Why Is Myrtle Wilson Important In The Great Gatsby

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,

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

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