrtle Wilson, throughout the whole novel, all have the same motive which is achieving their desired social position through cheating. Jordan Baker is a very wealthy and famous golfer who will do anything to achieve her goal which is very beneficial to her social position. Like Jordan, Daisy Buchanan is very wealthy as well and married to one of the richest men in East Egg, Tom Buchanan. However, when she finds real love, Gatsby, she denies it because she wants to keep her social position. Like Daisy, Myrtle cheats on her husband and had an affair with another man who is Tom Buchanan. Myrtle wishes that she could live the upper class lifestyle rather to the poor lifestyle in which she is in. This leads to the disrespect towards her husband because she wants to leave her …show more content…

Tom did not like this and decided act upon it by breaking her nose with his open hand. However, this does not change Myrtle’s opinion being with Tom. Throughout the whole novel, Myrtle still does not treat her husband with respect and wishes that she could be with Tom instead as she cares only about her social position. Unlike Myrtle, Jordan Baker already has the social position that Myrtle was dreaming of. Jordan Baker is a very famous golfer and wealthy woman. However, she is a cheat not in just golf, but at life as well. Nick Carraway, the narrator of the novel, describes her as “incurably dishonest” (Fitzgerald 158) She uses men for her own sexual pleasure which is evident through the quote “insolent smile turned to the world and yet satisfy the demands of her hard, jaunty body.” (Fitzgerald 158) Her social position and wealth makes her very attractive to many men. However, during Gatsby’s party, Jordan hangs out with Nick and Nick senses a start of their relationship with one

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Throughout The Great Gatsby, Myrtle Wilson desired to fit in with the upper class; however, her marriage to George Wilson prevented such from occurring. Myrtle failed to recognize her husband’s hard work and true character due to her efforts to rise in social status. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald emphasized Myrtle’s hatred towards her marriage through her conversation with Catherine, depicting how people of the twenties focused more on wealth and power compared to moral American values. As readers closely evaluate the moment of Myrtle’s dialogue, she dictated her feelings towards her marriage in a way that supposedly justified her infidelity.

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Tom’s altercation with Myrtle accentuates his hypocrisy and lack of self-control; while he doesn’t feel guilty for cheating on Daisy with Myrtle, he feels that he has the right to maintain his authority over Myrtle. In this same scene, Myrtle, who is also drunk, draws attention to the negative aspects of her personality.

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