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Relationship Between Tom Buchanan And Myrtle In The Great Gatsby

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In the novel, The Great Gatsby, the two characters, Tom Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson have opposing points-of-view on the topic of their relationship. In chapter 2, the reader is introduced to Tom’s mistress, Myrtle. Myrtle and Tom are both cheating on their spouses with each other, and they both have a great attraction to each other. Though the pairing have chemistry, they have two completely opposing understandings of their relationship. Tom sees their relationship as only a temporary expedient, and an ego booster. He does not plan on starting a family with Myrtle or even marrying her. Myrtle’s sister, Catherine, states “his wife [is] keeping them apart. She’s a Catholic, and they don’t believe in divorce” (Fitzgerald 33). Catherine’s line …show more content…

Tom is only using their relationship to satisfy his needs and to, once again, feel superior to others. While Tom only sees their relationship as a temperpory fling, Myrtle sees the complete opposite. Myrtle sees her relationship with Tom as something romantic, and she even wants to get married to him. In chapter 2, she states, “‘I want to get one of those dogs…They’re nice to have — a dog’” (Fitzgerald 27). In this context, getting a dog would be similar to having a baby. Myrtle wants to get a dog to keep in her shared apartment with Tom to show her domestic sentiments. She believes that by getting the dog, Tom will become even more committed to her, and he might even finally leave Daisy for her. Fitzgerald could also be using a dog to symbolize loyalty, as that is the characteristic trait associated with dogs. This further shows that Myrtle wants Tom’s loyalty or commitment. She believes that their relationship is more than a fling, and that Tom truly loves her. Fitzgerald wants you to agree and sympathize with Myrtle's character rather than

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Myrtle Wilson is looking for superiority. To begin, Myrtle is described as a “woman in the middle thirties and faintly stout,but she carried her flesh sensuously as some women can.” By reading this quote one can tell that Myrtle is an aggressively attractive woman. She 's the wife of George Wilson, who is a lower-middle class man. In order for Myrtle to achieve superiority, she needs to attract Tom as he’s the gateway to her superiority and gaining of socioeconomic status.

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Her blonde hair closely resembles a golden color, signifying money and material success— and her desire and reliance for both. Fitzgerald describes Daisy with the line(s): “Her face was sad and lovely with bright things in it, bright eyes and a passionate mouth,” describes her light, joyful personality that also masks her underlying sadness (Fitzgerald 9). Myrtle Wilson, on the other hand, is more of a bold and vivacious woman. When we have our first encounter with Tom Buchanan’s mistress, she is wearing a “spotted dress of dark blue crepe-de-chine”, which is fitting considering the color of blue symbolizes dreams, aspirations/hopes, and the ultimate bliss (Fitzgerald 25). Myrtle dreams of a life with Tom, where she falsely hopes and believes they will both be able to live “happily ever after” together.

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Myrtle is Tom Buchanan’s lover, her husband George owns a rundown garage in the valley of ashes and she possesses fierce vitality and desperately looks for ways to improve her situation. Sadly she chooses Tom who treats her as an object of his desire. She is mid-thirties, short and plump but carries her extra flesh voluptuously. She wears clothes that are stretched tight over her fairly broad hips. (Fitzgerald p.28) Myrtles personality and behavior show that she wants to climb the social status with her acute manner and vigor.

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She carries her full figured self to attract the eye of her lover. Myrtle is a foolish girl believing that the only reason Tom does not leave Daisy is because she is Catholic, which is far from the truth. “And I couldn’t keep my eyes off him, but every time he looked at me I had to pretend to be looking at the advertisement over his head.” (Fitzgerald 36) Myrtle plays dumb when it comes to Tom having an interest in her when they first met on the train.

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Within the story, Myrtle Wilson Uses Love as a weapon to deceive both George and Tom for the purpose to gain for herself. When Myrtle, Tom, and Nick start strolling around the city, they encounter a man with a box of puppies that are worth 10 dollars each to where Myrtle asks the dealer “How much is it”? And Tom buying replying “Here’s your money. Go and buy ten more dogs with it”(Fitzgerald 28). A prime example that Myrtle uses her love for Tom so she can gain access to buy rich accessories, dogs, or etc because unlike Tom, George is pretty poor, which indicates that he can’t use money to look cool or get pets because again, he can’t afford it.

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Myrtle yearns for high social status and for her husband to not be able to afford a proper suit to at least look presentable and respectable foreshadows his inability to make the climb of the social ladder with her. Her past feelings regarding her husband no longer mattered to her because he would not give her the luxurious life she has been dreaming of. When she saw Tom on the train she disregarded her husband, she thought over and over, “‘You can’t live forever; you can’t live forever” (Fitzgerald 36). She understands that she wants a life much greater than the one she has settled for with George. Myrtle ironically emphasizes that life is short and therefore she should at least live a life in comfort.

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Yet her thoughts were still affected by money:” I want to get one of those dogs she said earnestly”(Fitzgerald 27) When Myrtle first gets together with Tom she immediately starts to become greedy and wants to buy a dog with Toms money. Leading to Tom being intimidated by her which makes her out to be crazy because her and Tom both lose control of their actions resulting in a brutal ending. Tom to Myrtle represents the life she doesnt have and the wealthy lifestyle Wilson couldn’t give her:”Beat me! He heard her cry..Throw me down and beat me, you dirty little coward!” As soon as Myrtle was told she was going to move away from Tom and his money she thought now that her life was over, causing her to throw herself into traffic and die.

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Myrtle was married to George but that didn’t stop her from getting with someone else. Myrtle was having an affair with Tom which ended up setting off a chain reaction. Myrtle was hit by a car that Daisy was driving under the influence, but because Gatsby loved Daisy so much, he took the blame for her death. But if Myrtle would have never gotten involved with Tom's relationship it would have never happened and she wouldn't even be a piece in the story.

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She is in love with the concept of money that Tom can provide her. Tom and Myrtle are in a relationship, but they both are having an affair. Myrtle has an affair with Tom. She saw the affair as a way out of her marriage, but Geogre, her husband, finds out about it. The only relationship with no affair was Nick and Jordan.

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Myrtle, as a woman of the 1920’s, should be a paragon of feminism and independence, however, she is used by Fitzgerald in order to show how unrealistic these ideals truly are. As a lower-class female living in the valley of the ashes, Myrtle has no chance of achieving the goals of the ‘new woman’ of the 1920s, and consequently, must try to gain upward mobility by seducing Tom Buchanan. She believes that as his mistress she will be able to overcome the barriers between her lower-class life and her upper-class dreams, but in the end, Tom only treats her as a glorified pet he can treat however he wants. This is seen when Tom, “[breaks Myrtle’s] nose with his open hand.” P.g.30.

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Tom acts as an escape from poverty for Myrtle and her life changes drastically depending on which man shes spends her time with. With George, she continues to live a poor life filled with hard work but with Tom, she is able to live comfortably and lavishly. Her social standing and quality of life are directly connected to the man she’s

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“ So Tom Buchanan and his girl and I went up together to New York—or not quite together,” - Fitzgerald 26. Nick explains that Tom and Myrtle are having an affair. Basically Myrtle is with Tom only for his money and tries to get everything she wants without any consequences. “ Making a short deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand”- Fitzgerald 37. Later in the chapter Tom doesn’t like how Myrtle is talking about Daisy and decides to punch her, it shows how Tom is only with her to feel more in power, feel more higher than

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In her response, she briefly explains how she believed that Wilson would improve her life. Instead, Myrtle feels restrained in her marriage with Wilson and feels her only option is to have a secret affair with Tom. By entering into a relationship with Tom and trying to improve her social status, Myrtle is attempting to take control of her life and find some happiness. Clearly, this quote from Myrtle explains how women in the 1920s didn't look for true love, it was only about wealth. Another example is when Myrtle sees Gatsby's car driving past her house.

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What she doesn't understand, in any case, is that Tom and his companions will never acknowledge her into their circle. (Notice how Tom has an example of picking lower-class ladies to lay down with. For him, their frailty makes his particular position considerably more prevalent. Strangy, being with ladies who seek to his class improves him feel about himself and enables him to sustain the dream that he is a decent and imperative man.) Myrtle is close to a toy to Tom and to those he speaks to.

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Tom is married to Daisy Buchanan and the only reason why they have not divorced is because, Daisy is a catholic and “catholics do not believe in divorce”(37). However, Myrtle is married as well to George Wilson, which she is not happy to be with and is having an affair with Tom. The only difference is that Tom has always had an affair with multiple women which shows that he may not even be taking Myrtle as serious as she is towards him. For example, according to the story, “ Some time toward midnight Tom Buchanan and Mrs. Wilson stood face to face discussing in impassioned voices whether Mrs. Wilson had any right to mention Daisy’s name. Myrtle shouts, Daisy!

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