Tom Buchanan And Myrtle Wilson In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

Imagine, a story where the author only describes the adventure not the characters who embark on it, where the reader was given no chance to love or hate the characters in the story. How an author describes a character greatly influences how the reader feels and reacts to the story. In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the reader is taken into another dimension with the amount of detail put into each character. The reader is given numerous opportunities to dig deep inside the novel and decide how they feel about each character introduced. Two Major characters in the story are Tom Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson, who are not happy with their spouses at home, and in result, have an affair. These characters are given great depth with

In a passage of The Great Gatsby where Tom meets up with Myrtle during their affair, he is very uncivil and shows he is above others by the words used to describe him. “‘It’s a b****,’ said Tom decisively. ‘Here’s your money. Go and buy ten more dogs with it.’” Tom makes his authority very well known when Fitzgerald uses the word ‘decisively’ to describe Tom’s voice quality. The way Tom’s presence is shown in this quote shows that he is very rude and throws his money around as though it means nothing to him. Furthermore Tom shows his cunning personality when talking to Nick. "’No, you don't," interposed Tom quickly. "Myrtle'll be hurt if you don't come up to the apartment. Won't you, Myrtle?’" Tom wants other to do what he wants but uses others to justify his wishes. He is described as ‘interposing,’ which means he is inserting himself into a situation. Nick just wants to leave the very odd predicament he is found in, but Tom doesn’t allow for it. The diction that Fitzgerald uses to describe Tom throughout this passage and throughout the story, gives the reader different perspectives on the character. Tom changes into a much more controlling and rude character in this passage specifically because of his character

Myrtle is married to a man named George Wilson but, has an affair with Tom Buchanan because he is wealthier and more put together. Throughout the passage given, the author refers to Myrtle every time as Mrs. Wilson not as Myrtle. This continuously reminds the reader that Myrtle is pretending to be this fancy, educated women, when that is not reality. Myrtle is not a wealthy person, she just aspires to be. Due to the author referring to her as Mrs. Wilson everytime is causes the reader to see that the character truly is just two faced. Additionally how Fitzgerald uses precise diction with describing Myrtle’s movements intensify her characterization. “But immediately she turned sharply from the window and leaning forward tapped on the front glass. ‘I want to get one of those dogs,’ she said earnestly.” Myrtle seems to feel entitled to things because she wants them. Her character grows much throughout this passage, particularly into a woman that does not like the life she has, so she does anything in her power, even having an affair, to change that. The reader sees how Fitzgerald uses diction to make Myrtle into a woman who is desperate to be in the top tiers of