Great Gatsby Characters Essay, Research Paper
The novel, The Great Gatsby, has many characters in it. Four prominent
characters are Tom Buchanan, George Wilson, Daisy Buchanan, and Myrtle Wilson.
These four characters have some similarities, but in reality they are very
different people. Tom Buchanan and George Wilson have very little in common. The
first similarity is that they are the only two people in the novel to use
violence. Tom strikes Myrtle and George shoots Gatsby. The other similarity is
that they both "love" Myrtle Wilson. Tom cheats on his wife Daisy with
Myrtle, which brings about a difference between the two men. George is faithful
to his wife, while Tom does not seem to really care about Daisy or even Myrtle
for that matter. George shows respect to people while Tom shows no respect, or
care for anyone. This lack of respect is probably due to their opposite
positions in life. Tom is an arrogant rich man, while George is a humble
merchant. The comparison and contrast for the women is much more complicated
then the men. They were similar because they were both fake. Myrtle pretended to
be rich, and Daisy pretended to care about people. This quote shows Daisy’s
false care, "I’m p-paralyzed with happiness." In Myrtle’s mind the two
women are very much similar. When Tom and Myrtle go out, Myrtle acted out her
dreams of being rich. She buys useless things with Tom’s money. However this was
not reality. In fact Daisy was everything Myrtle wanted to be, and everything
she was not. Daisy really lived a luxurious life. She really had no cares or
concerns. Myrtle tried to be just like Daisy, but she never really could because
the life she lead was fake. These people were totally different in almost every
way. George was happy this way, and had no problem with his life. Unfortunately
Myrtle was not content. She strived to be something she was not(Daisy). Daisy
didn’t try to do anything, she didn’t care about anything because she was rich.
Tom Buchanan was rich, and he felt indestructible because of this. He had no
real compassion for anyone. Tom Buchanan, George Wilson, Daisy Buchanan and
Myrtle Wilson have some minor similarities, but for the most part are very
different.