George Wilson
George Wilson captures the morally sound aspect of living the “good life”. He is not financially stable but he is a truly hardworking. He tries to surround himself with people he cares about when he marries Myrtle, but when she realizes he doesn’t have much money she loses interest. Mr. Wilson sometimes comes off as a push over; throughout the book Tom continues to tell Mr. Wilson that he is going to sell him his car. Mr. Wilson is always overly anxious to get the car and looks desperate as Tom leaves with his wife.
Mr. Wilson is one of the few characters in the book that doesn’t cheat. He is truly morally strong and this leads to him losing other aspects of “good life”. Because he makes his money honestly through hard work he is never really living comfortably, which causes him to lose the person that he surrounded himself with that he cared about. Mr. Wilson loved his wife even though she cheated on him, and it was this passionate love that led to the murder of the Great Gatsby. Really, Mr. Wilson should not be described as immoral for this death, but should be lamented as misled and taken advantage of. Of course, the act of murder can not ever be completely justified, however, the reader feels more sympathy for George Wilson for being a troubled soul than anger for committing a murder. Mr. Wilson’s largest problem hindering him from living the “good life” is his financial instability, but the second greatest problem he has is that people simply walk all over and take advantage of him.
Myrtle doesn’t live any aspect of the “good life”. She is not financially comfortable as her husband works hard in their garage. She doesn’t surround herself with people who care about her because she is cheating on her husband and clearly has no feelings for him. She is not morally strong because she cheats with Tom. Ultimately her morally unsound ways are what kills her. She is continuing to go behind George’s back and cheating with Tom. When she sees Tom driving to town in Gatsby’s car she makes that connection. Later when she sees the car returning she jumps in front of it to see Tom, little does she know it isn’t Tom its Daisy and she gets drilled by the car, leading to her death.
Mr. Wilson is one of the few characters in the book that doesn’t cheat. He is truly morally strong and this leads to him losing other aspects of “good life”. Because he makes his money honestly through hard work he is never really living comfortably, which causes him to lose the person that he surrounded himself with that he cared about. Mr. Wilson loved his wife even though she cheated on him, and it was this passionate love that led to the murder of the Great Gatsby. Really, Mr. Wilson should not be described as immoral for this death, but should be lamented as misled and taken advantage of. Of course, the act of murder can not ever be completely justified, however, the reader feels more sympathy for George Wilson for being a troubled soul than anger for committing a murder. Mr. Wilson’s largest problem hindering him from living the “good life” is his financial instability, but the second greatest problem he has is that people simply walk all over and take advantage of him.
Myrtle doesn’t live any aspect of the “good life”. She is not financially comfortable as her husband works hard in their garage. She doesn’t surround herself with people who care about her because she is cheating on her husband and clearly has no feelings for him. She is not morally strong because she cheats with Tom. Ultimately her morally unsound ways are what kills her. She is continuing to go behind George’s back and cheating with Tom. When she sees Tom driving to town in Gatsby’s car she makes that connection. Later when she sees the car returning she jumps in front of it to see Tom, little does she know it isn’t Tom its Daisy and she gets drilled by the car, leading to her death.
