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Similarities Between The Great Gatsby And Myrtle Wilson

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The American Dream is a concept that is embedded into the fabric of American society. The American Dream promises prosperity, social mobility and encourages the pursuit of happiness for all Americans. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, calls the idea of the American Dream into question through Gatsby Gatsby and Myrtle Wilson. The Great Gatsby demonstrates that the American Dream is unachievable, as both Gatsby Gatsby and Myrtle Wilson attempt to achieve it, but due to being impoverished, failing to find true love, and their sudden untimely deaths, it is unreachable, despite their social status. Both Gatsby and Myrtle are driven by their desire for wealth and high-class social status which they both want to lead them to their desired …show more content…

Similar to Gatsby, Myrtle attempts to climb the social ladder by seeking the affection of a man named Tom Buchanan, and unlike Gatsby, Tom has legitimate claims to his massive fortune. “I married him [George Wilson] because I thought he was a gentleman. I thought he knew something about breeding, but he wasn’t fit to lick my shoe.” Said, Myrtle (Fitzgerald 34). Myrtle seeks to elevate herself toward the American Dream with the help of Mr. Buchanan and, with his money and fortune, she could finally escape her dreary existence with Mr. Wilson in the Valley of Ashes and settle into her rightful place in Mr. Buchanan’s …show more content…

It is an escape from living in the unimaginable conditions in the Valley of Ashes. Myrtle’s obsession with wealth and social status drastically impacts who she loves. Her love for Mr. Buchanan is solely based on her need for a higher social status, for her American Dream. Being married to a dirt poor man is unbeneficial and causes her to disappear, but Tom Buchanan is the ideal man. Despite Tom’s abuse and deception of Myrtle, she still fights for his love to achieve her final goal which is the American

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1027 Words | 5 Pages

In the Great Gatsby it shows that the American Dream is failing and that it will never come true. Myrtle is one prime example of the failing American Dream she living with her husband in the Valley of ashe. Her husband have worked hard to get his gas business to work but it’s just not working. This shows the American Dream is just an idea for people to reach for but only same can make it. She is a beautiful young lady and she was uses that to her advantage with her boyfriend Tom Buchanan.

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2088 Words | 9 Pages

Although Gatsby and Myrtle rarely cross paths, there are ways they are alike caused by the influence of their want for a higher status. Their strive for

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287 Words | 2 Pages

Novelist, F. Scott Fitzgerald, in his novel, “The Great Gatsby,” contrasts Daisy Buchanan to Myrtle Wilson. His purpose is to illustrate the difference between the untouchable upper class and the obtainable middle class. He utilizes diction, imagery, and detail to differentiate these characters Through Fitzgerald's use of diction Daisy is portrayed as high up in social perspectives unlike Myrtle. Daisy is described positively, “Her face was sad and lovely with bright things in it, bright eyes, and a bright passionate mouth.” Her positive connotations depict her as high up and promising, like her social class.

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422 Words | 2 Pages

In the novel, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald uses characterization and symbolism to prove obsessing over the American dream will lead to greed. The characterization of Myrtle shows how obsession can manifest itself into greed. As Myrtle learned she was going out to party with Tom, the man she had an affair with, she dressed-up for the occasion and, “changed her dress to a brown figured muslin which stretched tight over her rather wide hips as Tom helped her to the platform in New York” (Fitzgerald 31). Myrtle was obsessed with her self-image. Before she learned she was attending a party with Tom, she displayed her authentic self by wearing clothes that represented her, then after she changed into an outfit that made her

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727 Words | 3 Pages

At first, Myrtle is just the woman helping Tom Buchanan cheat on his wife, until it is revealed that Daisy is also cheating on Tom. Myrtle is disgusted by her husband and his lack of riches and wealth and prosperity. It is stated in the book that she always felt that she was born to be sophisticated and wealthy and a participant of the upper class. Because of this, she doesn’t complain when Tom, a rich city boy, pushes himself upon her. Tom does not try to hide his affair by any means, which makes Myrtle think there is more there than really is.

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505 Words | 3 Pages

Myrtle’s death in the Great Gatsby is the death of the common man, in the great adulterated mirage of the 1920s that is the American Dream. Myrtle is first introduced as the wife of a poor engineer in the valley of ashes. She is another one of the many people who are in the dark underside of the American Dream. She desperately tries to escape her spot from the lower class living living in the Valley of Ashes by associating with the upper class as much as possible. Fitzgerald describes her apartment as “―a small living room, a small dining room, a small bedroom and a bath.

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625 Words | 3 Pages

Tom is a wealthy man, and Myrtle is a working-class woman. Their affair is seen as a sign of Tom's power

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793 Words | 4 Pages

Gatsby was born with nothing, and has spent his entire life striving to climb the social ladder all the way to the top. But even as he gained wealth and status, he became consumed with desire and greed. He obsessed over the green light--a symbol of the American dream-- that shone across the bay and no matter what he achieved, he always strove for more. This is similar to how Myrtle Wilson was dissatisfied with her position in society and strove to change it through her affair with Tom. This determination to be something more is eventually what leads to the downfall of both characters.

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1109 Words | 5 Pages

Gatsby and Myrtle persistently go after what makes them satisfied, which eventually leads to both of their deaths. Constantly chasing after what makes one content can frequently bring them to their collapse, as shown by Gatsby attempting to win Daisy’s love and Myrtle constantly chasing wealth. Constant desire for something that makes one happy usually results in their destruction, as displayed by Gatsby’s constant obsession with Daisy. Prior to when the novel takes place, Daisy and Gatsby plan to get married, which is disrupted when Gatsby is drafted into the army. Even though Daisy promises Gatsby she will wait for him, she ends up getting married to a wealthy and socialite man named Tom Buchanan.

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1260 Words | 6 Pages

In Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the American Dream, and its pursuit, poisons the characters and causes their downfall. Myrtle, trapped with a husband she loathes in The Valley of Ashes, dreams of a wealthy life. This results in her affair with Tom, Daisy’s husband, and her obsession with him. Myrtle longs for the life Daisy has, and her jealousy grows throughout the novel.

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985 Words | 4 Pages

In the novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald depicts how women in the 1920s used greed and deceit to advance in life through the characters Daisy and Myrtle. In the novel, the character Myrtle uses manipulation to improve her life since she is desperate for fame and money. Men profited in the 1920s

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1214 Words | 5 Pages

The classic American novel The Great Gatsby was written by F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1925. The book is set in the 1920’s, just following World War I and during the Prohibition era, and dives deep into the lives of some of the wealthiest people in New York. This period is notoriously known for heavy drinking and the booming economy- these themes are very prevalent in The Great Gatsby. Readers witness the characters living their luxurious lifestyles and hosting or attending lavish parties. Among all the characters in this story, there is one that some readers wish they knew more about: Ms. Myrtle Wilson.

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951 Words | 4 Pages

Within The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald presented Myrtle as a character who was unaffected by true love and craved extreme wealth. Many people like Myrtle in the 1920s felt having lots of money meant being able to live a luxurious and happy lifestyle. They refused to accept the idea of a simplistic lifestyle and always anticipated more. Fitzgerald’s writing revealed more than Myrtle constantly insulting her husband’s situation. He exposed the corruption of the “new” American Dream and the relationships it destroyed as a

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1890 Words | 8 Pages

Myrtle was a “gold-digger”, but she also believed that he would genuinely love her and pick her over Daisy, even though Tom gave no indication of doing so. Like Daisy, breathed out wealth, Myrtle had breathed out vitality and sensuality, hoping for Tom to chose her as his love and for him to give her riches and luxury. As for Daisy, much like Myrtle, was also chasing both money and love, at different points in her life. Daisy, initially wanted love, and she displayed that, by first waiting for Gatsby and then once again when she was newly married with Tom. Over time, like with Myrtle, this dream of love evolved to of riches further on in her life.

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660 Words | 3 Pages

Through the empty lives of three characters from this novel—Myrtle, Daisy, and Jay Gatsby—Fitzgerald shows that chasing hollow dreams leads only to misery. All Myrtle wants is a perfect and luxurious life. The

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