The 1925 novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, displays the lives of the upper class people during the Roaring 20’s. This novel takes place in the imaginary towns of East and West Egg of New York. The East Egg is for old money and where Jordan, Tom and Daisy live. The West Egg is for new money and Nick and Gatsby live there. George Wilson and Tom Buchanan are two of the main male characters that have many similarities and differences to each other, which are presented through their actions and relationships.
George Wilson is married to a woman named Myrtle Wilson. George Wilson is deeply in love with her and wants to provide as much as he can for her. He owns an auto shop and works long shifts in order to take care of her. He also works a great amount because he does not have a lot of money to be able to spend. Myrtle however is not as devoted into this relationship because she does not like that he is poor and she wants to be seen as rich and wealthy. She is having an affair with Tom Buchanan behind Wilson’s back. Tom Buchanan is very opinionated and he has an immense amount of money. Both of the main male characters fell in love with the same woman, Myrtle Wilson. Tom and George are friends and they see each other often at the auto shop.
Wilson had no idea about this affair until much later in the novel, but when he found out he did not know what to do. Wilson said, “ he had discovered that Myrtle has some sort of life apart from him in another world, and the shock had made him physically sick” (Fitzgerald 124). Wilson was not only devastated about this news, but he was also filled with anger. He screams with fury and starts to chase Myrtle as she tries to run away from him. Myrtle runs into the street with fear, hoping for help, but she was instantly killed by a car that Daisy had been driving. This shows Wilson’s character and that his actions and violence have major consequences. Fitzgerald is persuading the readers now that George is not the nice and caring guy he was in the beginning of the story because of this accident with Myrtle’s death.
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Another similarity that George Wilson and Tom Buchanan share is they are both losing their wives to affairs. George Wilson was a poignant character who wanted the best for his wife and Tom Buchanan was narcissistic and he believes women are objects to play with. Tom was infatuated with love towards Daisy, but Gatsby was as well. Daisy states, “ Oh, you want too much! She cried to Gatsby. I love you now-isn’t that enough? I can’t help what’s past” (Fitzgerald 132). Tom finds out about the affair while staying with them at the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan and this results with lots of yelling and aggression with Gatsby to win Daisy over.
Daisy runs off into Gatsby’s car to escape the loud, rash arguments which was similar with Myrtle running away from Wilson at the auto shop. George Wilson showed a vengeful tone in his voice when he talked about the death of Myrtle. He said, “ I’m one of these trusting fellas and I don’t think any harm to nobody, but when I get to know a thing I know it… She ran out to speak to him and he wouldn’t stop” (Fitzgerald 159). This shows that the characters will do anything for their wives, even if that includes getting revenge. Fitzgerald is alluding to the men and how their actions and relationships tend to fall apart.
George Wilson and Tom Buchanan in this novel have more similarities than differences. They both are in a troubled relationship that ended up with them separating from their wives. The two men also show different ways of violence or aggression such as the death of Jay Gatsby, who was killed by George Wilson, and the screaming and aggression towards their wives.
