Myrtle's Ambition In The Great Gatsby
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. Not just device to stir the conflict, Myrtle possesses her own snuffed-out dreams and tragic end. Myrtle radiates "an immediately perceptible vitality" (Fitzgerald 25) to attract Tom, and she uses that to escape her life with Wilson by making bold moves like "walking through her husband as if he were a ghost [...] looking him [Tom] straight in the eye" (Fitzgerald 25). A desperate Myrtle tries to secure Tom in hopes of a better life, her fleeting chance to …show more content…
Myrtle is slain by her quest for capital; Wilson becomes insane from his wife's affair and subsequent death; and Gatsby loses what he looked for his entire life, the past. All of these characters prove the tragic message that no matter one's dreams or ambitions, no matter one's money or determination, they can still fail or even die as a result of their
The Great Gatsby Rhetorical Devices
614 Words | 3 PagesThe Not So Great Gatsby In the cataclysmic novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald utilizes an array of rhetorical strategies to produce a tortuous and stratified narrative of unrealistic wealth, passion, and aspirations of ambitions. In Chapter eight this can be revealed by Fitzgerald using a shifting tone from solemness, to peaceful, then imagery to capture the painless death of Gatsby, and lastly an insightful perspective to recount the tragedy of the many deaths occurring in this final, fatal chapter of the book. Fitzgerald asserts the fantastical ethos of the Roaring Twenties. However he also censures the American Dream and how it manipulated the domination of wealth and authority in order to propose the idea that it will never be more than an illusion.
How Does Fitzgerald Present Myrtle In The Great Gatsby
487 Words | 2 PagesMyrtle 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.
Violence In The Great Gatsby
932 Words | 4 PagesIn the novel The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald set in the 1920s, a man named Jay Gatsby who became rich through illegal means tries to win the heart of a woman named Daisy Buchanan, Tom Buchanan’s wife. The wife of a garage owner named George Wilson, Myrtle, is also having an affair with Tom. Throughout the course of the novel, Tom and Wilson run into similar encounters. Both of them discover that their wives have been cheating on them and have comparable reactions. These discoveries and related events reveal their attitudes toward women and become violent.
Use Of Masks In The Great Gatsby
696 Words | 3 PagesMyrtle Wilson’s husband is named George Wilson, unfortunately, she is miserable being married with him. She is having an affair with Tom, “There is always a halt there of at least a minute and it was because of this that I first met Tom Buchanan’s mistress.” (Fitzgerald ## ) Nick Carraway implies that Myrtle is having an affair with Tom. Myrtle married George Wilson because she thought that he had money so she married him, later she discovered that he is not wealthy and married Myrtle with a borrowed suit. She feels better that she cheats on him with Tom Buchanan.
How Is Myrtle Wilson Portrayed In The Great Gatsby
977 Words | 4 PagesDifferent Women in the Unjustified Situations The Gilded Age was described, by those that bestowed the name upon it, as a time in history that showed incredible feats and fame on the outside, with grim appearances lying beneath. Similar to The Gilded Age in the late 1800s, The Roaring Twenties was filled with a booming economy and a radical change in thoughts and ideas in Americans. Unfortunately, as The Great Gatsby shows, maybe it all was not as good as it seemed. With the rising economy came the possibility of injustices, including males and females.
How Is Myrtle Presented In The Great Gatsby
725 Words | 3 PagesAccording to F. Scott Fitzgerald, there are those who are the “pursuing” and those who are the “pursued”. In The Great Gatsby, Daisy and Tom are the ones being pursued by people like Gatsby and Myrtle. They are representations of Gatsby and Myrtle's desires, and as these two characters desperately chase after what they want, they lose sight of what they have in the moment. Their pursuit for their desires becomes obsessive as the story progresses and eventually leads to their demise. The difference in how these two characters death’s are portrayed by Nick conveys Fitzgeralds belief that regardless of how one pursues his or her desires, falling for temptations and forgetting what is important will lead to misfortune.
Myrtle's Use Of Materialism In The Great Gatsby
966 Words | 4 PagesThe Moral Decay of the Materialistic Although F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby debuted in 1925– before the Great Depression– it serves as a prophetic exemplification of the the material excess of the 1920s that drowned out signs of the coming Great Depression. The book’s plot follows the bootlegger Jay Gatsby as he pursues his old love Daisy Buchanan through flaunting his new extravagant lifestyle, mainly by throwing ostentatious parties. Yet, in the end, Daisy chooses her unfaithful husband Tom over Gatsby. Through Fitzgerald’s use of wealthy, materialistic characters, he comments on the effect of the material excess of the roaring twenties: moral corruption.
Myrtle Wilson In The Great Gatsby
951 Words | 4 PagesFrancis Scott Fitzgerald once stated, “The loneliest moment in someone’s life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart and all they can do is stare blankly.” Throughout his famous work, The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald portrayed the American Dream. Contrary to the ideology of the “Roaring Twenties” society, he described the American Dream as a delusion. People of the era focused on materialism in order to boost their wealth and status and forgot the importance of their relationships. Several characters within the novel sought to gain a higher status in society.
Examples Of Duality In The Great Gatsby
884 Words | 4 PagesThe 1920’s was a very interesting time in United States history. After all World War I had ended and many Americans did not realize that the Great Depression was in the near future, so the 1920’s fell between these two dramatic events. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby teaches many morals, but none more important than the duality of the 1920’s. Duality is evident in Gatsby's dreams, his death, his lover Daisy, his wealth, and his parties, which all reflect the duality of the 1920’s. Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald makes the concept of achieving the American dream seem improbable.
Money And Power In The Great Gatsby Analysis
1149 Words | 5 PagesJust 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.
How Does Jay Fitzgerald Present Greed In The Great Gatsby
773 Words | 4 PagesThe Great Gatsby Greed can ruin a person’s life. F. Scott Fitzgerald shows this in his classic novel, The Great Gatsby, a sad love story about the rich title character, Jay Gatsby, and his obsession to win back the love of the now married Daisy Buchanan, his former girlfriend. The extravagant lifestyles of Gatsby and the wealthy socialites who attend his parties lead to lost dreams and wasted lives. These men and women are absorbed by material pursuits. In Jay Gatsby’s case, all the money in the world could not replace what he truly desires, Daisy.
The Great Gatsby Disillusionment Analysis
637 Words | 3 PagesThe Disillusionment of the American Dream is evident in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. The main characters that exhibit this through their lives are; Daisy Buchanan, Myrtle Wilson and Mr. Jay Gatsby. All of these characters hold on to their dream, but all of these characters are somehow let down. The first character, Daisy Buchanan, has the dream of love. She grew up in a very wealthy home.
Death In The Great Gatsby
865 Words | 4 PagesLiterary deaths always have a meaning, and the abrupt demise of various characters in The Great Gatsby is no exception. As tensions build and secret loves are proclaimed, characters begin to meet untimely deaths. F. Scott Fitzgerald uses Gatsby and Wilson's deaths, along with Gatsby's funeral, to symbolize the death of the American dream. Both men simply want to be successful and happy, and neither of them achieve their ultimate dreams.
Corruption Of The American Dream In The Great Gatsby Analysis
1756 Words | 8 PagesThe Corruption of The American Dream in The Great Gatsby In the novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald illustrates society in the 1920’s and the desire for the people with in it to achieve the American Dream, which embodies the hope that one can achieve power, love and a higher economic/social status through one’s commitment and effort. The novel develops the story of a man named Jay Gatsby and his dream of marrying what he describes as his “golden girl”, also known as, Daisy Buchanan, his former lover. Fitzgerald explores the corruption of the American dream through the Characters; Myrtle, Gatsby and Daisy.
Examples Of Hollowness Of The Upper Class In The Great Gatsby
995 Words | 4 PagesIn the novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald characterizes the 1920s as an era of decayed social and moral values. One of the major themes explored in this novel is the Hollowness of the Upper Class. The entire book revolves around money including power and little love. Coincidentally the three main characters of the novel belong to the upper class and throughout the novel Fitzgerald shows how this characters have become corrupted and have lost their morality due to excess money and success and this has led them to change their perspective towards other people and they have been portrayed as short-sighted to what is important in life. First of all, we have the main character of this novel, Gatsby who won’t stop at nothing to become rich overnight in illegal dealings with mobsters such as Wolfsheim in order to conquer Daisy’s heart.”
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