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Why Is Myrtle Wilson Important In The Great Gatsby

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A life of luxury requires an arduous journey of dedication to achieve it. To embody the American Dream, one must strive to succeed. However, some may go too far in the process, and make irreversible decisions. This dream of copious amounts of wealth causes multiple characters in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s well-known novel The Great Gatsby to perish from selfishness. Based in the roaring twenties, also known as the jazz age, Fitzgerald sheds light on a major problem in society. Since a poor farm boy in North Dakota, to a rich gangster in New York, Jay Gatsby has been in pursuit of the American Dream. This dream lead Gatsby to believe that money and wealth can buy anything, even happiness and love; ultimately leading to his downfall. Daisy Buchanan, …show more content…

Known as a member of the lower class, Myrtle tried to marry herself into the elite class. She wanted to live a life of luxury, and be the person that all women looked up to. To achieve this, she tried to exploit George Wilson. Looking back on her marriage, Myrtle says “‘I knew right away I made a mistake. He borrowed somebody’s best suit to get married in, and never told me about it, and the man came after it one say when he was out…’” (Fitzgerald, 35). By basing George’s wealth on his looks and personality, Myrtle banishes herself into a life in the valley of ashes. This reveals how materialistic Myrtle. How she only cared about George for his money, which he turned out to have none. This is an example how Myrtle is corrupted by the idea that the American Dream will exalt her to a higher social status and wealth class. In turn, it leads to why she partook in her affair with Tom Buchanan. To her, Tom is an advertisement for the American Dream. A rich, well-respected man is Myrtle’s golden ticket out of poverty. The desire to become an upper class citizen ultimately destroys her. Because Myrtle was having an affair with Tom, it was iron that Daisy was the one to kill her.. In the end, Myrtle chasing after the American Dream only ended up in despair and …show more content…

However, she had a dream of her own. Part of it was revealed when Daisy spoke of her child’s birth during a dinner with Nick Carraway, Jordan Baker, and Tom. Daisy recalled saying “I’m glad it’s a girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool – that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful fool.” (Fitzgerald, 17). This passage reveals that she wants her daughter to be a ‘beautiful fool’ so that she may fall in love and not have to worry about the harsh realities that life can include. Overall, I feel like she wants her daughter to be beautiful in order to marry a husband that may sweep her off her feet and allow her to be carefree. Daisy wants this for her daughter, because living a naive life was part of Daisy’s American Dream. Eventually, it ended up dealing more harm than good because she was overwhelmed when she was fought over by Gatsby and Tom. The confusion that sprouted from the fight revealed the other part of Daisy’s dream. Daisy refuses to let go of her vision of the perfect American Dream, and she carries these dreams with her, unable to adapt to new situations. After Myrtle is hit and killed by Daisy, Daisy couldn't let herself accept responsibility.. She needs her life to continue to be a perfect, simple, and carefree life because it is all she knows. Following this idealism, she abandons Gatsby and scurries back to her husband, Tom. This results in Daisy leaving before

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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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Mr. Buchanan’s wealth and ego makes him a bully and leads him to believe that he is entitled to anything he desires. Myrtle, being the one below Tom and Daisy in social stature, is expected to obey Tom. Myrtle obnoxiously says, "Daisy! Daisy! Daisy!"

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In this quote, Myrtle speaks snobbishly while imagining that she sounds fancy. In this quote, Myrtles’ yearning to become a part of the upper class can be seen very easily. In order to create a false impression of being wealthy, she becomes a complete braggart. In fact, Myrtle talks about how she shouldn’t have married into a lower class, and that she only married Wilson because she thought he was a gentleman. In reality, Myrtle is not part of the upper class at all and lives in a tiny garage in a dusty, forgotten place known as the valley of ashes.

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The most accurate representation of one’s character and morality is their actions. In the opulent neighborhoods of the East Egg and West Egg, the majority of characters act immorally and dishonestly, especially towards inferior counterparts living in the Valley of Ashes (Elmore 428). Characters in The Great Gatsby are defined by their actions behind the wheel; often, driving ability and cars indicate character's attitude towards life and their relationships. Fitzgerald often uses cars as a means of revealing “carelessness and materialism of his characters” (Lance 29). Fitzgerald consistently uses personification to link cars with the personality of its driver, further developing the connection between characters and their driving.

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1183 Words | 5 Pages

Myrtle Wilson just so happens to be George Wilson’s wife, and the woman Tom is cheating on Daisy with. George Wilson, is a very poor man, and lives in the Valley of Ashes. George knows that Myrtle is cheating on him but cannot really do anything about it. Myrtle Wilson is an insecure women who loves that she is sleeping with a rich man. Tom is the type of man that wants a woman he can control just like Myrtle and his wife, Daisy.

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Before meeting the man who would show her what living with a lot of money was like, Myrtle was just a simple woman. Her life might’ve been very monotonous, but at least she was living a good enough life. Some might argue that money did bring her a lot of happiness and didn’t destroy her happiness, but that is wrong because her infatuation with living in riches is what causes her to die, destroying any happiness she could have ever experienced in the future. The narrator states in chapter seven that Myrtle while speaking to George Wilson exclaims, “‘Throw me down and beat me, you dirty little coward!’ " A moment later she rushed out into the dusk, waving her hands and shouting before he could move from his door the business was over.”(pg. 137).

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1052 Words | 5 Pages

Although the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald emphasizes the parties and prosperity of the American 1920's, it reveals many major characters meeting tragic ends. The characters who meet these ends - Jay Gatsby, Myrtle Wilson, and George Wilson - possess the same tragic characteristic: they endeavor for something more out of their lives than what they have. This ambition for what they could not have ultimately spelled their doom: Gatsby wanted money and Daisy; Myrtle wanted wealth and luxury, and sought it from Tom Buchanan; Wilson earned what he could only to please Myrtle. The Great Gatsby reveals a tragic nature through the trials and tribulations these characters endure to progress and prosper, only to receive death for their ambition. The exciting and wild time period of the "Roaring Twenties" provides a stark contrast to the deaths in order to further highlight the tragic nature of the novel, and leaves a theme that even those with the most hope and strong ambitions can fail and die miserably, no matter how much money they have.

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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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1261 Words | 6 Pages

The novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a classic 20th century story -that period was also known as the “roaring twenties”- which critiques the vision of the American Dream people in general have. At that time, the idea of a free market, and industrial revolution provided the opportunity for many to seize the market and people were starting to see that they could become rich without having any type of restriction. New York city was the centre of this wealth-creating society. After the war, this movement generated new opportunities and ambitions for people wanting to start a wealthy upper class life. That period of time was all about alcohol, partying, gambling, fashion, and money.

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1439 Words | 6 Pages

Humans, by our very nature, are always striving to achieve more in life. Unfortunately, our materialistic society, and that of the Roaring Twenties, interpret this as striving for wealth. That pursuit often becomes all-consuming, eventually hindering our pursuit of gratifying life goals. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald depicts wealth as a fraudulent thief whose pursuit must be abandoned for the sake of tangible fulfillment. He illustrates the dangers of attempting to find gratification in wealth through the life of Jay Gatsby, who ironically sacrifices morality, identity, and love in order to gain wealth, which he attempts to use to justify his claim to these very things.

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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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1756 Words | 8 Pages

Through the character Myrtle the reader can see the portrayal of the low and ignorant class of America. Myrtle is the wife to George Wilson,

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1140 Words | 5 Pages

The American dream stands as a symbol for hope, prosperity, and happiness. But F. Scott Fitzgerald 's The Great Gatsby, examines the American dream from a different perspective, one that sheds light on those who contort these principles to their own selfish fantasies. Fitzgerald renders Jay Gatsby as a man who takes the Dream too far, and becomes unable to distinguish his false life of riches from reality. This 'unique ' American novel describes how humanity 's insatiable desires for wealth and power subvert the idyllic principles of the American vision. Jay Gatsby is the personification of limitless wealth and prestige, a shining beacon for the aspiring rich.

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1149 Words | 5 Pages

Just like Daisy, Myrtle chooses money over love. She cheats on her husband George with Tom. Myrtle was a woman from the lower class who desired to be a part of the higher class. Tom spoiled Myrtle and gave her the lifestyle she always wanted. She belittles her husband and talk bad about him because he is not at the top of the social ladder where Tom is.

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1399 Words | 6 Pages

Myrtle is accustomed to living an underprivileged life where feminine power engulfs her, but Tom is too egotistical to allow Myrtle to speak with such authority to him. Similarly, Gatsby’s need for assurance from Daisy pressures her into revealing to Tom that she never loved him (Fitzgerald 132). Deep down, Daisy knows that she truly did love Tom once, but Gatsby’s assertiveness and persistence drives her over the edge to telling Tom that what the two of them shared meant nothing to her. Daisy’s attribute of being a pushover is revealed immensely because she refuses to stand up for herself. Daisy is used to enabling Tom to constantly control all aspects of her life, and that leaves her powerless in society.

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