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, Daisy, and Myrtle were all unfaithful to their spouses. Their love for themselves far out-weighed their love for each other. Tom and Myrtle had a notorious affair throughout the novel while Daisy becomes very close to her ex- beloved, Jay Gatsby. Even with their new lovers, none of them displayed true love. Each wanted something from the other. 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 of 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 more jealous. Honesty and Love, two words know 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 locks her up in fear that she will run away with Tom forever. He stated that, "She's going to move stay there until the day after tomorrow, and then we're going to move away." George thought that by moving out West, where Myrtle wanted to go in the beginning, would solve everything. Before the move could be made, Myrtle was killed; it is here where George's love is shown most. George becomes extemely upset after Myrtle's death.
Gatsby and Greed In this day and age, money is a very important asset to have. One needs to have at least enough to live on, though great amounts are preferable. In The Great Gatsby, by Thomas F. Fitzgerald, having a large amount of money is not enough. It is also the way you acquire the money that matters.
Daisy knows that there is another woman, but she doesn’t say anything about it. I think daisy knows more than she leads you to believe. She loves to act like a naive, beautiful little girl in order to keep her life as uncomplicated as possible. Myrtle is ignorant and when she is with Tom and higher class she acts as though she knows what she is talking about but she really doesn’t know much. This shows that both of these women are ignorant fools who secretly wish their lives were different.
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.
Lies are a treacherous thing, yet everyone tells a few lies during their lifetime. Deceit surrounds us all the time; even when one reads classic literature. For example, F. Scott Fitzgerald makes dishonesty a major theme in his novel The Great Gatsby. The falsehoods told by the characters in this novel leads to inevitable tragedy when the truth is revealed.
Love, sex, and desire are major parts of each character’s lives in The Great Gatsby. Each and every relationship depicted in this story are very complex, and mostly unhealthy. There are five main relationships: Daisy and Tom, George and Myrtle, Gatsby and Daisy, Tom and Myrtle, and Jordan and Nick. Each relationship have different depictions of love and desire, but they all have one thing in common, and that is that their love is problematic.
Hamartia is a fatal flaw leading to a person’s downfall. The desire for wealth rose greatly during the 1920s after World War I. The standard of living increased in the twenties due to new technology that allowed a greater ability to manufacture and distribute goods (Amidon Lusted). During this time America experienced “the greatest economic expansion in its history” (Gross). Mass production was possible through the assembly line, which allowed for products to be produced faster and more efficiently (Amidon Lusted). Along with mass production, advertisements of the time attracted Americans to buy more products and in order to buy more products, more money was needed (Amidon Lusted).
She wants someone who has a lot of wealth in order for her to live a luxiours life. She begins to have an affair with Tom and it causes harm to her marriage which she has with George. She says to herself when meeting Tom the first time, "You can 't live forever; you can 't live forever" (38). Myrtle realizes Tom is a wealthy individual and having an affair with him will help her climb out of the social class in which she is trapped in. She sees him as the perfect man representing the American Dream. She lives in the Valley of the Ashes with her husband, George, who is the owner of a garage. She married him because she thought he was a gentlemen and he knew something about breeding. But it turned out he was not financially stable and it causes Myrtle not to love him. This shows how Myrtle is acquisitive and she does not appreciate George for who he is. She realizes life is fading away from her along with her youth and in order to live the life she always desires, she must become Tom’s mistress. She wants to live the rich and famous life style which George could not provide. This shows how Myrtle is morally corrupt because she does not see the harm in having an extramarital affair and just looks to pursue wealth. This eventually leads to her own death. The chase for the American Dream causes corruption and destruction within
himself caught in the midst of, and tries to escape from Tom and Myrtle. The overbearing Tom
Their reactions to this betrayal have some similarities and differences. Both husbands reacted simile in the way they tried to keep their wives anyway from the person they were cheating with. After learning about their wives discrepancies both men become more willing to fight for their wives affection. The two of them would do anything necessary to get their wives back. But Tom and George had different methods in separating their wives from that other person who they were cheating with. Tom did so by learning incriminating evidence about Gatsby just to exploit his false persona to Daisy. During his exploitation, Tom, “...picked him for a bootlegger the first time I saw him and wasn’t far wrong.”(133) These facts freighted Daisy and made her believe that she didn’t actually really know of Gatsby was. This lead to Daisy returning to her husband, Tom. Myrtle, his wife, by literally separating her from returning to the other man. He locks her in their upstairs bedroom and began preparing the couple to move west anyway from the man she was having an affair
At first glance, The Great Gatsby is merely a classic American tragedy, portraying the story of a man's obsession with a fantasy, and his resulting downfall. However, Fitzgerald seems to weave much more than that into the intricate web of emotional interactions he creates for the reader. One interesting element is the concepts of greatness each has. For Daisy, it lies in material wealth, and in the comfort and security associated with it. Daisy seems to be easily impressed by material success, as when she is touring Gatsby's mansion and seems deeply moved by his collection of fine, tailored shirts. It would seem that Tom's relative wealth, also, had at one time impressed her enough to win her in marriage. In contrast to that, Gatsby seems to not care a bit about money itself, but rather only about the possibility that it can win over Daisy. In fact, Gatsby's extreme generosity gives the reader the impression that Gatsby would otherwise have never even worked at attaining wealth had it not been for Daisy. For Gatsby, the only thing of real importance was his pursuit of Daisy. It would seem that these elements are combined, too in the character Myrtle.
hide the car and with it he could hide the truth. The truth is that Myrtle
Myrtle Wilson is married to George Wilson who owns a run- down garage in the valley of ashes. Neither of them are wealthy and Myrtle is disgruntled by this fact. She believes that she was destined for something more, something greater. Unfortunately for her that something greater turned out to be Tom Buchanan. Myrtle is like Daisy in the sense that to get what she wants, she is dependent on Tom. In contrast, she is also like Jordan in the fact that she is independent from her husband and uses her own means, though immoral, to get what she wants. Though Myrtle could only live in a fool’s paradise from time to time, when she is with Tom she take on an entirely different persona, changing her outfits and her attitude to fit in with Tom’s more extravagant lifestyle. While in Tom’s world though, she gets too in over her head and lets her true feelings out about the circumstances between her, Tom, and Daisy. This leads to some abuse from Tom. Myrtle underestimates her position in the situation. Unfortunately, Myrtle just does not understand that she is just a desired object to Tom and nothing more. This false faith in Tom leaving Daisy for her is what ultimately leads to her death. Coincidently, Myrtle causes more of a disturbance in Tom and Daisy’s marriage after she’s dead than
F. Scott Fitzgerald had the creative and extraordinary way of writing a love story based on compassion, death, and betrayal. In the novel, The Great Gatsby, there are multiple themes offered, including justice, power, and greed. Once reading the book, it is realized that the author separated the book into groups. There are many titles that may demonstrate each chapter individually throughout the novel. Even though there are no chapter titles throughout the novel, with the different social classes, the money, the power and the love, F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays a strong message through each chapter.
‘Myrtle may “love” Tom to an extent, but Tom only has feelings for Daisy. Tom uses his relationship as a way to show the power that his money has given to him. Early in the novel Tom takes Nick to go meet Myrtle in New York. That night they have a party in an apartment owned for the sole purpose of this affair. Towards the end of the party Tom and Myrtle begin to argue. “Sometime 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,” after which Tom breaks Myrtle’s nose (Fitzgerald 37). While he may be having this affair, Tom’s heart still belongs to Daisy. He lets his love of Daisy overtake him during his affair about money. While this money centered affair is important, it is not the only affair in the