Why Is Myrtle Important In The Great Gatsby
Everyone has fantasized about being rich and all the luxury that comes with it. However, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s writing of “The Great Gatsby” suggests how money ruins the lives of many. It ruins those who possess it and those who don’t. Fitzgerald explains through Myrtle Wilson, Jay Gatsby, and Daisy Buchanan that money and materialism causes us to lose sight of our values and what is truly important.
Myrtle Wilson is very desperate to leave the Valley of Ashes. It is an industrial wasteland full of pollution. Myrtle describes her husband as someone who “wasn’t fit to lick [her] shoe” and that she was “crazy when [she] married him” (34,35). Myrtle’s sister, Catherine, mentions that Tom was “the first sweetie she ever had” (35). When Myrtle is caught in an altercation with her husband, she runs out to what she thinks is Tom’s car,
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He believes he’s made it when he integrates himself with Daisy. Unfortunately, this victory won’t last long, and neither will he. Gatsby had run off from home young, leaving his family behind in the pursuit of money. “...his imagination never really accepted them as his parents at all” (98). Along the way, he meets Dan Cody, who teaches how to act rich. When he dies, “...the vague contour of Jay Gatsby had filled out to the substantiality of a man” (101). In due time, he reconciles with Daisy and gets into an affair with her. However, when Daisy kills Myrtle, he starts to lose her as she and Tom “[conspire] together” (145). Gatsby has lost when George comes and kills him. This shows what money does to a man. It has left three people killed, including himself. Daisy was never loved by Gatsby, at least, not her person. Daisy is this symbol of achievement for Gatsby. If he marries her, then he’s made it. He throws his parents aside and yearns for a girl he, probably, would never have. He involves himself with a married woman and covers up her murder. All for this golden
How Does Myrtle Survive In The Great Gatsby
840 Words | 4 PagesMyrtle is the quintessential example of an impoverished woman living in the twenties, with an aspiration to reach the romanticized upper class through a rich aristocrat named Tom Buchanan. Although she thinks this is possible mean of escape, an aristocrat like Tom would never be seen with a measly peasant such as Myrtle. We see early on that Tom could have easily taken her out of poverty and into his lifestyle, but he chooses not too. Myrtle is resentful of her husband for putting her in her current situation, saying small remarks such as, "The only crazy I was was when I married him.” (23) Myrtle doesn’t understand that she will never be accepted into a higher social class.
How Does Daisy Lose His Time In The Great Gatsby
945 Words | 4 PagesHowever, Daisy was a rich girl while Gatsby was a poor boy, which made the couple socially unacceptable. He figures out that in order to get her attention, he had to have money. So, he made a fortune through bootlegging and held grand, expensive parties. He sacrifices everything for her, just for a chance of reclaiming the life they had. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gatsby’s obsession with returning to the past ultimately leads to his death because he thinks that Daisy has not changed, he cannot get Daisy to admit she does not
Examples Of Greed In The Great Gatsby
454 Words | 2 PagesIn the story Gatsby lies about his life background in order for Daisy to love him and be accepted by her. “And it was from Cody that he inherited money- a legacy of twenty-five thousand dollars.” “Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay.” Gatsby develops an obsession with wealth and status and recastes himself as the wealthy man he envisions to be.
Why Is Myrtle Important In The Great Gatsby
887 Words | 4 PagesMany people believe that money can not buy happiness, however, for the characters in The Great Gatsby, wealth and material possessions are essential as it gives them leverage on the social hierarchy. Scott Fitzgerald uses a covetous way of thinking through the characters as Daisy has an unhealthy obsession with money, Myrtle lives with a materialistic mindset and Gatsby parades his wealth by throwing parties to gain attraction from others. The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald shows society's poor mindset through the characters as Daisy has an infatuation with money, Myrtle has a money-grabbing attitude, and Gatsby flaunts his wealth through parties to attract others. These characters lie to themselves to fit into society which is a lesson even today’s
Effects Of Wealth In The Great Gatsby
1195 Words | 5 PagesWealth changes a person , whether the money is made yourself vs if you got money passed down, can make you very different. This is going to be shown in this essay by the characters Tom, Daisy, and Gatsby, from the book “The Great Gatsby” by F.Scott Fitzgerald. The idea of how wealth can Change you is about how if you were born into it, you can become disconnected with regular life and become a very ungrounded unhappy person. However, if you make your own wealth you still have goals and experiences that keep you grounded.
Examples Of Myrtle In The Great Gatsby
677 Words | 3 PagesDoesn’t her husband object?’ ‘ Wilson ? ‘ He thinks she goes to see her sister in new york. He’s so dumb he doesn’t know he’s alive. ‘ “ This quote stands out because it shows how different Myrtle and Tom’s lives are.
The Great Gatsby Cynicism Analysis
409 Words | 2 PagesHe goes through whatever it takes in order for him to achieve as much wealth as he can in order to achieve his dream of reuniting with Daisy. Gatsby fails to accept his
What Does Myrtle Wilson Mean In The Great Gatsby
1163 Words | 5 PagesShe grew to resent her own husband for being poor and unable to provide her with the lavish things Tom gave her. When talking about why she had married her husband when she seems to dislike him so much Myrtle explained, “‘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. ’”(pg. 34). Myrtle assumed that her husband, George Wilson, was a man who would be able to provide for both of them and wanted to live a comfy life.
Similarities Between Daisy Buchanan And Jay Gatsby
518 Words | 3 PagesJay Gatsby is a man that is obsessed with obtaining his wealth and social status in order to win Daisy back. In the novel “The Great Gatsby”, Gatsby states, “‘I want you and Daisy to come over to my house… I’d like to show her around’” (Fitzgerald 89). Gatsby believes that if Daisy knows he has money, it will allow her to see that he is capable of being a part of her life and the lifestyle she lives.
How Does Myrtle Change In The Great Gatsby
1131 Words | 5 PagesIt was all very careless and confused. They were careless people, Tom and Daisy—they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made” (Fitzgerald, pg. 179). Meanwhile, the elite are protected from any struggle, and seem to always succeed “...of the very rich without their protective armor of wealth. The thirst for money is a crucial motive in Gatsby as in Fitzgerald's other novels, and yet none of his major characters are materialists, for money is never their final goal. The rich are too accustomed to money to covet it.
Superiority In The Great Gatsby
1163 Words | 5 PagesThe Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, tells a story defined by class. Nick, the narrator, gives us insight into three disparate groups of people: the East Egg crowd, represented by Tom and Daisy Buchanan, who were born into wealth; the West Egg crowd, represented by Jay Gatsby, who “pulled himself up by his bootstraps,” so to speak; and the people in the Valley of Ashes, represented by Myrtle Wilson, who have only an illusion of superiority. Myrtle Wilson and Jay Gatsby pursue relationships with the Buchanans in order to feel as though they are of their class. Myrtle uses Tom to support her feelings of superiority, while Gatsby uses Daisy to forget what he has learned about wealth since they first met. Both want to the impossible: to have
Comparison Between Winter Dreams And The Great Gatsby
1374 Words | 6 PagesGatsby has spent his whole life trying to prove to Daisy and everyone around him that he is worthy of her. The only way to be on the same social level as her is to turn himself into new money. Since this is not possible, he has to try to convince to others that he truly is old money. To do this, he becomes rich, and lies about his past, but the only way for him to complete this idea is if he is with Daisy. She is the final piece in his American dream.
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.
Myrtle's Ambition In The Great Gatsby
1052 Words | 5 PagesAlthough 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.
How Is Myrtle Portrayed In The Great Gatsby
236 Words | 1 PagesMyrtle portrays her loneliness through cheating on her husband Tom. Myrtle is deceitful and dishonest to her husband by having the affair and is also careless for not feeling the need to cover it up. Myrtle chooses not to hide the affair by leaving the house dressed up fancy with the excuse that she is going
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