Myrtle Wilson and George Wilson try to find their American identity through wealth and status. Both of them do not like where they are living or how they are living so they do as much as possible to change their situations. Myrtle Wilson captures the quintessence of the American identity in the 1920’s by cheating on her husband with the wealthy, Tom Buchanan, thinking that she will gain riches. Myrtle then tries to act the part of a wealthy woman by dressing in nicer clothes because in the 1920’s, the clothing one wears, is synonymous to one success according to Jacqueline Herald. When Tom Buchanan first takes Nick Carraway to meet Myrtle she contains “no facet or gleam of beauty”(Fitzgerald 25), but as soon as she is about the city with Tom she buys a moving-picture magazine, ice cream, and a small flask of perfume.
Tom and Daisy’s invitation (and attendance) to one of Gatsby’s extravagant parties allows Fitzgerald to truly cement the gulf between Gatsby and Daisy. When Gatsby urges Daisy to “look around” she describes she is having a “marvellous time” yet her speech is interrupted by Gatsby. This is an indication of Gatsby’s nervousness because his usual finesse and polish has been cracked due to the significance he has placed on Daisy coming to one of his luxurious parties. It also reveals Gatsby’s lack of true social grace, despite his obvious monetary gains, we can see his impoverished roots (revealed earlier in the chapter) come to light. Gatsby also urges Daisy to “look around” because he is desperate to show her what he has created and ‘earned’ for her.
Candide Study Questions Candide is driven away from the baron’s castle because the baron caught Candide kissing his daughter’s hand. Candide is the love child of Lady Baroness and a man whom she would not marry because he wasn’t of high nobility. Voltaire is satirizing the differences in social classes at that time period and how important being noble and wealthy was. Candide finds Cuné gonde so attractive because “he thought Miss Cuné gonde excessively handsome though he had never had the courage to tell her so.” (Voltaire 12). Because nobility was such a high issue at that time, Candide’s forbidden kiss was almost like Adam and Eve’s disobedience in partaking of the fruit in the Garden of Eden.
Point in case, when at the Buchenaus house Tom gets a call and Jordan trying to listen claims to nick “Tom’s got some women in New York” (pg. 19). Tom is not truly happy and is trying to find what in his heart is missing. Money can buy many lavishes things to make a person seem to be joyful but it will never bring that person true happiness. Likewise, while in the hotel when Gatsby, Tom, and Daisy are talking Tom states, “I suppose the latest thing is to sit back and let Mr. Nobody from Nowhere make love to your wife,” (pg.
However, as the novel advances, her true character begins to unveil. Daisy Buchanan is seen as the true villain in The Great Gatsby for her materialism, selfishness, and extreme greed. One of the many questions the reader has about Daisy is why she tolerates her husband, Tom Buchanan’s, infidelities. And although according to Glenn Settle in “Fitzgerald's Daisy: The Siren Voice,” both “Daisy and Tom are careless people” (118), Daisy is shockingly more ruthless. In “Her Story and Daisy Buchanan,” writer Leland Person states, “Daisy expresses the same desire to escape the temporal world” (251).
For others, the valley is like a prison, and a reminder that they will never be able to escape the ashes. George Wilson’s wife, Myrtle, longed for the life of the rich and famous. She believed that she made a mistake marrying George because he was below her. “I married him because I thought he was a gentleman...I thought he knew something about breeding, but he wasn't fit to lick my shoe” (Fitzgerald 34). ‘“The only crazy I was was when I married him.
“‘My house looks well doesn't it?' he demanded. ‘See how the whole front of it catches the light. '” (95) He realizes that Daisy didn't wait to marry him because he was poor, and he made it his life goal to become wealthy and maybe someday impress Daisy. In conclusion, these three characters in the novel show materialism, spirituality, and identity and how they changed or
Although she has lied to them both, it is more likely that this is a lie she is telling herself. The result of her dishonesty to her husband and lover as well as her dishonesty towards herself reveals to the reader that as well Daisy’s deception is rooted from her shame. As a woman of the 1920’s a divorce or an affair would be quite shameful. However differing from Gatsby it can be said of Daisy that she lied based on her own confusion as well as shame, her marriage was quite messy and as a result she was lost and through her affair her mind became more clouded. She did not only lie out of shame but also because she was so unsure of herself that she was unaware of the things that she really
Although, he is not in love with the Daisy’s personality, he is infatuated by her looks. One could say that he is in love with the illusion of daisy. The idea of her still being the same girl he left behind before going to war is the idea he obsesses over. He does not realize that he can not just pick up where he left off. When he returned to his beloved Daisy, she had broken her promise and married a wealthy man as well as had a child.
As the novel proceeds, it is quickly revealed that the reality they live differs from their appearance to their fellow high society members. Firstly, Gatsby’s wealth is not genuine because he does illegal activities to distinguish himself from the poor. Secondly, Daisy is not an ideal wealthy housewife because she is deceiving and unfaithful. Lastly, Tom wants to have the perfect image of a happy family but his lust prevents him from actually having one. Humankind want to be something they are not so which causes reality to be an