F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby centers around many different love relationships that are all interconnected. None end particularly successful or happily ever after in the way we would conventionally view the progression of love, but the stories succeed in other ways. It can be expected that a relationship started on superficial gain or one made out of pure convenience will be doomed over time but Fitzgerald creates his characters in such a way that the stories seem believable and in some ways even relate-able. A few of the different kinds of love Fitzgerald uses to create this image are pragmatic love, infatuation, and opportunistic love.
In chapter one we meet Tom and Daisy Buchanan. We learn quickly that they have been married …show more content…
Tom met Myrtle on the train one day, who was immediately infatuated with him, they ended up in the same taxi which started a fast paced relationship with secret meetings and an apartment based on the fact that “neither of them [could] stand the person they’re married to” (Pg. 29). Myrtle is in love with what Tom represents, she does not get that from her current husband Wilson and it allows her to live in a fantasy world unlike her own. Tom also uses Myrtle to escape reality, he admires her for her natural beauty as it contrasts the life he is stuck in with Daisy, but he would never end his marriage for her as he still respects and loves Daisy, as we see when Tom, “making a short deft movement… broke her nose with his open hand” after an argument broke out over whether or not Myrtle could say Daisy’s name (Pg. 32). Both Tom and Myrtle value their social status over love, hence why Tom can’t leave Daisy but Myrtle would leave her poor, unsuccessful husband Wilson. This is a relationship that would not have worked out even if Myrtle had not met such a tragic end, as they both wanted something the other could not give
In chapter one we meet Tom and Daisy Buchanan. We learn quickly that they have been married …show more content…
Tom met Myrtle on the train one day, who was immediately infatuated with him, they ended up in the same taxi which started a fast paced relationship with secret meetings and an apartment based on the fact that “neither of them [could] stand the person they’re married to” (Pg. 29). Myrtle is in love with what Tom represents, she does not get that from her current husband Wilson and it allows her to live in a fantasy world unlike her own. Tom also uses Myrtle to escape reality, he admires her for her natural beauty as it contrasts the life he is stuck in with Daisy, but he would never end his marriage for her as he still respects and loves Daisy, as we see when Tom, “making a short deft movement… broke her nose with his open hand” after an argument broke out over whether or not Myrtle could say Daisy’s name (Pg. 32). Both Tom and Myrtle value their social status over love, hence why Tom can’t leave Daisy but Myrtle would leave her poor, unsuccessful husband Wilson. This is a relationship that would not have worked out even if Myrtle had not met such a tragic end, as they both wanted something the other could not give