The Ways in Which the Relationship of Tom Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson Influences The Great Gatsby's Commentary on Social Classes in 1920's America

The relationship between Myrtle Wilson and Tom Buchanan helps portray the themes of social classes in F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby. The ways in which Tom and Myrtle's relationship influences the novel's commentary on social classes are basically two fold. Firstly, that it is impossible to permanently change ones social class simply by association with someone in a higher class. And secondly, that is impossible for love to exist between two people on …

…Tom Buchanan, a selfish, privileged, upper class man, and Myrtle Wilson, a working class woman, desperately seeking excitement and adventure in her otherwise drab and boring life, The Great Gatsby gives the reader a portrayal of a relationship that cannot by any stretch of the imagination be called a "love" affair. Nor is the relationship beneficial in any way to either of them. The relationship of Myrtle and Tom is simply a symbol for emptiness.