Who is myrtle and george wilson

How so? Tom and Daisy get to hide behind their money while Gatsby, Myrtle, and George end up dead. Specifically, Myrtle is run over by Daisy, Gatsby is killed by George who is manipulated by Tom , and then George kills himself. So despite both Tom and Daisy's direct complicity in both murders, neither of them face any consequences for their bad behavior. This is a stark indictment of the class system in s America, in that the rich literally play by different rules than the poor or the up-and-coming.

The fates of George, Myrtle, and Gatsby also shatter any illusions about the possibility of social climbing in this world , or even in the promise of the American Dream itself.

Whether you manage to amass a fortune like Gatsby, or just aspire to a better life like George, you're still powerless in the face of old money, privilege, and classism in the United States. This intense pessimism is supported by Nick's return to the Midwest at the end of the novel and the somber mood of the ending. You might be wondering, "how on earth does George not notice his wife is cheating on him"? After all, we know that Tom is not making a big effort to hide Myrtle from his friends, going to popular restaurants with her, and even dragging Nick along with him to the apartment he's rented for her in New York.

Plus, Tom comes visits the garage and he and Myrtle barely hide their relationship. So it could seem odd that George really has no clue.

However, when you consider that George has no access to Tom's social circles , and that he rarely leaves his garage, George has no way to know what his wife is doing in New York and who she's seeing remember, this is an era long before cell phones and Facebook! Furthermore, George is also super invested in doing business with Tom , so that's an incentive to subconsciously overlook whatever is going on. George's failure to notice the affair for so long speaks to George's complete isolation from the world of old money and, more broadly, the huge class divides in America in the s.

Tom and Daisy's world is so separate from George's that they can live whole lives that he is entirely unaware of. This stark separation becomes clear in George's strange, sad walk to Long Island where he kills Gatsby and ends his life. For George, the class lines in society were impossible to safely cross.

Still a bit confused by exactly how the climax of the novel plays out? Read our summaries of Chapter 7 and Chapter 8 for a clear play-by-play of what exactly goes down on the road between Manhattan and West Egg. Why does Myrtle cheat on George? What does she see in the bully Tom Buchanan?

Read our analysis of Myrtle Wilson to fully understand the complicated marriage between the Wilsons! Writing an essay about George Wilson? Then you should definitely read our analysis of the Valley of Ashes and the eyes of Doctor T. George is closely linked to these two symbols, so make sure you understand them! We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score.

Download it for free now:. Anna scored in the 99th percentile on her SATs in high school, and went on to major in English at Princeton and to get her doctorate in English Literature at Columbia. She is passionate about improving student access to higher education. Our new student and parent forum, at ExpertHub.

See how other students and parents are navigating high school, college, and the college admissions process. Ask questions; get answers. Through Doctor Eckleburg's sign, Fitzgerald indicates that although people are turning away from traditional established morality and rules of socially acceptable behavior, neglecting to tend to their spiritual side, the eyes of God continue to watch all that passes.

Even though God's image may become increasingly removed from daily life just as the face surrounding Eckleburg's enormous eyes has faded and disappeared , His eyes continue to witness all that passes.

Through the eyes the reader has an implicit call to action, reconnecting with a lost spiritual connection. After Nick and Tom get off the train notice how Tom orders Nick around and announces what it is they are going to do; these are clear indicators of Tom's nature and continue to mark him as the story continues , they proceed to George Wilson's repair garage.

Much can be learned about Wilson, as well as everyone trapped in the valley of ashes, through the brief exchange.

There is little about Wilson to indicate he will ever be anywhere but the desolate wasteland of the valley. His business totters on the brink of failure, and he seems ignorant of what goes on around him. It is unlikely that he is, in Tom's elitist words, "so dumb he doesn't know he's alive," but he does seem trapped by an unnamable force. Myrtle Wilson appears in striking contrast to her husband.

Although she does not possess the ethereal qualities of Daisy, in fact, she appears very much of the earth, she does possess a decided sensuality, as well a degree of ambition and drive that is conspicuously absent in her husband. After a few attempts at social niceties showing that Myrtle, despite being trapped in a dead-end lifestyle, aspires in some sense to refinement and propriety , Nick and Tom leave, with the understanding that Myrtle will soon join them to travel into the city to the apartment that Tom keeps for just such purposes.

It is worth noting, however, that Myrtle rides in a different train car from Tom and Nick, in accordance with Tom's desire to pander, in this small way, to the "sensibilities of those East Eggers who might be on the train. He is bold about his affair, not worrying that Daisy knows, but he sees the need to put up a pretense on the train, as if that one small gesture of discretion makes up for all the other ways in which he flaunts his affairs.

As soon as the group arrives in New York, Myrtle shows herself to be not nearly as nondescript as is her husband. She is, however, far from refined, despite how she may try. At the apartment in New York, after "throwing a regal homecoming glance around the neighborhood," Myrtle undergoes a transformation.

By changing her clothes she leaves behind her lower-class trappings, and in donning new clothes she adopts a new personality. She invites her sister and some friends to join the afternoon's party, but her motivation for doing so goes beyond simply wanting to enjoy their company.

Her intent is largely to show off what she has gained for herself through her arrangement. It is irrelevant to Myrtle that what she has gained comes through questionable means; clearly, for her and Tom, too , the morality of infidelity is not an issue. Her affair with Tom allows her to gain something she wants — money and power — and therefore it can be justified. As Nick describes, when Myrtle changes her clothes, she exchanges her earlier "intense vitality" clearly a positive and refreshing attribute for "impressive hauteur" a decidedly unappealing quality invoking Nick's respect and disgust simultaneously.

Myrtle and George fight later that evening, and Myrtle manages to run out of the house after yelling at George to beat her and calling him a coward. Just then, she spots the yellow car heading back for Long Island.

Thinking it's Tom, she runs toward and then out in front of the car, waving her arms. But Daisy is driving the car, and she decides to run over Myrtle rather than get into a head-on collision with an oncoming car. She hits Myrtle, who dies instantly. Myrtle's death emotionally and mentally devastates George, which prompts him to murder Gatsby who he mistakes for both his wife's killer and lover , and then kill himself.

The death car. Wilson had changed her costume some time before and was now attired in an elaborate afternoon dress of cream colored chiffon, which gave out a continual rustle as she swept about the room. With the influence of the dress her personality had also undergone a change.

The intense vitality that had been so remarkable in the garage was converted into impressive hauteur. Her laughter, her gestures, her assertions became more violently affected moment by moment and as she expanded the room grew smaller around her until she seemed to be revolving on a noisy, creaking pivot through the smoky air. Here, we see Myrtle transformed from her more sensuous, physical persona into that of someone desperate to come off as richer than she actually is.

Wielding power over her group of friends, she seems to revel in her own image. Unlike Gatsby, who projects an elaborately rich and worldly character, Myrtle's persona is much more simplistic and transparent. Notably Tom, who immediately sees Gatsby as a fake, doesn't seem to mind Myrtle's pretensions—perhaps because they are of no consequence to him, or any kind of a threat to his lifestyle.

Here we see Myrtle pushing her limits with Tom—and realizing that he is both violent and completely unwilling to be honest about his marriage. While both characters are willful, impulsive, and driven by their desires, Tom is violently asserting here that his needs are more important than Myrtle's. After all, to Tom, Myrtle is just another mistress, and just as disposable as all the rest. Also, this injury foreshadows Myrtle's death at the hands of Daisy, herself. While invoking Daisy's name here causes Tom to hurt Myrtle, Myrtle's actual encounter with Daisy later in the novel turns out to be deadly.

When George confronts his wife about her affair, Myrtle is furious and needles at her husband—already insecure since he's been cheated on—by insinuating he's weak and less of a man than Tom. Also, their fight centers around her body and its treatment, while Tom and Daisy fought earlier in the same chapter about their feelings. In this moment, we see that despite how dangerous and damaging Myrtle's relationship with Tom is, she seems to be asking George to treat her in the same way that Tom has been doing.

Myrtle's disturbing acceptance of her role as a just a body—a piece of meat, basically—foreshadows the gruesome physicality of her death. 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 and there was no need to listen for the heart beneath. The mouth was wide open and ripped at the corners as though she had choked a little in giving up the tremendous vitality she had stored so long.

Even in death, Myrtle's physicality and vitality are emphasized. In fact, the image is pretty overtly sexual—notice how it's Myrtle's breast that's torn open and swinging loose, and her mouth ripped open at the corners. This echoes Nick's view of Myrtle as a woman and mistress, nothing more—even in death she's objectified. This moment is also much more violent than her earlier broken nose.

While that moment cemented Tom as abusive in the eyes of the reader, this one truly shows the damage that Tom and Daisy leave in their wake, and shapes the tragic tone of the rest of the novel.

The graphic and bloody nature of Myrtle's death really sticks with you. You will most likely be asked to write about Myrtle in relation to other characters especially Daisy , or in prompts that ask you to compare the "strivers" in the book including also Gatsby, George Wilson with the old money set Tom, Daisy, Jordan.

To learn how best to approach this kind of compare and contrast essay, read our article on common character pairings and how to analyze them.

In either case, Myrtle's most important chapters are 2 and 7 , so close read those carefully. When writing about her, pay close attention to Myrtle's interactions with other characters. And if you're writing an essay that discusses Myrtle as someone trying to live out the American Dream, make sure to address her larger influences and motivations.

Afterwards, Symkyn is punished by the wife and two scholars because he fails to control his women and is inevitably isolated with manhood. Unluckily, Symkyn cannot withhold social statuses or break down social barriers since he cannot maintain authority.

John and Aleyn are worshipped in the tale, because they were able to hold their power, despite their lesser. On one hand, the reader should notice that Daisy is getting cheated on, but does not leave Tom because he has money and she loves him. Daisy Buchanan is married to Tom Buchanan, and Tom continuously cheats on her with other women.

Daisy is aware of what is happening and she has to sit there and listen to Tom tell people about it. She is not satisfied with her marriage, or with her low-class mechanic husband, George. Addie only wanted to have one child which would have been Cash. However, she is unhappy about the fact that she had to have Darl too and she hates Anse for this. Due to the lack of a loving relationship, the Buchanans cheat on each other constantly without care.

Tom has an affair with Myrtle Wilson, who is engaged to George Wilson. Daisy was a trophy wife; Tom did not truly love her, for he is married to her because of her beauty. The nature of this love is negative because his love of his materialistic attitude which will only hurt himself.

If one has lost friends and family, then material goods will soon mean little to nothing. This friendship is the only relationship in the play without an ulterior.