Compare and Contrast : George Wilson and Tom Buchanan in the Great Gatsby

The Pervasive Power of Money

The idealized and praised American Dream changed many people’s lives and is the reason behind the motivation, determination, and perseverance to work hard and succeed. However, there is a dark side to this fantasized dream that many people take risks for the American Dream spoils and corrupts people’s minds and ultimately kills them. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald writes about a recollection of Nick Carraway’s memories and experiences on Long Island.

Nick realizes that Tom cheats on Daisy with Myrtle. Although Tom is unfaithful to Daisy, Daisy is also unfaithful to him as well by meeting Gatsby. Tom’s apparent affair with Myrtle and Daisy’s emotional affair with Gatsby show that money Money has the power to change and negatively influence people since the characters become so obsessed that they take part in unethical actions.

The Corrosion of Morality for Wealth

Money influences a character’s moral action by impairing his or her judgment and breaking apart families, thus destroying relationships between them. When Nick visits the Buchanans, he first discovers Tom’s affair through Daisy: Fitzgerald writes, “‘Why--’ she said hesitantly, ‘Tom’s got some woman in New York.’ Myrtle leaves her husband, Mr. Wilson, for Tom Buchanan, who is “a national figure” and represents old money since he came from an “enormously wealthy” family. She goes to the extent of betraying her husband for Tom to climb up the social ladder by acquiring his wealth and going after his wealth. Money is a powerful yet dangerous asset, which causes people to become blindsided and dismiss moral standards. At the beginning of their marriage, Myrtle genuinely loves her husband; however, after she is exposed to the cruel treatment of the upper class, she changes her values from true love to social status. At first, Myrtle loved George when they married.

Myrtle explains, “‘I married him because I thought he was a gentleman,’ she said finally. ‘I thought he knew something about breeding, but he wasn’t fit to lick my shoe… I knew right away I made a mistake.’ Her opinion and love for her husband change when she realizes that he is not wealthy and has to borrow someone’s “best suit” for their marriage. Though George and Myrtle have been married together for about 11 years, Myrtle’s true values are shown colors as her intentions behind her affair with Tom are unveiled. Myrtle is willing to do anything to climb the social status ladder: she is willing to break her husband and destroy the Buchanan family. With her unethical actions, Myrtle’s corrupting desire for wealth inhibits her from looking past money and seeing people’s true character, thus making her not truly love either of the two men.

Compare and Contrast: George Wilson and Tom Buchanan

Myrtle’s desire for wealth corrupts her moral standards since she has an affair with Tom. The author of American Classics: Evolutionary Perspectives, Judith Saunders, argues that competition among men and women, trying to fight for sexual attention and loyalty, plays a critical role in events and provokes violence. The Great Gatsby features these mating problems: “Myrtle Wilson’s selection of Tom as an extramarital affair partner is strategically sound… Access to otherwise unobtainable material resources is “a key adaptive benefit” women stand to gain from casual liaisons” (Saunders 142). Then, the author compares Tom Buchanan and Mr. Wilson. Tom belongs to “an extremely small pool of the super-rich”; on the other hand, Mr. Wilson is the owner of an unprosperous garage business. Her time with Tom offers Myrtle a temporary entrance elevation of her norm of poverty into luxury, which is clearly evident as she takes advantage of the opportunity. By cheating on her husband, Myrtle dismisses the moral standards. Instead of using hard work to earn money, she takes shortcuts in order to achieve the luxurious life that she wishes to live. Cheating and taking shortcuts will only temporarily help. With Myrtle, she is able to get a brief taste of wealth with Tom; however, her desires are short-lived. In the end, the immoral actions catch up to her, and she ultimately gets punished with death.

Not only are Tom and Myrtle unfaithful in their marital relationships, but Daisy is also not loyal to Tom as she starts to redevelop feelings for Gatsby. Daisy finally professes her feelings about Tom and Gatsby: she loves both of them. She loved Gatsby even while married to Tom. Daisy clarifies, “I love you now--isn’t that enough? I can’t help what’s past… I did love him once--but I loved you too.” At first, Daisy loved Gatsby, but because Gatsby was not wealthy at the time and went to war, Daisy could not wait and married Tom. At the beginning of their marriage, Daisy actually loved Tom. Now, since Tom cheated on Daisy, she becomes despondent and instead finds comfort in Gatsby. In this way, Daisy parallels herself with Myrtle. Daisy loves Gatsby while married to Tom, while Myrtle loves Tom even when she is Wilson’s wife. The corruption of wealth has consumed Daisy. Tom finds out that Daisy and Gatsby have been together. Gatsby reveals, “Your wife doesn’t love you… she’s never loved you. She loves me.”

She has never loved Tom and only married him for his wealth and status. Despite the fact that Daisy loved Gatsby before Tom, she does not marry Gatsby because he is poor, and she cannot wait for him to become rich. Now that Gatsby is a self-made man, her feelings for Gatsby come back. In addition to Daisy mirroring Myrtle, both seek men with money. The irony in her name makes this even more evident. Daisies represent purity and innocence, but now Daisy also obtains immoral qualities as well. The author is able to use the comparison of innocence, the idea of Daisy, and the unchaste Daisy to emphasize not only the corruption of wealth but also address the recurring theme of reality versus perception. Daisy is not as innocent as she seems compared to the initial perspective. The fact that the two characters come from different classes yet share similar qualities proves how powerful money is; money is dangerous because it can change people, even if they come from different backgrounds. Daisy’s corrupting obsession with wealth drives her decision to end her relationship with Gatsby and marry Tom.

The Illusory American Dream

By incorporating the corruption of money, Fitzgerald is able to convey the American Dream as illusionary. Gatsby reaches out for the green light, which symbolizes his goal in life. According to Fitzgerald, “Gatsby stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way… distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock.” The green nuance from the distance is a flashing green light that actually comes from the other side of the bay, the Buchanan dock. Gatsby reaching out to the green light mirrors him trying to reach his American Dream: making a name for himself so he can be with the ideal Daisy. The author uses this imagery to foreshadow the impending doom that he will face and compare the endeavor of Gatsby’s lack of striving since they were both born wealthy. Furthermore, he obtains his wealth by involving himself in illegal work. Tom and Daisy attend Gatsby’s party, and later, Tom finds out that Gatsby and Daisy have feelings for each other.

At the Plaza Hotel, Tom initiates his confrontation with Gatsby by accusing him of lying and handling illegal work. Tom claims, ‘He and this Wolfsheim bought up a lot of side-street drug-stores here and in Chicago and sold grain alcohol over the counter… I picked him for a bootlegger the first time I saw him, and I wasn’t far wrong.’ While neglecting his double standard, in which Tom has an affair and does not allow Daisy to get close to Gatsby, he brings up Gatsby’s mischievous wrongdoings to remind Daisy that she also has feelings for her. This shows that Tom is jealous and feels threatened by Gatsby. Similarly to Myrtle, Gatsby uses illegal methods in order to gain wealth. He is similar to Myrtle in the way that they both came from un-wealthy families and cut corners to achieve their dreams. While Myrtle just wants to experience a luxurious lifestyle, Gatsby wants to have Daisy all to himself. Though Gatsby neglects Daisy’s marriage to Tom and her kids, he does everything he can to acquire Daisy. He builds up his wealth and throws lavish parties just to get her attention. Despite all of his efforts and illegal risks, Gatsby never wins Daisy all to himself, which proves that the American Dream is illusionary. Fitzgerald proves that the American Dream is an illusion by showing Gatsby’s corruption of wealth.

Among all of the three characters, Wilson, on the other hand, goes against the recurring behaviors displaying the corruption of wealth. After they attend Gatsby’s party, Daisy, Gatsby, Tom, Nick, and Jordan decide to go into town to break the tension between Tom and Gatsby. They pass by T.J. Eckleburg and stop by Wilson’s station for gas. At this point, Wilson knows about his wife’s affair, but he has figured out who Myrtle is having an affair with. Wilson expresses, “‘I’ve been here too long. I want to get away. My wife and I want to go West’” (Fitzgerald 123). Mr. Wilson reveals that he needs money because he wants to move out West with Myrtle. George Wilson is not rich like most of the other main characters in the novel. He is part of the working class in society and resides in the Valley of Ashes. Even though Wilson is not well off, he does not let wealth consume and tempt him. He does not take the easy way out; he does not cheat on his spouse, nor does he partake in illegal deals. Not only does he overcome the corrupting desire for money, he wants to move away from the money-obsessed society and straighten out his wife in hopes that Myrtle will not be influenced anymore.

Wealth is a powerful asset that can negatively impact those who seek it and those who have it. By incorporating the corruption of money, Fitzgerald writes this novel to convey that the American Dream is illusionary and causes people to become obsessed and blindsided by commodity value. Corruption of wealth is not only evident in the novel but it is seen almost everywhere in the real world. The desire for wealth can be overbearing and dangerous. People can cheat and involve themselves in illegal matters just to obtain wealth; the terrible deeds will catch up to them in some way. Although some do not succumb to the obsession with wealth, others fall right through. Unfortunately for those who fall into the trap, the desire will cost them their life, similar to Gatsby and Myrtle.

References:

1. Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby.

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