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The theme of society in the great gatsby
The theme of society in the great gatsby
Theme of success through the characters in the great gatsby
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` Dreams are arguably most important motivators, inspiring and guiding the paths in life that make us who we are. The American Dream, is the ultimate dream for many people all over the world. It is the idea that with hard work, determination, and education anything is possible. Those who have lived the roughest of lives can rise from the ashes and become strong, contributing members of a society. Myrtle Wilson, a minor character in The Great Gatsby, is the perfect example of The American Dream becoming an obsession. Myrtle Wilson is known primarily as the mistress of Tom Buchanan and wife of George Wilson. She met Tom while riding a subway train to meet her sister. Tom quickly swept her off her feet and this is where their affair began and where Myrtle became infatuated with Tom. From that day on, she spent her life imagining what it would be like to fulfill her own American Dream and live a rich, pampered life with Tom as the new Mrs. Buchanan. She assures herself and those around her that she is miserable with her current husband, George, claiming: “The only crazy I was was when I married him.” Myrtle also convinces herself that she was born to be above the social class she is apart of, saying such things as: “These people! You have to keep after them all the time!” She appears to have brainwashed …show more content…
Dream have lead many to live extraordinary lives leaving meaningful legacies behind. The Great Gatsby is full of dreams and aspirations that shape the characters to make decisions in their lives. However, Myrtle Wilson and her desire to become a rich, exorbitant woman quickly turned into a storm of delusion. With her death came the end of a hopeless and tragic fantasy lifestyle. Had she of woken up from this diluted state of mind, maybe she would be alive and well living with George. But she decided to stray from the safe and calculable life and was swept into a beautiful
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
A moment later she rushed out into the dusk, waving her hands and shouting — before he could move from his door the business was over. The “death car,” as the newspapers called it, didn’t stop; it came out of the gathering darkness, wavered tragically for a moment, and then disappeared around the next bend. Michaelis wasn’t even sure of its color — he told the first policeman that it was light green. The other car, the one going toward New York, came to rest a hundred yards beyond, and its driver hurried back to where Myrtle Wilson, her life violently extinguished, knelt in the road and mingled her thick dark blood with the dust. Michaelis and this man reached her first, but when they had torn open her shirtwaist, still damp with perspiration, they saw that her left breast was swinging loose like a flap,
He is oblivious as to what is actually happening when Myrtle goes into the city. Some women can be seen having secret love affairs with men just to get their money. Alden Mudge writes in his article, The house that dreams built, about how the women characters are portrayed in the Great Gatsby. Mudge states that he believes that women are not seen “as anything other than materialists” (Mudge). Myrtle Wilson can be considered to be a stereotype and materialistic individual like some of the women of the 1920’s.
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
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.
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.
Many of the occurrences in The Great Gatsby produced far-reaching effects for several of the characters. Of these occurrences, one of the most influential and important incidents was the death of Myrtle Wilson. While her life and death greatly affected the lives of all of the main and supporting characters, her death had a very significant effect on the lives of Tom, Daisy, and Gatsby.
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.
F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby is a superbly written and an intrinsically captivating novel that deals with the decline of the American Dream and how vapid the upper class is. To illustrate and capture the essence of these themes, Fitzgerald uses characters Gatsby, who epitomizes the actual American Dream, and Daisy, who is based on the ideal girl. Yet, as these characters grasp the topics Fitzgerald wants to convey, there is something inherently like missing from the story as a whole. To fill this void, Fitzgerald utilizes minor characters as a means to move the plot along, develop characters further, and build upon the themes present in the novel. One such character is George Wilson.
People aspire to achieve greatness, sometimes causing them to be or become someone they are not. The American dream is defined as someone who starts out low on either the economic or social level and by working hard earns his or her way to fame, wealth, or prosperity. Many characters such as Myrtle and Gatsby, in the novel The Great Gatsby, all wanted power, money, and happiness and would do anything in their power to obtain them. Recent events support the claim that the American dream can be achieved with costly repercussions. People are willing to corrupt themselves in order to achieve their goals.
Tom is proud of his family, and has had many since his marriage. For the esteemed Tom Buchanan, Myrtle Wilson is simply the woman of the time. Due to Tom being consumed by wealth, people that recently came to fortune or individuals with less money hold no stake in Tom’s world. To Tom, they are nobodies.
Myrtle is selfish, shallow and greedy. She is willing to degrade herself for the chase of materialistic dream of money and power. Her desire for a lavish life causes her to step outside her marriage with George Wilson because he does not have the financial capabilities to satisfy her shallow needs. Myrtle has an affair with Tom Buchanan because he fulfills that financial aspect she thrives for. Myrtle becomes a bigger fool while seeing Tom because he physically abuses her and Tom knows she won’t leave because she wants to be a part in his social stratification. “Some time toward midnight Tom Buchanan and Mrs. Wilson stood face to face discussing, in impassioned voices, whether Mrs. Wilson had any right to mention Daisy's name."Daisy! Daisy! Daisy!" shouted Mrs. Wilson. "I'll say it whenever I want to! Daisy! Dai –– "Making a short deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand” (Chapter 2). Tom showers Myrtle with lies that he will leave Daisy and marry her but that never happens. Myrtle decision to stay in her affair with Tom harms her marriage with George Wilson, which unfortunately this leads to her tragic death. Due to Myrtle foolishness to accept the loss of her unrealistic dreams, Myrtle puts herself in a life or death situation, where she is struck by a car. Unknown to Myrtle, the driver of the car
At Wilson’s garage, Tom tells Myrtle “I want to see you . . . Get on the next train” (Fitzgerald 26). At this point in the novel, Myrtle’s presence serves as an irresistible necessity to Tom. Her presence regresses him to act as though he never grew up. Myrtle recalls how Tom and she met by explaining “When we came into the station he was next to me, and his white shirt-front pressed against my arm, and so I told him I’d have to call a policeman, but he knew I lied” (Fitzgerald 36). Myrtle’s young and flirtatious behavior compels Tom to take advantage of her in a way that helps him escape from reality; but by doing so, he cheats on his wife. On their way to New York, Myrtle tells Nick “Come on . . . I’ll telephone my sister Catherine. She’s said to be very beautiful by people who ought to know” (Fitzgerald 28). In her persuasive tone, Myrtle entices Nick to join in on her and Tom’s festivities, with some hesitation he eventually succumbs to the pressure, just like Tom gives in to her desires. Myrtle manages to get her way by ignoring the adult morals and makes that act appealing to others, therefore persuading them to join
Though Myrtle Wilson makes an attempt to escape her own class and pursue happiness with the rich, she ends up gaining nothing and eventually dies. She is basically a victim of the group she wanted to join. Myrtle tries to become like Tom by having an affair with him and taking on his way of living, but in doing so she becomes unsatisfied with her life. Her constant clothing changes show that she is unhappy with her life, she changes personalities every time she changes her dress: "with the influence of the dress her whole personality had also undergone a change.
Even the poor striving to become a part of the rich have no morals or ethics or even basic humanity. One does to some extent sympathize with the lower class in general but Gatsbys portrayal of the Wilsons removes all feelings of pity for them. Despite the heavy critique on the Buchanans and Gatsby Fitzgerald has failed to provide a sympathetic scenario for the Wilsons, as they represent lower class. George and Myrtle try to improve their life the only way they know how by either clinging to their business or by selling their bodies. Myrtle “rents” her body to Tom Buchanan in hopes of him marrying her in the future whereas her husband acts as a lapdog for Tom Buchanan.