Myrtle's Use Of Allegory In The Great Gatsby

The desire for money, prosperity, and happiness exists deeply within the nature of every human beings, and serves as one of the most fundamental and powerful motivations that will lead one to strive, improve, prosper and eventually fulfill his dream. However, everything has two sides—when the desire overgrows into obsession and starts controlling that person rather than let letting the person control it, the so called motivation will turn into greed and as a result, catastrophic events will happen. In the award-winning novel The Great Gatsby by Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald, many characters suffer from their own desires and ultimately end their life in tragedy in their blind pursuit of these values. Fitzgerald uses allegory through characterizations

In the novel, Fitzgerald depicts the character Myrtle as someone who is pursuing a luxurious and wealthy life to the point that Myrtle is willing to give up her morality in trade for it. Being born into a family of the lower class and having a strong desire for money, Myrtle did not choose to earn the money through hard work but rather by having an affair with a married man- Tom, as a married woman. The detailed descriptions of the contrary between Myrtle as “Mrs. Wilson” who wears a “spotted dress of dark blue crepe-de-chine” and “contain[s] no facet or gleam of beauty” (Fitzgerald 29), and “Myrtle” who dresses in an “elaborate afternoon dress of cream colored chiffon” establish a sense of dream and reality which thoroughly reveal her inner greed for wealth and to become a member of the upper class. Her sick desire for money that has completely taken

Being a wealthy man who lives in a mansion, has “two motor-boats slit the waters of the Sound” and drives a “Rolls-Royce” which becomes an “omnibus, bearing parties to and from the city,” Gatsby seems to have accomplished his tangible desire for money (43). However, desires also include intangible ones such as desire for love. In his long term yearning for Daisy for decades, the desire for Daisy’s love has gradually possessed him, blinded him and become his only goal in life. The sickness of this desire is revealed when Gatsby is determined to keep every aspect of his idealized and perfect in front of Daisy-the mansion, the motor boats, the Rolls-Royce, and the enormously lavished party that he plans every week. Even after having the knowledge that Daisy is a married woman with a baby, Gatsby still chases after Daisy and simple ignores Tom. This betrayal to morality under his desire for Daisy also causes a tragic destruction to Gatsby’s