Why Is Myrtle Important In The Great Gatsby

Many people believe that money can not buy happiness, however, for the characters in The Great Gatsby, wealth and material possessions are essential as it gives them leverage on the social hierarchy. Scott Fitzgerald uses a covetous way of thinking through the characters as Daisy has an unhealthy obsession with money, Myrtle lives with a materialistic mindset and Gatsby parades his wealth by throwing parties to gain attraction from others. The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald shows society's poor mindset through the characters as Daisy has an infatuation with money, Myrtle has a money-grabbing attitude, and Gatsby flaunts his wealth through parties to attract others. These characters lie to themselves to fit into society which is a lesson even today’s

Daisy’s emotional behaviour around material goods helps the reader see her fixation on wealth. Daisy cries, “‘They’re such beautiful shirts,’ [...] ‘It makes me sad because I've never seen su-such beautiful shirts before’” (76). Unlike many people, Daisy cries when viewing the luxurious shirts because of their quality and costliness. Daisy seems more interested in clothing and material possessions than how she is seeing Gatsby for the first time in a long time. Additionally, Gatsby is not affluent when Daisy meets him, yet, she says she will wait for him to return from enlistment to marry. Yet, to the contrary, she quickly marries Tom for his fortune, leaving Gatsby behind. During an argument, Gatsby angrily reveals the truth about Daisy to Tom yelling, “'she only married you because I was poor’” (Fitzgerald 105). Daisy puts wealth over love and can not see that her infatuation with materialism has taken over her life. She seems to live in an illusion where wealth is more important than anything else and that is

Myrtle is an imposter to herself as she pretends to have servants to seem wealthy in front of Nick Carraway when he visits: “‘I told that boy about the ice.’ Myrtle raised her eyebrows in despair at the shiftlessness of the lower orders” (26). This shows how Myrtle tries to fit in with the wealthy by acting like other upper-class people. In this case, Myrtle talks about a nonexistent servant boy she allegedly orders to get more ice. She puts on a facade to look one way that is not her. Moreover, Myrtle marries George Wilson regretfully after hearing about how his wedding suit was not new: “‘I knew right away I made a mistake. He borrowed somebody’s best suit to get married in, and never told me about it’” (28). Myrtle's feelings towards George are not just because he borrowed his wedding suit but rather because he can not afford to buy a new one. Myrtle's reason seems unfair to her husband as not being able to buy a new suit should not change your love for a person, yet her need for being recognized as wealthy is so strong it clouds her judgement. Marriage should not be for wealth but rather for love. Unfortunately, she gets neither out of this relationship. Myrtle lies to herself to feel a sense of belonging with the