Myrtle’s Importance in The Great Gatsby The Great Gatsby is a book about the unattainable American dream, and is widely loved for its symbolism and universal themes. Every character and place has its own symbolism behind it that can be deeply analyzed and understood. One of these is Myrtle. Myrtle is in the Valley of Ashes in New York as George Wilson’s wife, who eventually dies from a car crash. Myrtle is an important part in The Great Gatsby because she symbolizes the lower class, materialism, and the death of the American dream. Myrtle is represented in the book as the lower class. There are three main places where characters live in The Great Gatsby; West Egg, East Egg, and the Valley of Ashes. The most notable people who live here in the Valley of Ashes are George and Myrtle. When Nick & Tom arrive in the Valley of Ashes, they remark on how terrible of a place it is (26). This shows how they are in a more awful place compared to the others like Nick & Gatsby in West Egg and the Buchanans in East Egg, making them lower class. Nick also remarks on an abandoned Doctor T. J. Eckleburg sign, which foreshadows later in the book (23). This abandoned sign is another indicator on how where they live is the worst of the three places, where the most notable thing in the area is …show more content…
When Myrtle, Tom, and Nick are in a car driving, Myrtle notices someone with dogs and immediately wants to buy one, despite Tom having no attention towards it (27). This shows her materialism, as she seems to not care about Tom at all, she just cares about the money he has so she can buy things. Shortly after, Myrtle Is shown to be constantly buying things on the way to their apartment (28). This further shows her materialism and carelessness towards Tom. Since she is the lower class, she leans on people like Tom so she can buy expensive things and seem higher class, showing that she is
Krissy Gear Mrs. Jones IB English III 29 September 2015 Myrtle vs. Daisy and the Use of Color Imagery The Great Gatsby is a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. In this essay I will be contrasting the characters of Myrtle Wilson and Daisy Buchanan, paying close attention to Fitzgerald’s use of color imagery to characterize them. The Great Gatsby takes place in New York; primarily in two cities know as East and West Egg, which lie opposite from each other, separated by a river. The book is Nick Carraway’s recollection of his time spent in New York after moving there to start in the bond business.
Tom acts as an escape from poverty for Myrtle and her life changes drastically depending on which man shes spends her time with. With George, she continues to live a poor life filled with hard work but with Tom, she is able to live comfortably and lavishly. Her social standing and quality of life are directly connected to the man she’s
Myrtle is a very outgoing girl who is happy and content with her life. She is married to George who sells used cars to make money. ¨George Wilson’s neglect of his “dust-covered wreck of a Ford...” (Little 4). Georges car symbolizes how poor they are, that they cannot drive or fix their car. Myrtle attends all of Gatsby's parties, and is always enjoying herself no matter what.
She makes it obvious that she is only interested in wealth and materialistic objects. Myrtle is portrayed to be foolish and adulterous who leaves her husband George for Tom Buchanan because of his wealth. She is
The Great Gatsby is a 1925 novel that includes objects and ideas with deeper meanings than they appear. Throughout the book, there are multiple things that show great importance in fully understanding the concept and idea of what it was like to live during the 1920s. There are simpler symbols in The Great Gatsby, such as the valley of ashes and the colors used, but then there are others more elaborate, like the green light that Gatsby always reaches for and the disguise that money seems to bring. Symbolism also appears in the setting, too. West Egg and East Egg both hold a certain significance to understanding what type of people live in the area.
These show that even though she can't afford these finer items, she's willing to put her marriage in jeopardy just to try and live as she can. Thus, her dream of living a life of luxury is just impossible since she wasn’t given the same opportunities as others and sacrificed more than she gained. Myrtle was a bad person; she lied to her husband to live like a higher-class person, used other people's money to afford these items, and ruined her husband's life. Her greed led to the deaths of her husband and Jay
If the settings in this story were bland and boring, would there be as much growth and depth to the characters? Well, not only are the settings essential to describe the characters, but they are also necessary for critical events in the story. The settings in The Great Gatsby bring more depth to the story with foreshadowing and imagery. This essay will talk about how each area of in The great gatsby is vital to the plot and helps build to the end and add character that makes the book an American classic. East and West Egg are both very similar but simultaneously completely different, and even though they have a similar shape and size, the people who live on the eggs give the two areas their differences.
Nick, the narrator, first meets Myrtle while on a trip with Tom. Myrtle lives in The Valley of Ashes which represents the death of American dreams. "Myrtle Wilson's husband, who was retreating swiftly into the background, knew nothing except that he was in some manner in Myrtle's company and that he had no right to be there," (Fitzgerald 7). According to this quotation, the characters have given up on the moral obligations of marriage and adopted the hedonistic way of life of the Jazz Age. Additionally, Daisy, Nick's cousin, is immediately attracted by Gatsby the moment she meets him and learns of his wealth.
When Myrtle begs Tom for a dog, he nonchalantly hands her too much money and “decisively” says “Here's your money. Go and buy ten more dogs with it” (Fitzgerald 28).Tom’s angry and ‘decisive’ tone of voice is because he uses Myrtle’s must assert dominance through materialism. As, Myrtle does not need ten dogs, yet Tom wishes to flaunt both his wealth and dominance by commanding her to buy them. Because of Tom, Myrtle also lives in excess and must face moral corruption. As after she buys the dog, Nick describes that
In the Great Gatsby, the valley of ashes is the dark side of the American Dream. The valley of ashes was a wasteland created by the waste of industrial ashes, which represented the lower class of society decay that results from not pursuing of wealth and those who have not yet achieved the American Dream. In the valley of ashes lives Myrtle and George Wilson, which George is owner of an old auto shop in the valley of ashes. Myrtle Wilson is the mistress of Tom Buchanan, which she later dies by getting hit by Daisy Buchanan in the valley of ashes. After Myrtle dies in the valley of ashes Jay Gatsby tell Daisy to say that he was the one that killed daisy.
Throughout The Great Gatsby, Myrtle Wilson desired to fit in with the upper class; however, her marriage to George Wilson prevented such from occurring. Myrtle failed to recognize her husband’s hard work and true character due to her efforts to rise in social status. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald emphasized Myrtle’s hatred towards her marriage through her conversation with Catherine, depicting how people of the twenties focused more on wealth and power compared to moral American values. As readers closely evaluate the moment of Myrtle’s dialogue, she dictated her feelings towards her marriage in a way that supposedly justified her infidelity.
In the novel, The Great Gatsby, the two characters, Tom Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson have opposing points-of-view on the topic of their relationship. In chapter 2, the reader is introduced to Tom’s mistress, Myrtle. Myrtle and Tom are both cheating on their spouses with each other, and they both have a great attraction to each other. Though the pairing have chemistry, they have two completely opposing understandings of their relationship. Tom sees their relationship as only a temporary expedient, and an ego booster.
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
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,
George Wilson is a pitiful character who craves a lot of sympathy. He is clearly desperate to make his wife happy. Sadly he is not capable to keep her happy. He really loves Myrtle, but is unable to buy her a wonderful life she desires, a life of comfort and wealth. They lived ashy place literally it was called The Valley of Ashes, surrounded by gray, grim decay: a symbol of their terrible existence.