Once recited by the great Nick Carraway, “There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy, and the tired” (79). Chapter 5 of the book The Great Gatsby, reflects upon the experience that Jay Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan have together with the unfortuante Nick Carraway being trapped in the same room together. Carraway can be thought of as almost being a buffer in some instances. Everything becomes awkward at some point and that is what that buffer is for. Gatsby is the person that wants to be with Daisy again.
Myrtle having an affair on her husband with Tom shows she dreams of having money and being a part of the upper class social group. Myrtle wants the life that Daisy has with Tom, this is clear when they are at the apartment that Tom keeps. Fitzgerald shows Myrtle as being jealous of Daisy because when Tom gives her a puppy as a gift she talks about Daisy, Tom says sternly never mention my wife again.
In Chapter 5, Fitzgerald utilizes the weather to reinforce the mood. The rain outside mirrors the storms within, as Gatsby and Daisy meet again. Nick opens the front door and sees Gatsby “pale as death,” “standing in a puddle of water glaring tragically into [Nick’s] eyes” (86). The encounter between Gatsby and Daisy is awkward and silent with little remarks. Gatsby and Daisy have a tough time making conversation.
What do you find is the most crucial in the plot in Chapter 2? The most crucial part of chapter 2 is the fact that Tom is not only having an affair with George Wilson’s wife but also that he doesn't mind abusing her if she doesn't listen to him. It shows that his “cruel body” as Nick put it isn’t the only thing bad about him. It appears he has an abusive and cruel nature as well.
He exploits George’s desire to get ahead for his own purposes. Tom also takes advantage of Myrtle’s dissatisfaction. Like George, Myrtle is trying to rise above the lower class. However, she tries to get Tom to buy her as opposed to a material object. At an impromptu party, Myrtle’s sister Catherine tells Nick how neither Tom nor Myrtle “can’t stand the person they’re married to.”
On December 7, 1941 the Japanese fulfilled their attack on Pearl Harbor and this became the onset of the World War II for the United States. For the next few years the United States was fighting the war to destroy fascism in Europe and to get the Japanese out of the Pacific Coast. Many changes occurred which can be observed in the experiences of some groups and their home front experience. Although… Freedom during the war took on many definitions for the American people, for some groups freedom was denied all together. While women experienced expansions in their economic freedom, Japanese Americans experienced limitations in all aspects of their lives.
Meaning, that Myrtle is blind to the fact that Tom does not love her because in his he isn’t doing anything that he thinks is completely wrong. So much so that in chapter two he invites Nick to come meet Myrtle. Then Tom and Myrtle have sex together. However,
In Chapter two the reader meets Myrtle, Tom's mistress, she explains how she married George Wilson and how it was a mistake because he “borrowed somebody’s best suit to get married in” (35). Myrtle is a very classy lady who wants the riches in life and wants somebody who can supply her with these wants and needs. Tom is the guy that can do this for her and more, compared to Wilson he is more put together and wealthier and therefore Myrtle is attracted to him. George seems happy to have Myrtle as a wife and so he appears somewhat as a pushover when Myrtle orders him around he gladly obliges. Tom, however, is glad to have Myrtle as his mistress because she is of the lower-class, he likes to have someone that looks up to him and that can take care of him, not the other way around.
In “Chapter 20” of How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Thomas C. Foster examines the intertextuality of “Sonnet 73” from Shakespeare, “The Book of Ecclesiastes” from The Hebrew Bible, and Hotel du Lac from Anita Brookner, to explain that “for as long as anyone’s been writing anything, the seasons have stood for the same set of meanings” (Foster 186). People believe “that spring has to do with childhood and youth, summer with adulthood and romance and fulfillment and passion, autumn with decline and middle age and tiredness...,” and “winter with old age and resentment and death” (186). In the lyrical novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald applies the seasons of summer and fall to add rich, symbolic meaning to the events that unfold
Tom had an affair with Myrtle Wilson. In his affair with Myrtle, Tom verbally berates Myrtle. Since Myrtle is of a different class, he feels like a king, especially in her eyes. Tom buys her lavish gifts, but in the end he is so vulgar towards her. He verbally berated her, physically assaulted her, and yet it does not affect him.
Although Daisy tries to hide Tom’s affair, Jordan knows and explains to Nick that “Tom’s got some woman in New York” (15) and says that most everyone knows, because Myrtle doesn’t hide in the shadows. For example, when she calls Tom during dinner time it is her way of demanding recognition and attention. Overall, Myrtle’s prominent voice and actions that she uses to make herself known express an accurate version of a 1920s woman who was fighting for her rights and
Myrtle was the woman that Tom was having an affair with, unbeknown to Myrtle’s husband, George Wilson. Later in the novel, however, Wilson learns of his wife’s affair and decides to lock her in a room while he plans on forcing her to move with him across the country. Fitzgerald exhibits Myrtle’s confliction through the book by stating, “‘Beat me!’ he heard her cry. ‘Throw me down and beat me, you dirty coward!’
Tom’s altercation with Myrtle accentuates his hypocrisy and lack of self-control; while he doesn’t feel guilty for cheating on Daisy with Myrtle, he feels that he has the right to maintain his authority over Myrtle. In this same scene, Myrtle, who is also drunk, draws attention to the negative aspects of her personality.
Tom would always flirt with other women and engage in many sexual activities. Drama unfolded when Tom began to visit Myrtle Wilson, his mistress behind Daisy’s back and the relationship got more complex that even Jordan Baker, Daisy’s friend knew about the affair. Tom became more involved with Myrtle buying her gifts such as, a puppy and a dog leash resulting in confusion and dishonesty to both of their spouses. When George Wilson, Myrtle’s husband found out about her affair he wanted to move her out West with him. She did not agree with his decision so she tried to track down of she thought was Tom but instead behind the wheel was Daisy and in the passenger seat was Gatsby.
Myrtle is unhappily married to George Wilson but, having an affair with Tom. She says, ““I married him because I thought he was a gentleman,” she said finally. “I thought he knew something about breeding, but he wasn’t fit to lick my shoe”” (Fitzgerald 39). At the beginning of their relationship he was nice, but the longer they were together she realized who he was; a lifeless, exhausted auto shop owner; Myrtle was not satisfied with her current life situation.
