The Great Gatsby Analysis

Throughout the book, Tom Buchanan and George Wilson both seem to be predominate to their wives. While Daisy was chatting, Tom cut her off because he did not want to hear what she was saying. Meanwhile, George locked Myrtle in their house so they could leave town because she had an affair. Wilson states, “I told her she might be able to fool me, but she couldn't fool God.” (159) Wilson tells Myrtle this because he wants her to feel like she is being judged. The unlikeness of the two is that Tom cares for himself more than he does Daisy; George actually loves his wife Myrtle.

When she is driving through the Valley of Ashes, Myrtle is trying to escape from her husband and runs outside. She sees the yellow coupe that she saw Tom driving earlier that day and runs into the road thinking Tom has come to save her. When Daisy finally acknowledges that someone is running into the road calling for their help, she is going too fast to stop and she causes an accident in which Myrtle Wilson gets run over. This act outlines that he doesn’t care about the consequences that could be in store for him, as long as Daisy doesn’t take the fall. Daisy has run over Myrtle (Tom’s mistress and Wilson’s wife) when Wilson sees this he becomes physically and mentally ill.

Tom’s little infidelity with Myrtle was a start to Wilson losing it. One day Tom goes to Wilson’s shop and witnesses Myrtle being locked up in a cage for something he did. “He had discovered that Myrtle had some sort of life apart from him in another world, and the shock had made him physically sick” (Fitzgerald, 124) ‘“ I’ve got my wife locked in up there,” explained Wilson calmly”’ (Fitzgerald, 136). Tom’s infidelity with Myrtle made Wilson so sick that he had to lock up her own wife so she wouldn’t leave him. Myrtle was everything Wilson had and he would do anything if she was taken away from him. This started the fuse that would later explode into chaos later

divorce”(33). Nick then notes that this is a strange statement considering Daisy is not catholic. Fitzgerald is inferring that Mr. Buchanan is lying to his mistress as well. Tom has no intention to leave Daisy, yet tells Myrtle he wants to but it is not up to him. Tom continuously lies to his loved ones in order to indulge in his selfish delights.

The relationship between Tom and Myrtle was different from Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship. Tom, described with physical strength, has his history, abilities, and sensuality that make him right. On the other hand, his wife, Daisy comes out to be the weakest character from a reader’s point of view, because people ask her for a lot (“Great”, Scott). Tom always claimed that he was deeply in love with Daisy, but every chance he had to leave town he went and slept with Myrtle Wilson. She knew Tom was married but that did not stop her from loving him.

The plot of The Great Gatsby, a novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is driven by Jay Gatsby's

After discovering Tom’s affair with Myrtle, he is confused and

First, Tom and Daisy demonstrate their carelessness through their insensitiveness. When Tom is visiting his mistress, Myrtle, she taunts Tom by repeatedly saying “Daisy! Daisy! Daisy!” (Fitzgerald, 39). This causes Tom to get aggravated and strike Myrtle in the face, breaking her nose. Tom physically abuses Myrtle and while he is under the influence of alcohol, he has the intent of hurting her, not caring if she gets injured. Tom also lies to Myrtle, telling her that he would marry her if is wife wasn’t Catholic. Tom does not care about the feelings of his mistress, seeing her as an object and not a human. Myrtle is nothing more than a way for Tom to feel powerful due to her low social status and insecurities. It is mentioned that Tom has cheated on Daisy before with a maid, further proving that Toms motive for having an affair is power. It also proves that Tom is not cheating on Daisy because he is bored, but because he does not truly love her or care for her. Tom’s lack of concern for those around him proves his insensitiveness and overall carelessness.

Myrtle and Tom use this lie to cope with the fact that they can never truly be together, despite extreme unhappiness in their own marriages. As previously stated, they are provided with stability from their marriages that they do not have to courage to abandon. The impossibility of Tom and Myrtle having a future together is evident when Tom hits Myrtle for repeatedly yelling Daisy’s name (37). Tom, up until this moment, has been able to have the security of a marriage and the passion of an affair both existing in separate spheres. This realization that he ultimately cannot keep living in two separate worlds ultimately pushes Tom to choose his life to Daisy.

Daisy is Tom’s prized possession throughout the novel because of her wealth and his ability to control her. Daisy is able to give Tom the high status he desires. Though, he describes his relationship with Daisy as, “‘Once in a while I go off on a spree and make a fool of myself but I always come back…’” (Fitzgerald 131). Tom stays with Daisy because he cannot lose the high position in society that Daisy’s inferiority and riches bring him. His marriage brings him respect in society. As a matter of fact, Tom chooses Daisy over Myrtle when he is about to lose them both. Tom’s desire for high social status is put to the test when Daisy decides to leave him for another man and Myrtle consider leaving town with her husband. In the end, “When Tom's own "property," wife Daisy, disappears around the bend in his car driven by a bootlegger in a pink suit, he makes the decision to pursue what is, at least legally, his” (O’Meara 6-7). Tom chooses Daisy because they are the same blood, both old money. They are both the upper class citizens that Myrtle will never be because of her current status as lower class and lack of wealth. Tom’s possessiveness over Daisy is prioritized over Myrtle and evidently leads to Myrtle’s demise in power and in

Tom holds the power in his relationship with Myrtle lying about the reason why their relationship cannot go

Daisy is equally immoral as she marries him solely for his money and status and ignores his womanizing behaviors. He takes advantage of her throughout the entirety of their marriage. This is true even in the earliest stage of their marriage, when Daisy discovers that Tom is cheating on her with the chambermaid and continues to stay with him. After Tom is confronted for his infidelity, he sorrily and insincerely promises that “[he is] going to take better care of [her] from now on” (Fitzgerald 140). Being that Tom’s affair with Myrtle is not his first, this statement should indicate to Daisy that she should no longer be with Tom. In a similar manner at the end of the novel, Nick spots Tom “frowning into the windows of a jewelry store” (Fitzgerald 186). Tom is likely at the jewelry store to buy expensive jewelry for Daisy in an attempt to apologize for cheating once again. Tom’s habits continue even after the unfortunate deaths of Myrtle and Gatsby, which are both indirectly caused by the couple’s immorality and recklessness. Arguably, Daisy is equally at fault since she ignores clear signs of infidelity such as these empty promises and pathetic apology gifts. Both of their flaws are a product of the American Dream, thus proving its harmful effect on romantic relationships.

Throughout the novel The Great Gatsby the author F. Scott Fitzgerald has created dysfunctional relationships between characters to provoke the audience to react is a specific way. Today we will be taking a detailed look at the relationship between the characters Daisy and Tom and demonstrate how the author has created a dysfunctional relationship between the pair as they fail to meet basic requirements of a healthy marriage of love and loyalty.

Therefore another frequent real-world issue is the double standards in relationships. It is made clear by the second chapter, that tom has a mistress named Myrtle, who is also married. Daisy knows about her husband's affair an does nothing about it. Myrtle’s husband, George doesn't know that she's cheating on him but she also treats him horribly.

Gatsby’s obsession with Daisy causes him to be so fixated on her that he disregards his morals. He goes as far as firing all of his staff; he tells Nick, “I wanted somebody who wouldn't gossip. Daisy comes over quite often--in the afternoons,” (Fitzgerald 114). Gatsby is so obsessed with Daisy that he fires all of his trusted staff in exchange for time with Daisy that does not further his end goal. He was willing to completely alter the lives of his staff, and the people who financially rely on them, because of his neurotic desire to transport himself back to when it was just him and Daisy. This obsession also causes him to be manipulative and immoral in an attempt to create a life where they could be together. In fact, “...he had deliberately given Daisy a sense of security; he let her believe that he was a person from much the same stratum as herself--that he was fully able to take care of her,” (149). Gatsby knew that they could not be together due to their vastly different social classes,but nonetheless he still strived to draw Daisy into his disillusioned reality. He also knew that he could not bribe his way out of the war, yet he let her believe that his nonexistent wealth could buy them more time and a way to avoid what