Relationships between men and women do not always work; something always goes wrong. F. Scott Fitzgerald illustrates this premise quite well in his development of the four major relationships influencing the plot of The Great Gatsby. The first relationship introduced in the novel is Buchanan. Tom is a very powerful domineering man, very self-centered and self-absorbed. While Daisy is a charming, beautiful lady, with a thrilling voice, she is very self-centered as well.
Tom and Daisy’s relationship is undergoing stress. When Daisy notices that her finger is hurt she says, “You did it, Tom… That’s what I get for marrying a brut of a man, a great big hulking physical specimen (Tom interrupts) “I hate that word hulking… even in kidding.”Hulking,” insisted Daisy. (P 16) Daisy knows how to push all of Tom’s buttons and how hard to push them.
Daisy tells Nick how cynical she is about everything, she shows her views in the statement “She told me it was a girl and I turned my head away and wept… all right I’m glad it’s girl. And I hope she ” ll be a fool – that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.” (P 21). It’s rumored that Tom is having an affair, “Tom’s got some woman in New York.” (P 19), and from what Daisy says she would just rather not notice what is really happening. Daisy and Tom never seem at peace with each other, just in an oblivious state where nothing can change them.
They know “their place” is together; it suits society, they are perfectly matched. Daisy goes astray with Gatsby. “As he (Tom) left the room again she got up and went over to Gatsby and pulling his face down, kissing him on the mouth… You know I love you.” (PP 122-123) Daisy uses Gatsby to rebel against Tom’s infidelity, but would never even consider leaving him, especially for an old flame.
They are so materialistic; they except their flawed relationship as normal. Myrtle and Tom have a very fiery relationship. She is his “woman in New York.” Tom won’t be seen with her where any of his friends can see them, even on the train they even ride on different cars. Myrtle is the one who likes to show off. Their situation is awkward as she want’s to marry, however Tom shows his lack of respect for Myrtle when she won’t stop mentioning Daisy by breaking her nose, then treats her like a servant by paying her with gifts and mild affection. Myrtle thinks that by being around Tom and being liked by him she is better than her husband, even high class.
This shows how truly ignorant she is and how come this relationship could never work. Myrtle and Wilson have a very destructive relationship. Wilson is totally naive of Myrtle’s scandalous ways until he finds the expensive dog leash. He begins to doubt her and locks her in their room. “I’ve got my wife locked up in there, she’s going to stay there till the day after tomorrow and then we ” re going to move away.” (P 143) She says she never loved him that she married beneath herself. Myrtle expects to run away with Tom and be happy, so she doesn’t care how she treats Wilson.
Their relationship was doomed from the being. Myrtle needed a strong man that could be his own person and challenge her, something Wilson could never be. While Wilson was so trusting, he needs someone to love him and take care of him, someone that Myrtle won’t and can’t be. The last main relationship is the one between Daisy and Gatsby. This relationship had no hope ever. Gatsby had so many expectations.
“There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams-not through her own fault but because of colossal vitality of his illusion. It had gone beyond her, beyond everything. He had thrown himself into it with a creative passion, adding to it all the time, decking it out with every bright feather that drifted his was. No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man will store up in his ghostly heart.” (P 101) While Daisy wasn’t happy in her marriage, she would never leave Tom for this low class fellow.
For a small time, she too was caught up in his glorious dream, but she never believed in it the way Gatsby did. Gatsby lived his life to please Daisy; this was part of the relationships fatal flaw. He worked so hard to prove himself worthy, but in the process he lost who he really was. Daisy is so into self-satisfaction that in order to make herself feel better she uses Gatsby, not caring that she is toying with his heart.
Both parties are to blame; they are so self-serving they never stop to look at the real world and how what they do affects others. Something in every one of these relationships mirrors F. Scott Fitzgerald’s own life. He was madly in love with a beautiful girl that came from money and had to publish his first book before she consented to marry him. Once they were married, they were considered one of the leading couples, like Tom and Daisy, in the roaring twenties. The life they lived was a reflection of Gatsby’s parties.
Mrs. Fitzgerald lost her mind and was put in an institution; Myrtle acted irrational and just might have gone crazy in the end. Fitzgerald responded by drinking, he like Gatsby and Wilson couldn’t deal with reality, and chose to seclude himself and write a masterpiece in which he expressed his opinion about relationships in general and why they can’t work, why his didn’t work.