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The American Dream Character Analysis

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3.4.2. George and Myrtle Wilson (Working class)
The American Dream certainly is not alive and well for the poor Wilsons who live in a place that is miserable and depressing called the Valley of Ashes. We meet George and Myrtle Wilson in Chapter 2, both blue-colar class people who are working to improve their lot in life, George through his work, and Myrtle chases after wealth and status through an affair with Tom.
George is an honest, hardworking man, trying to make ends meet with his small automobile garage. His life and dream centered on his wife. Upon meeting George, Nick notices a damp gleam of hope sprang into his light blue eyes (2.28). This shows that he really wants to go forth with his dream. However, there is one major issue with George, he is not strong enough to completely chase out his dreams. George himself is portrayed as a “spiritless man, anaemic and faintly handsome” (2.26). Tom also confirms that George “doesn 't know he 's alive”. George even lets Tom humiliate him in the hope of getting a good price on Tom 's car. Despite his persistence and honest work, he and Myrtle remain trapped in their social class, unable to move up. Wilson seems miserable and lifeless and poverty seems to have taken a toll on him. Wilson 's garage 's interior was “unprosperous and bare” and the only car visible was “the dust-covered wreck of a Ford”. The absence of cars shows how little work Wilson actually gets as a mechanic, which means the lack of a decent income. When Tom
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