How does Fitzgerald achieve his effects in the passage I chose? A moment later she rushed out into the dusk, waving her hands and shouting — before he could move from his door the business was over. The “death car,” as the newspapers called it, didn’t stop; it came out of the gathering darkness, wavered tragically for a moment, and then disappeared around the next bend. Michaelis wasn’t even sure of its color — he told the first policeman that it was light green. The other car, the one going toward New York, came to rest a hundred yards beyond, and its driver hurried back to where Myrtle Wilson, her life violently extinguished, knelt in the road and mingled her thick dark blood with the dust. 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, …show more content…
Myrtle’s death happened so quickly, it was a wavering moment. Then the car disappeared, Daisy fled the scene and it shows that she is not innocent, even though she masks under white clothing and doesn’t drink. Michaelis said she was hit by a car “that may have been light green” the color green associates with money, greed, ambition and jealousy. It also says money killed her. ‘Myrtle Wilson, her life violently extinguished, knelt in the road and mingled her thick dark blood with the dust.’ Back in chapter two, we saw violence on Myrtle when her nose was broken by Tom Buchannan and blood spilt across the bathroom floor. Now she is kneeling on the road, choosing to be in that position. It’s like a prayer pose, it suggests she is paying for her sexual life. It is emphasized by the usage of the monosyllabic word like “thick dark blood”. The word “dust” has been used several times throughout the book, it symbolizes the destruction of dreams. Moreover this contrast with Gatsby, both of their blood was mixed with something else, when they passed
Wilson and Myrtle had a strained partnership, exacerbated by Myrtle’s affair with Tom and Wilson’s lack of confidence in the relationship. But when Myrtle dies, Wilson shows a surprising amount of grief for Myrtle, who frequently aired her discontent for the marriage. His “faded” (157) and “glazed eyes” (159) portray how much he truly loves Myrtle even if he has a hard time showing it and how her death ruined Wilson. Fitzgerald uses the emptiness in Wilson’s eyes to explain how Myrtle’s death shakes Wilson. He does not know what to do with himself and may not ever be the same ever again, which is evident in the loss of his entire personality. The sudden separation takes a toll and it is hard to recover the lost parts of oneself when one loses the love of their life. There may never come a time where the pain is truly
more diverse look at the life of Gatsby. Also shows how much Gatsby dwells on
From early civilizations to modern day social systems, economic status has always been a determining factor of power. Kings, queens, dukes, princes, and princesses possessed the greatest amount of wealth and thus the greatest amount of power over others. By having large amounts of wealth, royalty could control the actions of others below their economic status. This fact even applies the functions of modern American society. For instance, regardless of the specific circumstance, wealthy individuals have power over the actions of those below them. They control others by buying their loyalty or simply through others’ envy of them. Such principles can be applied to both men and women of wealth. The novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald,
In the book Great Gatsby there are many examples of society and social class, many are shown to us as the book progresses. Some are shown to us very up front while, others are hidden in the text. Society and social class play a critical part in this book such as how people interact with the lower classes, to how the rich live their lives. When we look deeper into on how the Great Gatsby handles sociality and social class, which puts the characters in the positions they are in.
Same Goal, Different Route in The Great Gatsby A more thorough investigation of The Great Gatsby is necessary to uncover a well-disguised theme by Fitzgerald in this work. Upon a simple read through one would probably not notice the great similarities of Jay Gatsby and Myrtle Wilson, but the two characters seemed to have the same agenda for their lives. While Gatsby took the route of acquiring money at all costs to join the upper class of society and to be acceptable in the eyes of a woman, Myrtle chose to make her way up in society at the cost of her marriage by attaching herself to money. The underlying question is who had the most success. As a young man, Jay Gatsby was poor with nothing but his love for Daisy. He had attempted to
Daisy Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson of The Great Gatsby. In the novel, The Great Gatsby, the two central women presented are Daisy Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson. These two women, although different, have similar personalities. Throughout the novel, there are instances in which the reader feels bad for and dislikes both Daisy and Myrtle.
Many of the occurrences in The Great Gatsby produced far-reaching effects for several of the characters. Of these occurrences, one of the most influential and important incidents was the death of Myrtle Wilson. While her life and death greatly affected the lives of all of the main and supporting characters, her death had a very significant effect on the lives of Tom, Daisy, and Gatsby.
It is from this that Myrtle is trying to escape, this life-in-death valley that characterises the underbelly of New York's glitter and lights and finery, and this that she is dragged back to by the dawning jealous rage of a normally unassuming husband. To run away from the grey and the death, the colourful, brimming woman runs out, arms outstretched, to the car she thinks belongs to the man who promised to take her away from the Valley. But -- she began in shadows and in shadows she dies, "her life violently extinguished, knelt in the road and mingled her thick, dark blood with the dust" (page 144). There is an "ashes to ashes dust to dust" element to every action in the novel, and Myrtle is no exception. We as readers focus more on Daisy and Tom, Gatsby and Nick; Myrtle’s fall is telling the same story as Gatsby’s, as Daisy’s. In the end, her life is worth no more and no less than the great millionaire in his mansion on West Egg.
There are many conspiracies in the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. One of them that many people believe is that Daisy Buchanan had killed Myrtle Wilson on purpose. Myrtle was Tom Buchanan’s mistress. Tom and Daisy were married and had a child but that didn’t stop Tom from cheating on her. At the same time, Daisy was having an affair with Jay Gatsby who was her childhood lover. There is much evidence that can prove that Daisy and Tom set up to kill Myrtle and put the blame on Gatsby.
She views her husband as nothing as clearly illustrated in The Great Gatsby when the novel states “walking through her husband as if he were a ghost, shook hands with Tom, looking him flush in the eye.” walking through him is showing she doesn't even view George, Her husband, as though he is in the room, She just goes straight to Tom because he’s her ticket out of this life Myrtle put herself into. She then says to her George, “Get some chairs, why don’t you, so somebody can sit down.” She just wants to make plans with Tom. Her husband is only distraction to her. She has no relationship with her husband. As soon as she found out that he had borrowed his suit she knew her would all be going downhill. Myrtle was now a victim of her own desperation, because of her marriage to
This color red is associated with sin, which can be readily seen all throughout the story. For example, when Nick is leaving Tom’s house he saw, “in front of wayside garages, where new red gas-pumps sat out in pools of light.” In this scene red represents the blood from Myrtle’s death and the pool foreshadows the murder of Gatsby. In addition, the color red represented blood and sin and this could be seen in the scene where Tom hits Myrtle because she was having a fuss about why she should be able to talk about Daisy whenever she wanted. After Tom got tired of her being defiant he struck her and broke her nose and the scene afterwards was described as, “Then there were bloody towels upon the bathroom floor, and women’s voices scolding, and high over the confusion a long broken wail of pain.” This scene is very important because it shows that Myrtle is considered tainted and impure because Tom is willing to hit her if he must. But, in the case of Daisy, he might hit her but would never break her nose because she is a pure, unbred trophy wife. Moreover, the color red is represented through the sinful actions that occur throughout the novel and is the representation of the crime stained
While comparing and contrasting Daisy Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson, I will be focusing on all aspects of the characters. Physically they are very different, but by demonstrating their distinct physical differences, Fitzgerald is allowing us to pick favorites early on. Daisy and Myrtle share a number of similarities and many differences in their daily lives, such as how they look, act, and handle conflict.
Myrtle Wilson did not have a lot in the beginning, but she gained a new life with Tom when she tried to reinvent herself for him. Things like new dresses, a big apartment, and fancy outings with Tom became the new “normal” for Myrtle. On the other hand, Myrtle lost the respect of her husband and friends when everyone found out about her affair. In addition to losing respect, Myrtle also lost herself, both mentally and physically, when she tried to keep secrets and live a double life. She became someone she did not recognize, and although her end in the novel was tragic, it was a cost that she had to
The first time that the reader catches an insight of Myrtle, Fitzgerald develops Myrtle to be a mere object of Tom's’ desire. Fitzgerald does this to extenuate the fact that Tom will not move on past Daisy to be with her. Tom “got some women” that supposedly is a secret but there is a lack of secretism on Myrtles end seeing as she is now calling during evening meals from “New York” just to talk to Tom. This further proves that she is in need of attention, something her husband can not fully give her at any random moment of the day. Myrtle is willing to express herself even when she’s already married. It reveals that she is deceiving her own husband, who is later mentioned in the novel. This allows for Myrtle to be looked down upon by the reader, it also entails her to be seen as an attention seeker. Again, Fitzgerald appeals to present-day behaviors by allowing Myrtle to be viewed as someone who wants to be showcased. Almost everyone can relate that they’ve wanted attention in their life at some point. This connects Myrtle to the reader's past or current feelings. Fitzgerald uses this to let readers feel compassion for Myrtle which emphasizes all she needs is for someone to properly love her, treat her, and show her what she needs to do to become successful in her
diminishes. The color yellow in the story often represents death. Myrtle dies after being hit by a yellow car. Another example of yellow representing death is the scene just before Gatsby enters the pool, "He shook his head. and in a moment disappeared among the yellowing trees" (Fitzgerald 169).