A Scandalous affair marks the life of Myrtle Wilson and Tom Buchanan in The Great Gatsby by F. Scotts Fitzgerald. During the novel Mrs. Wilson and Mr Buchanan disregard their spouses in order to have an affair. Both characters play a significant part in the novel making their development by the reader needed to understand the novel. Fitzgerald uses language in order to develop the charecters Tom Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson in separate ways. F. Scotts Fitzgerald uses his description of Myrtle to tell the reader of her social class and structure. During the novel the narrator states “She had changed her dress to a brown figured muslin which stretched tight over her rather large hips as Tom helped her to the platform in New York. At the newsstand she bought a copy of Town Tattle and a moving …show more content…
picture magazine and, in the station drug store, some cold ice cream and a small flask of perfume.” (Fitzgerald ch. 2). The narrator describes the women as large and just having changed her dress which gives her the appearance of working class and trying to be higher class for Tom. She's doing this in order to help herself being that the more she is with Tom, the less she is in the Valley of Ashes, where she does not wish to be and where her home is. Fitzgerald then goes on to discuss the materials she purchases, a copy of Town Tattle, a moving picture magazine, some ice cream, and some perfume. These items, although not bad, do tell of her intellect. The Town Tattle and moving magazine show how she is not well read as she doesnt buy informative materials but rather light readings that are only for pleasure. F Scotts Fitzgerald describes all of this to show the reader Myrtle Wilson’s poor nature directly and indirectly by the use of diction. On the contrary, Tom Buchanan is described rather differently. Fitzgerald paints a different picture of Tom mostly indirectly throughout chapter Two. This starts with the narrator describing how they got to New York saying “So Tom Buchanan and his girl and I went up together to New York-- or not quite together, for Mrs Wilson sat Discreetly in another car. Tom deferred that much to the sensibilities of the East Eggers who might be on the train” (Fitzgerald ch. 2). This shows a major difference between Tom and Myrtle. Tom really cares about his appearance, as he's willing to have another car just to hide his affair, while Myrtle just wants to be away from her old life as she is described as dressing up, making purchases, and carrying on without worrying. The other major difference is the level of caring as described in the scene of the dog purchase. “I’d like to get one of those dogs……. Heres your money go and buy ten more with it” (Fitzgerald ch. 2). This shows how Tom really doesn't care about money or any possessions as he is rich and knows he could get anything he wants that has a price tag. Different to Myrtle who uses her time With Tom to buy things that she otherwise would not be able to as she is working class. Furthermore both characters are described very differently by the description of the apartment by the Narrator.
“The apartment……. Meanwhile Tom brought out a bottle of Whiskey from a locked Bureau door” (Fitzgerald ch. 2). Tom owns the apartment, but as is described, really he does not care about it. This is evident by how none of the furniture really fits, the only possessions in it are that of Myrtle’s, and the first thing Tom does in it is get a bottle of whiskey. All of this indirectly shows how Tom really does not care about any of that, but is just in it for his affair with Myrtle. Furthermore the purchases within the apartment describe the characters attitude towards their relationship. Tom bought the apartment for Myrtle however Myrtle bought everything inside for her to enjoy such as the reading material and puppy. Wanting all of these possessions in the apartment makes Myrtle look much more caring compared to Tom. She thinks of the apartment really as her second home as is evident by how she wants to outfit it with things to make it more hospitable. Very differently however Tom is just paying for what Myrtle wants to make sure she continues to spend time with
him. As can be inferred by the diction used, Tom’s character developed into a uncaring man who only desires sex, whereas Myrtle developed to be just the opposite. Knowing how these characters relate to one another and to the story is essential to understand the plot portrayed by Fitzgerald. Having the descriptions portrayed through clever diction gives the reader a more interesting way of learning about Tom Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson. Without the diction the characters would be flat and boring seeing as their descriptions would be too easy to follow and give no reward to the reader.
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
The first time that the reader catches an insight of Myrtle, Fitzgerald develops Myrtle to be a mere object of Tom's’ desire. Fitzgerald does this to extenuate the fact that Tom will not move on past Daisy to be with her. Tom “got some women” that supposedly is a secret but there is a lack of secretism on Myrtles end seeing as she is now calling during evening meals from “New York” just to talk to Tom. This further proves that she is in need of attention, something her husband can not fully give her at any random moment of the day. Myrtle is willing to express herself even when she’s already married. It reveals that she is deceiving her own husband, who is later mentioned in the novel. This allows for Myrtle to be looked down upon by the reader, it also entails her to be seen as an attention seeker. Again, Fitzgerald appeals to present-day behaviors by allowing Myrtle to be viewed as someone who wants to be showcased. Almost everyone can relate that they’ve wanted attention in their life at some point. This connects Myrtle to the reader's past or current feelings. Fitzgerald uses this to let readers feel compassion for Myrtle which emphasizes all she needs is for someone to properly love her, treat her, and show her what she needs to do to become successful in her
Gatsby Essay Fitzgerald created the characters Daisy and Myrtle wilson to illustrate the similarities and differences between women living in two completely different worlds. Some people live in expensive mansions with expensive things and money to waste, while others have very little and have to work extremely hard for the little they have. Daisy, a beautiful, rich woman is similar to Myrtle Wilson in the sense that they are both in an unhappy marriage. They are seeking love and happiness through affairs. But on they also share many differences.
...aughter, her gestures, her assertions became more violently affected moment by moment and as she expanded the room grew smaller around her until she seemed to be revolving on a noisy, creaking pivot through the smoky air” (Fitzgerald 35). Myrtle represents the “need” of women to be known for having money and wealth so that she is much more popular. Myrtle wears the dress to disguise her current status and act as if she is a part of the rich, but in reality she is poor and naive, but the transformation of the dress changes her to rich and conceited.
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.
She is kept in a life that is falling apart as she longs for a lover that she’s actually interested in. Her husband Wilson loves her, but turned out to be poorer than the man she thought she was marrying. Myrtle wants someone to love that loves her to go along with her wish of a life of luxury. Tom was the answer to all her problems. He was rich, and he loved her, even if that meant they were both cheating. The airedale—undoubtedly there was an airedale concerned in it somewhere though its feet were startlingly white—changed hands and settled down into Mrs. Wilson’s lap, where she fondled the weather-proof coat with rapture” (Fitzgerald 31). Buying their own dog is just another way to further their relationship, making them feel more like a couple. Would Myrtle have really want to have that dog with Wilson? Or Tom with Daisy? Tom could throw around money whenever he wanted so buying the dog wouldn’t be a problem. The entire apartment requires dedication to the relationship, and putting a dog in it increases it even more so. Just being with Tom and sneaking away from time to time isn’t enough for Myrtle. She wanted to run away with Tom, leaving her old life behind. She had even convinced Wilson to move away from the horrible life they shared, but this backfired and he ended up keeping her locked inside until they were ready to leave the next day. “Myrtle Wilson’s body wrapped in a blanket and then in another
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....
Throughout the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Myrtle is a victim of her own desperation. This sense of despair stems from her marriage to George Wilson. As soon as she marries George she knows she made a mistake and she pays for that mistake every second of her life. This despair that originates from her marriage then translates into her cheating on her husband with a married man, Tom Buchanan and completely ignoring him. Due to her obvious desperation, Tom is able to boss her around on numerous occasions and makes her do what he wants because of her desperation.
This line reveals that Myrtle is not one of beauty or features that make her superior. Myrtle is characterized as a larger women who is exploding with anger . She is a demanding lady who tries to put on a front and fake wealth. Myrtle is from a lower hierarchy being from the Valley of Ashes . She is very poor but puts on a front being in an affair with Tom who is very wealthy. By Fitzgerald using imagery, readers get a realistic look at the physical appearance she is composed of as well as her tenacious attitude. With Fitzgerald using figurative language we deeply feel the contrast of two different ladies and the lifestyles they live.
Scott Fitzgerald, two characters, Myrtle Wilson and Jay Gatsby suffered although different in social class appearance and gender, suffer from the inability to differentiate between illusions and reality, causing their downfalls. Myrtle and Gatsby have similar goals, but different ambitions. Gatsby wants to achieve wealth for the sole purpose of regaining his previous love interest, Daisy, where as Myrtle wants to obtain wealth for her selfish desire of status and integration into the upper class. However, they both begin their journeys to downfall when they sacrifice all morality for this wealth. Gatsby becomes a criminal, and seduces a married woman and ultimately break up her family for his own selfish goal of winning his old love back. While, Myrtle begins an affair with Tom Buchanan, a wealthy upper class man, who abuses her emotionally and physically, although her husband Wilson honestly loves and respects, solely because she falls in love with the idea of status and riches which Tom could give her. It is their incapability to separate their desired illusions from reality, which leads them to their
...ites about not only the relationship between Gatsby and Daisy but also about the affair between Tom and Myrtle. Tom and Myrtle's affair shows how the amount of money one has does not change the way they may act or feel for another person. Throughout the novel, the author also explains how the wealthy or rich people are able to get away with bad behavior or unethical practices because they have the power to do so. During the time after World War I, the people who had money were the people who had power. Fitzgerald offers his audience the proof through his story that there is only a slight possibility that a person can be both wealthy and ethical. He shows his audience how sometimes being poor is not always the worse thing and that it is easier to be poor and ethical rather than being rich and ethical.
Tom wanted the "possession" of Myrtle, Myrtle wanted Tom's "luxuries and wealth," and Daisy wanted Gatsby simply for his wealth. Both Tom and Daisy know each other's affairs, but neither one truly cares. As the story progresses, it seems as though each of them is trying to make the other jealous. Honesty and Love, two words known only by the faithful, George Wilson. George certainly had his flaws, but he loved his wife dearly and couldn't live without her. "He was his wife's man and not his own." When he became aware of Tom and Myrtle's affair, he was "really sick, pale as his own pale hair and shaking all over." He locked her up in fear that she would run away with Tom forever.
Myrtle is married to a mechanic, but is sleeping with Tom. Fitzgerald's novel seems to affirm the Biblical adage that the love of money is the root of all evil, for his characters value money inordinately. And this attitude is a central moral concern in the novel. Fitzgerald's characters erroneously believe money can buy them love, friends, and happiness. Gatsby tries to buy Daisy's love throughout the book.