In the novels The Great Gatsby and The Age of Innocence, characters are faced with great disillusionment when their dreams are not achieved. Throughout the novels these characters have personal dreams and aspirations of adventure, love, fitting in, and social class, but are faced with great disillusionment. Gatsby is the character who is faced with the most disillusionment because of how long he waited for Daisy to be with him again. In the novel The Age of Innocence, Newland Archer’s dreams of adventure widen his views of his New York society life. He creates a fantasy that him and his wife will live a life of adventure, different from everyone else. Newland is faced with great disillusionment when he realizes his dreams of adventure will …show more content…
never come true. “ Archer had reverted to all his old inherited ideas about marriage. It was less trouble to conform with the tradition and treat May exactly as all his friends treated their wives than to try to put into practice the theories with which his untrammelled bachelorhood had dallied.”(126) Newland has given up on his dreams of adventure and accepted the tradition of marriage. He realizes that his marriage was becoming similar to everyone else's and his fantasy of adventure with May will never come true. Newland attempts to capture his dreams when he realizes May cannot give him the adventurous life that he wants. He tries to have an affair with with May’s cousin Ellen. Ellen fulfills Newlands fantasy for an adventure. She forces Newland to question New York society because of her different opinions. Newland gives up on his dream of adventure and stays with May. Newland has 3 kids with May. He stays faithful to her throughout their marriage. Like Newland, Ellen has dreams in society but hers is to fit back in with her New York family. Ellen is faced with disillusionment when the family does not accept her separation with her husband. Ellen does not fit in like she had hoped, and is often ignored throughout the novel by her family. “Yes: I want to cast off all my old life, to become just like everybody else here.” Archer reddened, “You’ll never be like everybody else,” he said. She raised her straight eyebrows a little. “Ah, don’t say that. If you knew how I hate to be different!”(70) Ellen does not have any companions in New York aside from Archer. She desperately wants to be normal and fit in with her family. Ellen stands out in New York because she questions traditions in everyday New York society. Her family dislikes Ellen because she creates a bad image on the family name because she is not living with her husband anymore. Ellen’s isolation from her family causes her to give up on her dream of fitting in with her family in New York. Ellen becomes very depressed and separates herself from her family. She moves back to Europe where she feels like she belongs. Similarly, In the novel The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby has great dreams but is faced with disillusionment. Gatsby’s fantasy of being with Daisy causes him to act delusionally. He is blinded by his love for Daisy. Gatsby lives in a fantasy not allowing him to accept reality that he will never be with Daisy again. “He wanted nothing less of Daisy than that she should go to Tom and say: “I never loved you”. After she had obliterated four years with that sentence they could decide upon the more practical measures to be taken. One of them was that, after she was free, they were to go back to Louisville and be married from her house- just as if it were five years ago.”(109) Daisy and Gatsby used to be lovers, but Gatsby went to war forcing them to breakup. Daisy gave up on Gatsby because she did not want to wait for him anymore. She married Tom instead and learned to love him over time. Gatsby needs Daisy to leave Tom so they can pick up their relationship. He acts harshly and expects Daisy to leave Tom and forget about the past. Gatsby wants to pretend like her marriage did not happen and marry her immediately. He is unrealistic and refuses to believe Daisy might not want to leave her husband, Tom. Gatsby’s dream of Daisy’s love blinded him from reality, causing his death. He took the blame for myrtle’s death, who was ran over. To protect Daisy, Gatsby said he was driving instead of her. Wilson, Myrtle’s husband, murders Gatsby to get revenge on his wife’s death. Gatsby dies protecting Daisy, when she had no intention of leaving her husband for him. Daisy and Tom flee right after Gatsby’s death. Daisy does not go to Gatsby’s funeral even when she supposedly loves him. Gatsby was faced with the most disillusionment because of the years he spent waiting to be with Daisy again. His dream of Daisy’s love was the cause of death. Unlike Gatsby, Myrtle Wilson’s dreams do not involve love, only social class.
Myrtle’s fantasy of becoming part of the high class motivates her. She is faced with disillusionment and refuses to believe reality that she will always be part of the lower class. “She smiled slowly and, walking through her husband as if he were a ghost, shook hands with Tom, looking him flush in the eye. Then she wet her lips, and without turning around spoke to her husband in a soft, coarse voice..."(26). Myrtle only cares about wealth and social class. She is in a loveless marriage and wants to marry Tom, who is in high class compared to her husband. Myrtle ignores her husband, and only looks at Tom because she is attracted to his wealth and status. Myrtle believes Tom will leave his wife, Daisy, for her. "Daisy! Daisy! Daisy!" shouted Mrs. Wilson. "I'll say it whenever I want to! Daisy! Dais" Making a short deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand.”(37) Tom broke his girlfriend's nose because she mentions his wife, Daisy’s name. Tom is offended when Myrtle says his wife's name, so he slaps her. Tom has no intention of leaving his wife and is only using Myrtle. Myrtle sees Tom as an opportunity to get into the high class. Tom enjoys living in the high class, but Myrtle does not fit his
lifestyles. Above all, Gatsby faced the most crushing disillusionment because he is blinded by his devotion toward Daisy. Gatsby is unable to separate his dreams of being with Daisy, and the reality that Daisy is married to Tom. He spent many years waiting for Daisy, when he could have married any girl he wanted. Gatsby’s devotion to Daisy is the cause of his death. Gatsby lives in the past and believes Daisy will come back to him even when she has a husband and a child. He is determined to win Daisy over and flaunts his money in hopes he can buy Daisy. Everything Gatsby does is all part of his scheme to bring Daisy back into his life. Gatsby throws large parties for Daisy to be impressed by. He shows off his big house to impress Daisy and to convince her he his rich. Gatsby’s adoration toward Daisy leads to his death. Gatsby is willing to take the blame for killing Myrtle, proving just how much he loves her. Myrtle’s husband believes Gatsby killed his wife instead of Daisy. Gatsby death is caused by Myrtle’s husband looking for revenge over his wife’s death. In conclusion, The characters in the novels The Great Gatsby and The Age of Innocence have great personal dreams. They spend their life working to achieve their dreams and the frustration of failure shape their lives and actions. In addition to their dreams, they are all faced with great disillusionment when their dreams do not occur. Wealth and stature in society had no influence in the characters achieving their main aspirations.
Myrtle Wilson came from a working class family with a low social standing. Due to her family’s lack of money, Myrtle’s options were limited to marrying men of equal or lower economic status than herself. As a result, Myrtle married George Wilson, a poor car mechanic. In her relationship with George, Myrtle lacked control due to her status as a woman and was thus forced to listen to her husband. However, because of her lower status, Myrtle did learn to use her physical attributes to her own advantage. In other words, Myrtle knew how to exaggerate her physical beauty in order to attract men such as Tom Buchanan; who would pay her with money and expensive gifts in return. Thus, “there is a clear connection between the material disadvantages” Myrtle faced and her lack of morals; given “the paucity of her allotment of the fundamental decencies” (Voegeli). In other words, because of her lack of economic backing, Myrtle Wilson grew up as a woman of lower class with less options in life; which limited her social power and drove her to act unlike any high class lady. Thus, Myrtle’s only option for increasing her status was through material services such as her relationship with Tom Buchanan. All in all, Myrtle Wilson’s economic status limited her to the life of a low class woman and her power others in her
Negative emotions stop us from thinking and behaving rationally and seeing situations in their true perspective. When the negative emotion overrules a person then he tends to listen only to his inner voice, on which he has no control. Negative emotions should not be prolonged for a longer time and when it happens, the problem becomes more entrenched. Negative emotions, if not handled with patience and appropriate measures, it can lead to big disasters of any kind, for example, expressing anger with violence.
It ended with an even more disgusting event: Tom broke Myrtle’s nose because she dared to mention his wife’s name many times. Tom lets himself be brutal and free from conventionalities of the upper class; thus, he behaves also more naturally, but he does not want to lose Daisy and all that she represents.
Even though she is a more miniscule character in the book, Myrtle Wilson wears a mask. Myrtle is unhappy in her marriage with her husband, George. When her and George met, she had thought that he was a man with a lot of money. Once they got married, she soon realized he wasn’t a rich man at all after he borrowed “somebody’s best suit to get married in.” Despite the fact that he didn’t have much money, Myrtle just puts a fake smile on her face and stays with him while still having an affair with Daisy’s husband Tom.
Throughout the novel, one of Tom 's biggest careless acts was when he cheated on Daisy. Tom is a cocky, confident man shown many times throughout the novel like when Nick arrived at his house and "Tom Buchanan in riding clothes was standing with his legs apart on the front porch" (Fitzgerald 6). His stance showed his arrogance, and how highly he thought of himself because of his wealth. Tom was a man who often acted without thinking things through, like having an affair with Myrtle. Despite both Tom and Myrtle being married, they both had affairs. Tom doesn 't hide his affair from Nick and introduces him to his mistress Myrtle at Wilson 's garage. Tom doesn 't seem to care if anyone finds out because he feels as though nothing would change due to his wealth. While at Myrtle 's husbands garage, Tom tells Myrtle to meet him at the train station. They end up going to their apartment in New York City that they keep for their affair. While at the Morningside Height 's apartment Myrtle starts to talk about Tom 's wife Daisy, ""Daisy! Daisy! Daisy!" shouted Mrs. Wilson. "I 'll say it whenever I want to! Daisy! Dai-"" (Fitzgerald 37). Tom didn 't like Myrtle overstepping her boundaries and to show
Tom and George both show their treachery towards women on multiple occasions. Tom’s first physical violent act is towards Myrtle when she constantly says, “Daisy! Daisy! Daisy! I’ll say it whenever I want to!” Making a short deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke
Daisy also exhibits her shallowness when she is too restless to wait for her 'love', Gatsby, to return from he war, and she marries Tom. Her most drastic immoral action is committed when she runs over Myrtle and does not even bother to stop and help a person that is 'below' her. Daisy's husband, Tom shows his ridiculous morality in different ways. One way is his search for power, which is shown most through his affair with Myrtle and his possessiveness. He evidently feels further domination and masculinity when he has her, a woman of lower class, as his mistress. Secondly, Tom Buchanan is shallow enough to think that everything and everyone he has in his life are part of his property. This increases his 'power' and makes him feel as if he is truly successful. This couple, Tom and Daisy certainly contain serious corruptness due to their shallowness and self-indulgence.
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 novel ‘The Great Gatsby’, Fitzgerald explored the idea of self-delusion through Nick Carraway and Jay Gatsby. Nick often describes himself as ‘‘Everyone suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known’. The quote above was referred to when he wants to officially in a relationship with Jordan, he must end his relationship with another girl at home. Throughout the novel, Nick wants to build himself up as an honest person and also as a viewer. But as the story goes on, we can clearly tell that he had self-deluded about his personality and his position in the story. There were two affairs in the story, one was Myrtle and Tom and the other one was Gatsby
During the confrontation between Gatsby and Tom Buchanan about Daisy, she is talked about like she is a possession to be won over. During the argument Nick “glances at Daisy who was staring terrified between Gatsby and her husband” (Fitzgerald, page 143). Gatsby and Buchanan tell Daisy what to say instead of allowing her to tell her own truths, and if she does start to speak up for herself she is quickly quieted down. Daisy states at the beginning of the novel while talking about finding out the sex of her child that, “I’m glad it’s a girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool – that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool” (Fitzgerald, page 16). Daisy is the only female character in the novel who understands that no matter what a woman accomplishes, she will always be downcasted based on her gender. This outlook is what allows her to be controlled by Gatsby and Buchanan, because she doesn’t believe that anything she can do will make her more of a human to them. Myrtle on the other hand, while still a married woman, isn’t able to see her powerlessness. She feels powerful enough to stand up to Tom and chant Daisy’s name over and over again until he breaks her nose (Fitzgerald, page 37). This scene demonstrates the way that men handled women if they ever did feel confident enough to speak for themselves. One final scene from the novel that really
Fitzgerald conveys a mood of melancholy which is heightened because it is set it amidst the roaring 1920’s, with its parties, jewelry and glitterati. The mood in The Great Gatsby is conveyed through the fact that no character is truly happy and rather, puts on a façade. In fact, Daisy, who belongs to one of the most elite families of the novel, mentions how she “is cynical about everything… [she] think[s] everything is terrible anyhow “(Fitzgerald 22). She continues to describe how everyone, even “the most advanced people” are unhappy (Fitzgerald 22). The interview captures this sadness by focusing on the Buchanan scandal. Even though they are prominent, they still are not satisfied, and thus they cheat and cause scandal to bring some transient
The reader is encouraged to find disgust in the way Tom Buchanan handles his affair with Myrtle Wilson. When it comes down to it, he is not having an affair with her for any particular reason other than to please himself. He is so wrapped up in the way he feels about everything going on in his life, that he does not think twice about anyone else’s feelings. He does not ever say how happy Myrtle makes him, or that he is truly in love with her. As a matter of fact, he never gives any solid reason as to why he continues to see her. He has no worry about his social status with her, and she does not ever expect to receive any kind of gift from him, since she is of a lower class.
The Roaring Twenties was an age of prosperity, revenue, and glamor. After years of war and debt, the market bounced back in full swing, making the sought after American Dream finally possible as cash flowed into the wallets of the newly rich. Technology and other advancements made everything bigger, brighter, better; yet there was still a sense of disillusion and prejudice in this shining post-war world. F. Scott Fitzgerald captures the excitement of the era, as well as its shortcomings, in his novel The Great Gatsby. Through the tale of the newly rich and mysterious Jay Gatsby and his love for well bred socialite Daisy Buchanan, he tells the story that lay underneath the glittering Jazz Age, one about the preconceptions and injustices that
Her husband was a George Wilson- mechanic in the Valley of the Ashes. As she was telling her sister and by the time she met him she didn’t know he was not rich. Therefore she felt disgusted with the thought that he had to borrow a suit for their wedding. When she just met Tom Buchanan she also described him in terms of his closing. “He had on a dress suit and patent leather shoes, and I couldn’t keep my eyes off of him.”(38) Myrtle believed what she saw and she got obsessed seeing a guy like Tom, she didn’t see anything around herself thinking only )Myrtle is been fooled by Tom with the reason why he couldn’t leave his wife and Myrtle believed it. She wanted to believe since she thought that she was born in the wrong family class and she was always supposed to be in the high class. Even though Myrtle loved her husband she still chose money, not Tom but his appearance. Seeing Tom taking Gatsby’s car pushed her on the road of the end of her
Myrtle is Tom Buchanan’s mistress, who is also married to Mr.Wilson, and due to this Mr.Wilson comes out of the relationship heartbroken and hysterical after her death. Fitzgerald addresses the one-sided relationship that Mr.Wilson is in, and relates this to the adults of the audience who have had difficulty with this issue in the past or is currently dealing with it. On top of that, Tom and Myrtle both are in married relationships, making it adultery when they break their sacred vows to God and sin. By using Mr.Wilson’s relationship with Myrtle, Fitzgerald includes another issue amongst modern day and previous