A novel The Great Gatsby written by F.Scott Fitzgerald is one of the most famous American masterpieces of Literature. Besides the fact that this novel is a necessity in the American high school program and all the students are required to write an essay on the book, it has inspired many people to create scientific, journalistic, and artistic works. As a primary topic for my essay I chose the comparison of Jay Gatsby and Myrtle Wilson. Upon reading the novel one can draw a parallel line between these two characters. Both figures are out of place among the old rich, both are carrying on affairs with Buchanans and both end up being killed.
James Gatz was born and raised in the family of a poor farmer in the West. At the age of 17 years old he …show more content…
So he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen-year-old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end. (Fitzgerald 98)
Myrtle Wilson was also born and raised in a very poor family, otherwise she would never marry George. Both characters aspire to be part of a class that will never accept them and that they will never really fit into. While Myrtle hopes Tom’s money will make a rich society girl of her, she still lacks class. There is evidence of this in the vulgar way she speaks, in Tom’s rough treatment of her, and in her tastes. For instance, at a party in the apartment she says the following:
… most of these fellas will cheat you every time. All they think of is money. I had a woman up here last week to look at my feet, and when she gave me the bill you’d of thought she had my appendicitis …show more content…
Gatsby becomes wealthy, hosts extravagant parties and invites all the famous people to a house he bought right on the opposite side of the bay so that he can win her hand. Myrtle is kept in an apartment by Tom, who helps support her lifestyle full of vitality, while the narrator compares her husband with “the cement color of the walls” (Fitzgerald 26). He brings her presents, including clothes and, at one point, a dog. Besides, both Jay and Myrtle are manipulated and used by Buchanans. Myrtle believes that one day Tom will leave Daisy and take her somewhere where they are going to live happily. Gatsby believes that Daisy will leave Tom to be with him. He believes that she has never loved her husband and is shocked when Daisy will not say so. Myrtle’s sister Catherine tells Nick of her hopes on the first day he meets her. Speaking of Tom and Myrtle she says, “Neither of them can stand the person they’re married to. Can’t stand them.” (Fitzgerald 33). She suggests to Nick that the only reason Tom has not yet left Daisy is Daisy’s religion. “It’s really his wife that’s keeping them apart,” she tells him, “She’s a Catholic and they don’t believe in divorce.” (Fitzgerald 33). Catherine fully expects Tom to leave Daisy anyway. “When they do get married,” she says to Nick, “they’re going west to live for a while until it blows over.” (Fitzgerald
James Gatz was born and raised in the family of a poor farmer in the West. At the age of 17 years old he …show more content…
So he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen-year-old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end. (Fitzgerald 98)
Myrtle Wilson was also born and raised in a very poor family, otherwise she would never marry George. Both characters aspire to be part of a class that will never accept them and that they will never really fit into. While Myrtle hopes Tom’s money will make a rich society girl of her, she still lacks class. There is evidence of this in the vulgar way she speaks, in Tom’s rough treatment of her, and in her tastes. For instance, at a party in the apartment she says the following:
… most of these fellas will cheat you every time. All they think of is money. I had a woman up here last week to look at my feet, and when she gave me the bill you’d of thought she had my appendicitis …show more content…
Gatsby becomes wealthy, hosts extravagant parties and invites all the famous people to a house he bought right on the opposite side of the bay so that he can win her hand. Myrtle is kept in an apartment by Tom, who helps support her lifestyle full of vitality, while the narrator compares her husband with “the cement color of the walls” (Fitzgerald 26). He brings her presents, including clothes and, at one point, a dog. Besides, both Jay and Myrtle are manipulated and used by Buchanans. Myrtle believes that one day Tom will leave Daisy and take her somewhere where they are going to live happily. Gatsby believes that Daisy will leave Tom to be with him. He believes that she has never loved her husband and is shocked when Daisy will not say so. Myrtle’s sister Catherine tells Nick of her hopes on the first day he meets her. Speaking of Tom and Myrtle she says, “Neither of them can stand the person they’re married to. Can’t stand them.” (Fitzgerald 33). She suggests to Nick that the only reason Tom has not yet left Daisy is Daisy’s religion. “It’s really his wife that’s keeping them apart,” she tells him, “She’s a Catholic and they don’t believe in divorce.” (Fitzgerald 33). Catherine fully expects Tom to leave Daisy anyway. “When they do get married,” she says to Nick, “they’re going west to live for a while until it blows over.” (Fitzgerald