Why Is Myrtle Important In The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, talks about the American life during the 1920s and it is one of the most popular books in American history. During this time, the economy is prosperous: buildings are higher, parties are bigger, people become richer and liquor becomes cheaper. This period is also the age of many social and political changes that create a distinctive cultural edge in the United States. Despite the economic boom of this decade, The Great Gatsby shows that the American life is not as healthy as it looks. Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald describes the corruptions of American society through aspects that have great influences such as money, wealth, and class.
A common mistake that the people during the 1920s, especially rich people, make is that they overrate …show more content…
Myrtle, who is considered as “no money” in the story, shows that her morality deteriorates significantly because of money when she gossips about her husband, “I thought he knew something about breeding, but he wasn’t fit to lick my shoe” (Fitzgerald 34). The quote shows how Myrtle’s desire to be in a higher class twists her definition of true love. Myrtle thinks her true lover is the one who can provide her anything she wants. And when he does not have money, she is ready to say he “wasn’t fit to lick her shoe” just because he is not rich.
From The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald tries to convey a message to readers: Money does not bring true love or happiness, those things can only be achieved by understanding and caring. He uses the aspects of money, wealth, and class to show how disgusting it is when one tries to get everything with just money and how money makes “the pursuit of happiness” become “the pursuit of wealth.” From the beginning to the end of the novel, the “pursuit of wealth” completely corrupted the American idealism by ruining the manners of people, no matter they are rich or