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Daisy vs. Myrtle In the novel The Great Gatsby by: F. Scott Fitzgerald, there are many differences and similarities between the female character’s Daisy and Myrtle. They both were very interested in Tom (daisy being his wife, and myrtle being his mistress). One was physically appealing; the other was considered “Stout”. They were also in a since terrible people in a way. There are also many differences between the two. Daisy was a very rich woman, who thought that rich girls couldn’t marry poor boys. Myrtle on the other hand, was a lower class. They both show this through the way they dress, and what part of town they live in. A reader would be lead to believe that only one of them was really worth Tom’s time and appreciated him the most. …show more content…
Daisy and Myrtle have a few things in common.
They both are cheating on their husbands. Daisy is cheating on Tom with Gatsby, and is in love with him deeply. Myrtle is married to George, but she continues to have an affair with Tom. While Daisy’s husband is a terrible person, and overall does not care too much for her, Myrtle’s husband does. George adores Myrtle, and is very devastated by the fact that she does not care about him. He also does not like the fact that he is being cheated on. Tom treats both of the women very poorly. He acts as if they are an object of his possession. This is another way these ladies are the same. They are both in a lower class then there lovers. Along with the things they have in common they have many things that are different between the
two. Moreover Daisy and Myrtle share many differences. Daisy lives in a bigger, better part of town then Myrtle does. This causes the reader to believe that Daisy is more about the materialistic side, and just wants money, but so does Myrtle. Daisy is described as being skinny, and beautiful, while Myrtle is described as being “Stout” or “stocky”, and not physically pretty. “...her face contained no facet or gleam of beauty" (29-30). They also dress in many different ways. Daisy wears mainly white but Myrtle dresses with more color. Myrtle uses the way she dresses to keep up with the lifestyle (or image of being rich) everyone thinks she has. Myrtle lives in the valley of ashes, in a dusty old house that doubles as a garage that her husband owns. A reader would be inclined to think that the valley of ashes is not a very nice, or appealing place to live considering the description that Fitzgerald gives "...a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hill and grotesque gardens."(23). There has to be a reason why Fitzgerald has chosen her to live in this type of place. It is inclined to believe that the way she lives and how she dresses is symbolic to the way she uses people, in order to appeal richer. Daisy lives in East egg , with tom her lover. East Egg is where the "real" aristocrats live: those with older money and established credentials. This reflects daisy’s personality. It is very obvious in the ways that daisy and Myrtle are the same, and different in “The Great Gatsby” By; F. Scott Fitzgerald. They distaste the person they are married to. They both are head over heels for tom, but for different reasons. Myrtle show’s Tom love that Daisy rarely shows Tom. Both of them love Tom but Myrtle show’s that Tom means more to her than Daisy. Daisy is with tom, because she has the need to be loved. Myrtle is with him because of his social status, and how handsome he is. In the end Daisy and myrtle are similar and different, but are both wrong for cheating on their significant others.
Myrtle appears as the total opposite character to the Daisy. She is ‘thick, faintly stout” (Fitzgerald 29), but “sensuously” and “immediately perceptible about her vitality” (Fitzgerald 29). She is the woman from “the bottom” who wants to be acceptable as a lady from the upper class. She is terribly vulgar, but she is more alive and natural than Daisy is. The unpleasant scene in their apartments, where Carraway appeared because of Myrtle’s invitation, is full of the philistine contentment and boasting.
When the readers first meet Daisy, she is living the party lifestyle. Daisy is a nice woman, but she is very superficial (Fitzgerald 8). This tells the readers that although Daisy is fake, but is kind. On the other hand, when Myrtle is talking to Tom and her sister Catherine, she becomes defensive and aggressive. “The answer to this was unexpected. It came from Myrtle, who had overheard the question, and it was violent and obscene” (Fitzgerald 33). These to statements show that although they are both clueless, they have personality traits that set them
The Great Gatsby is an emotional tale of hope of love and “romantic readiness”(1.2) that is both admirable and meritorious .Yet, the question of Daisy ever being able to measure up to Gatsby’s expectations is one that reverberates throughout the course of the novel. Be that as it may, Daisy is never truly able to measure up to Gatsby’s expectations because the image of Daisy in Gatsby’s mind is entirely different from who she actually is. Even during his younger years, Gatsby had always had a vision of himself “as a son of God”(6.98) and that “he must be about his fathers business, the service of a vast, vulgar and meretricious beauty”(6.98). Gatsby’s desire for aristocracy, wealth, and luxury is exactly what drives him to pursue Daisy who embodies everything that that Gatsby desires and worked towards achieving. Therefore, Gatsby sees Daisy as the final piece to his puzzle in order realize his vision. Gatsby’s hyperbolized expectation of Daisy throws light on the notion if our dreams as individuals are actually limited by reality. Since our dreams as human beings are never truly realized, because they may be lacking a specific element. Daisy proves to be that element that lingers in Gatsby’s dreams but eludes his reality.
Daisy pretends everything in her life and her relationship with Tom is perfect when they are together. Similarly, Myrtle pretends that she is a higher class while she is around Tom. They both like to lead different lives, the only difference is Myrtle is somewhat happy with Tom while Daisy wishes to be with Gatsby.
Myrtle eventually had similar goals as Gatsby, but her life did not begin the same way. She was of the lower class of society and married a simple man. The two pursued a poor life, but Myrtle’s husband George was a decent man. Nevertheless, Myrtle became unsatisfied, and when the opportunity arose to better the quality of her life, she took it. Daisy’s husband Tom, an unfaithful, rough man not very committed to his marriage, began an affair with Myrtle.
Gatsby, Myrtle and Tom lie to themselves and others through their words and actions. Gatsby and Myrtle attempt to be social climbers; Gatsby loves the idea of Daisy and Myrtle loves the idea of Tom and what he can provide for her. They both try to appear as someone they are not: Gatsby tries to appear as a successful man who comes from a wealthy family while Myrtle longs to appear as an upper class woman. Their lies have tragic results since Myrtle, Gatsby and Mr. Wilson all die needlessly. However, Tom, who seems to be successful, lies because he is selfish and thinks only about fulfilling his personal needs. Clearly, The Great Gatsby demonstrates that deceiving others, for any reason, inevitably leads to tragedy for the individual and others who touch their lives.
Daisy Buchanan, this woman is crazy, uncaring, and many would argue cold hearted. She is married to Tom and yet, has an affair with Gatsby. Tom is her husband, a very well-off man that goes off and has affairs, and never attempts to hide the fact. Then there is Gatsby. Ah, Gatsby. The young man she was so in love with as a teenage girl. Tom and Gatsby have many similarities; from the fact that both Tom and Gatsby want Daisy all to themselves to the fact that they both love her. While they share many similarities they have far more numerable differences between them. The differences range from how they treat her to how rich they and what social class they are in, to the simple fact that Tom lives in “East Egg” and Gatsby in “West Egg.” Both the similarities and differences between these two men are what ultimately cause Daisy to believe that she is in love with Tom more than she is with Gatsby.
In the novel, The Great Gatsby, the two central women presented are Daisy Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson. These two women, although different, have similar personalities. Throughout the novel, there are instances in which the reader feels bad for and dislikes both Daisy and Myrtle. These two women portray that wealth is better than everything else, and they both base their lives on it. Also the novel shows the hardships and difficulties they have in their marriages. They are never satisfied with what they have, and are always longing for more.
Tom knew Myrtle better than any of the main characters. He had met her on a train headed for New York. When the train reached the city, she went with him in a taxi, and their affair began. Tom never made much of an effort to keep their relationship secret. In fact, he almost paraded her around in the presence of his acquaintances. They made frequent trips into New York so that they could be together. Myrtle was Tom's escape from his own life in East Egg. While Daisy provided him with a wealthy, acceptable social image, she was not much more to him than a mere possession. His affair with Myrtle offered him a chance to defy his social expectations. Their relationship was important to him because of this opportunity to escape. When Myrtle died, it shook him deeply, especially because he believed Gatsby had been driving the yellow car. After leaving George Wilson's garage the night of the accident, he managed to drive slowly until he and Nick were out of sight. Then he slammed his foot down on the accelerator, driving much faster. He began quietly sobbing, privately mourning her death. He immediately blamed Gatsby for bringing their relationship to an abrupt halt. "That God damned coward!" he cried. "He didn't even stop his car." His feelings of anger and hurt were greatly intensified by the day spent in New York....
The Great Gatsby, is a classic American novel about an obsessed man named Jay Gatsby who will do anything to be reunited with the love of his life, Daisy Buchanan. The book is told through the point of view of Nick Caraway, Daisy's cousin once removed, who rented a little cottage in West Egg, Long Island across the bay from Daisy's home. Nick was Jay Gatsby's neighbor. Tom Buchanan is Daisy's abusive, rich husband and their friend, Jordan Baker, has caught the eye of Nick and Nick is rather smitten by her. Gatsby himself is a very ostentatious man and carries a rather mysterious aura about himself which leads to the question: Is Gatsby's fortune a house of cards built to win the love of his life or has Daisy entranced him enough to give him the motivation to be so successful? While from a distance Jay Gatsby appears to be a well-educated man of integrity, in reality he is a corrupt, naive fool.
The Great Gatsby: Unfaithfulness and Greed. The love described in the novel, The Great Gatsby, contains "violence and egoism not tenderness and affection." The author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, writes on wealth, love, and corruption. Two coupes, Tom and Daisy Buchanan and George and Myrtle Wilson, match perfectly with these categories. Both couples are different in the way they choose to live together, but are similar in a few ways. Unfaithfulness and greed are the only similarities the couples shared.
Tom takes Nick with him to “meet [his] girl” (24), Myrtle, showing that he either trust Nick a lot or doesn't care if people know about his affair with Myrtle. Myrtle's husband George is also there when they meet. We learn that neither Myrtle nor Tom loves their spouse much and has been cheating for a while. We also learn that Nick just goes along with things because he doesn't tell Daisy that Tom is cheating on her. The garage is also located near the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg which seem to be watching and judging the whole thing from afar.
In Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, Tom Buchanan and George Wilson are two characteristics that have very different social backgrounds. Tom Buchanan is an entitled, wealthy, young man who is married to Daisy. Tom lives in West Egg, the location of the “old rich”. George Wilson in a poor man who lives in the valley of ashes with his wife Myrtle. Tom and George are similar yet contrast in their attitudes toward women, the ways they show violence, and their reactions to betrayal.
Myrtle is, as Daisy, impressed with Tom's wealth and appearance, but, like Jay Gatsby, is stuck in a fantastic, idealized perception of her object of affection. Even when abused and trampled over by Tom, Myrtle continues to adore him, just as Gatsby continues to dote upon Daisy after being obviously rejected by her. As far as ethical considerations, Gatsby tends to prove himself a sincere and caring person, while Daisy and Tom just destroy the lives of two people and then leave town to escape the consequences of their actions.
In “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Daisy struggles between her desire to be with someone she truly loves and her rational to be with someone who will give her social and financial stability. Ultimately, Daisy chooses Tom over Gatsby as he is the safer option once Gatsby is revealed to be untruthful, showing that she is predominately interested in a steady life.