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Why Is The Great Gatsby Unattainable

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Great Gatsby, written by Fitzgerald, is set against the backdrop of the 1920s. The story of a man, Gatsby, a mysterious, wealthy individual, trying to get back his past lover, Daisy, is told from Nick's perspective. Throughout the novel, the author uses three examples to establish that going against fate is unattainable. The new rich will always lose against the old rich, as illustrated by Gatsby, escaping from the original hierarchy conveyed by Myrtle, and love between different social statuses doesn’t exist by the use of Daisy and Gatsby. James Gatz, a poor Midwestern boy, became the epitome of the American Dream. However, Gatsby, who is newly rich, collapses after competing with old money. Gatsby’s luxurious party, which serves as a demonstration …show more content…

Myrtle, the wife of George Wilson, dislikes her current social status and feels her husband is worthless. She moans, "I married him because I thought he was a gentleman." I thought he knew something about breeding, but he wasn't fit to lick my shoe" (Fitzgerald,1925,p. 34). Revealing to the reader that her marriage was done to elevate her social status. Eventually, Myrtle works hard to cheat with Tom to experience riches. For example, Nick states, “With the influence of the dress, her personality has also changed. The intense vitality that had been so remarkable in the garage was converted into impressive sophistication”(Fitzgerald, 1925, 5, P. G22). She acquired upper-class sophistication through a great deal of work to get along with Tom, highlighting her hard work to transcend her social status. Moreover, she was admitted by Tom after her efforts. However, she had died from the tragic death caused by Daisy, who is originally from the upper class. demonstrating that it is impossible to rewrite your status through hard work. In short, you can’t run away from your social status, which is chosen by

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The Great Gatsby is a timeless novel that examines the decadence and moral corruption of the wealthy class during the Roaring Twenties. Set in the lavish lifestyle of the elite class of Long Island, the book follows the tragic story of Jay Gatsby and his hopeless love for the charming Daisy Buchanan. The novel displays harsh criticism of the wealthy's excesses and their inclination to act immorally to achieve their goals. Through the characters and their actions, Fitzgerald depicts a society in which the characters are immoral to reach a goal. In Fitzgerald’s

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Myrtle is a young woman with an “immediately perceptible vitality” who is married to George Wilson, a low class man who runs a repair garage in the city (37). George Wilson is a loving and devoted husband to Myrtle, yet she carries on an affair with Tom Buchanan mostly based on his wealth. When describing the first time Myrtle laid eyes on Tom to her apartment party guests, all she mentions about him is that “he had on a dress suit and patent leather shoes” (44). Fitzgerald purposefully has Myrtle only mention things such as a nice dress suit that show wealth because it proves that desire for wealth can become overwhelming. In chapter 7, when Tom stops at Wilson’s garage for gas with Nick and Jordan “[Myrtle’s} eyes, wide with jealous terror, were not fixed on Tom but on Jordan Baker, whom she took to be his wife” (112).

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Furthermore, her husband George Wilson portrays the life she never wanted to experience. To Myrtle, George is simply an affable man. She only married him “because [he seemed to be] a gentleman. . . [but]he wasn’t fit to lick [her] shoe” (Fitzgerald 39). By “not being fit to lick her shoe”, Myrtle feels that George will never understand her desires in life, meaning that he is not the right person for her to marry.

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